# Vending Machine: The Gamble **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 30, 2014, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vending-machine-the-gamble/696972 "2014-08-30T16:32:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vending-machine-the-gamble/696972/1 "2014-08-30T16:32:36Z")
You’re hungry and want a snack. You go to the vending machine and one item, your _favorite_ item, has an extra bag stuffed into the first coil. It’s kind of stuck _underneath_ the proper first bag, in a way that had to be intentional (it’s not the result of someone else getting screwed). Probably the vending machine guy had an extra bag left and just stuck it in there or something. In any case, it’s there. Now, you _might_ get 2-for-1 if you go for it, but there’s also a decent chance you’ll get nothing. **You only have one dollar** (everything in the machine costs $1). So how about it? Do you gamble? ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vending-machine-the-gamble/696972/2 "2014-08-30T16:38:21Z")
If I’m really hungry and it’s gonna be a while before I can eat anthing else I’d play it safe and get my second favorite thing. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vending-machine-the-gamble/696972/3 "2014-08-30T18:17:41Z")
I’ll gamble - what can I say, I’m an optimist. The reward of getting two of my favorite is more powerful than the potential to get nothing. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vending-machine-the-gamble/696972/4 "2014-08-30T18:49:12Z")
I think I’ll be daring and try for both of the item. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vending-machine-the-gamble/696972/5 "2014-08-30T18:57:21Z")
For $1, the risk is low. All you can lose is…$1. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vending-machine-the-gamble/696972/6 "2014-08-30T19:19:20Z")
I’ve done that plenty of times. Once, I kept on gambling after the second, third, and fourth bag of chips all got jammed up in the machinery. They might all have come toppling out! What the hell: a few dollars so rarely buys so much entertainment! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vending-machine-the-gamble/696972/7 "2014-08-30T19:26:52Z")
I’d go for it. If I win - hey, free food! If I lose - I probably need to lose a pound or twenty anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vending-machine-the-gamble/696972/8 "2014-08-30T19:39:01Z")
It looks like vending machine manufacturers are missing an opportunity, by not making machines that deliberately include a random, gambling element. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vending-machine-the-gamble/696972/9 "2014-08-30T20:10:39Z")
Machine maker would not spend the $$$ to make one that is random because if not random, found out very quickly. Also would need the help of machine filler up person. Filler up person could find a way to have one item looked doubled and ever give it out until the last purchase of that item, then they could do random machines at random times but… If it was just a random slot each day the does not give the goods without the chance for a double play, I would find a different machine if this was a know & legal thing for the machine company to do. Also there would have to be more ‘you lose’ than ‘you win’ or what would be the point for the filler up company to do it? If just one person & they wanted to this long term, they would need to be cagy & not let any pattern develop or they will get caught sooner rather than later. IMO, YMMV, MAAOOY ---
**Author:** ![CheshireKat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheshirekat/32/1207_2.png) [@CheshireKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheshireKat)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vending-machine-the-gamble/696972/10 "2014-08-30T20:38:36Z")
I would go for it, but I’d be tilting that machine to increase my odds of success. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vending-machine-the-gamble/696972/11 "2014-08-30T21:07:18Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > . . . Also there would have to be more ‘you lose’ than ‘you win’ or what would be the point for the filler up company to do it? . . . Well, lotteries certainly reason that way, so why not vending machines? But the payoff could be exactly even – no advantage for either party – and it could still be a win for the vending machine company, if it entices more people to come and play. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vending-machine-the-gamble/696972/12 "2014-08-31T00:52:54Z")
I’m not understanding the risk. If I’m picturing this correctly, the weird one is guaranteed to fall, but maybe not the one behind it. That’s exactly what I remember happening the one time I noticed something like this. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vending-machine-the-gamble/696972/13 "2014-08-31T01:10:36Z")
Depends. How hungry am I? Do I have access to other food right away, or will I shortly, or might it be a few hours? Do I prefer my favorite to my second favorite by just a little, or is it one of those situations where there’s really nothing else at all in the machine that I’d want to eat? Under some of these combinations of circumstances, I’d take the gamble; under others, I’d buy something else; under still others, I’d hang on to my dollar. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vending-machine-the-gamble/696972/14 "2014-08-31T01:12:12Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I’m not understanding the risk. If I’m picturing this correctly, the weird one is guaranteed to fall, but maybe not the one behind it. That’s exactly what I remember happening the one time I noticed something like this. The “bonus” bag could remain stuck where it is, while also preventing the bag that is properly placed in the coil from falling. Full disclosure: I know this because I encountered this exact circumstance this afternoon at work, I gambled, and I lost, thus the inspiration for this thread. Had I the forethought, I’d have taken before and after pictures. Next time, I suppose. (because I _will_ make that gamble pretty much every time) ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vending-machine-the-gamble/696972/15 "2014-08-31T01:15:37Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I’m not understanding the risk. If I’m picturing this correctly, the weird one is guaranteed to fall, but maybe not the one behind it. That’s exactly what I remember happening the one time I noticed something like this. The “bonus” bag could remain stuck where it is, while also preventing the bag that is properly placed in the coil from falling. Full disclosure: I know this because I encountered this exact circumstance this afternoon at work, I gambled, and I lost, thus the inspiration for this thread. Had I the forethought, I’d have taken before and after pictures. Next time, I suppose. (because I _will_ make that gamble pretty much every time; I’m stupid like that I guess). . ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vending-machine-the-gamble/696972/16 "2014-08-31T03:07:07Z")
Well you seem to be a real gambler. You seemed to have played twice… _snerk_😃