Arcade Claw Games ARE Rigged
**Secret Revealed**
The claw game (aka “crane games” or “fairground grabbers”) are pretty straight forward in appearance: put in your money, position the crane over a prize, drop the claw and hope your aim was good enough to bring home the prize.
But, winning a prize requires a lot more than skill. These machines are like slot machines, except children are allowed to play. Just like a slot machine, the operator can dial in how often the machine should pay out.
The crane game machine reduces the claw strength when the player is supposed to lose and increases its grip strength when the player is allowed to win. In that sense, they’re worse than slots because the player still requires some skill when the odds are in their favor.
The odds of the machine giving the claw enough strength to win a prize is regulated by some states and therefore varies. In California, the claw must have enough strength to win during an average of 1 in 12 games. In Nevada, it’s 1 in 15 games. In other words, during 1 in 15 games the claw will be strong enough to pickup a prize, but you still have to aim it well.
The following is an excerpt from a crane machine’s operating manual, indicating how two different knobs can be turned to adjust the claw strength in different ways.
If you really want to win, your best bet is to sit back and watch other people play. Count the wins and losses and put up your money when it’s due to grip again.
Alternatively, much older (less sophisticated) claw machines rely on spring tension and may be easier to beat if they’re calibrated with a decent grip. Also, be sure you aim the claw at the heaviest part of the prize, if the grip is tight this will make it easier for the claw to hang on.
Chad Upton is the editor-in-chief of Broken Secrets and an official Yahoo Answers contributor.
Thanks for reading,
Sources: philaahzophy, crane game user manual, wiki how
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It honestly depends, some are easy and some aren’t… usually the ones in malls or popular restaurants are harder.
But I once won twice on the same machine on the same day, at a little family-owned diner. Those are usually a bit easier.
I have won this like 10 times and I never knew that there was a secret!!
This IS a total mess up and terrible thing for kids! Not very nice I should say!
no wonder da never let me play this crap
OMG, this is sooooo true!!!!
I CAN NEVER WIN IN THOSE!!!!
Yes and no, I played one at Safeway at I won 5 things from it,but they got a new one and every 10 times you get a prize.whats up with?
Interesting…..
I’ve always thought it also depends on the angle the toy or object is laying as well. For example, if theirs something on the toy like an arm or a leg pointing up it makes it easier to grasp. At least’s that what I was told as a kid growing up by my dad. But remember taking my allowance money and blowing it on the stupid claw machine once. Although eventually did win, twice in a row actually. I won a stuffed Popeye doll and something else, can’t honestly remember now but I do remember Popeye. But my mom was like oh you’ve got enough stuffed toys, give him away. I was like nooooo. You don’t know how much I put in to win him. Anyway…..from reading this, I definitely think I will avoid claw machines from now on.
Interesting. What about the other machines where you win money? Years ago I was watching several people play a machine that showed coins thrown into the air with lights showing different sequences before the coins landed into 1 of 3 chests and you had to guess which one. I memorised the various sequences of lights and saw that there were only 3 sequences, though all long. So I waited until enough money was put in the machine by people then had a go. I kept winning and everyone was amazed. Being underage, the bar owner did not stop me, but when he saw I had emptied the machine he suggested I buy a round of drinks. Of course I said, ‘as you know, I am to young to go to the bar!” The machine was removed the next day!
An even better way is to simply save your money buy the toy.
So, really, all we have to do is find and adjust the knobs and wait to see how long we can have people winning before someone notices.
My husband is amazing at these, he gets something about 75% of the time.
This guy has dedicated his life to claw machines.
just thought id share it since this was related.
When I lived in Texas, there was this claw game that would go down, then move up before closing it. The item wasn’t even heavy unless they put a lot of led inside it. In that case, I wouldn’t even want it.
Claw machines are rigged and they suck. The claws don’t even grip tight on a prize. the slightest rattle will make the prize drop. SMMFH
God Dammit!
i used to work at an amusement centre when i was studying. if to many prizes were being won they would slacken the grab screws so that they would not pick up so easily. its all a fix!
Of course they are rigged. All arcade games are rigged. All casino games are rigged. While the technology behind these particular machines has not been public knowledge (and its revelation is certainly appreciated), it cannot be a surprise to anyone that the results are always weighted in favor of the house. What is more amazing to me is the detailed level of regulation that the state employs to try to control it – which is almost certainly unenforceable. They may as well write laws dictating the number of whiskers required on the fuzzy rabbit.
The one at my Wal-Mart is really easy, I always get a prize and I got 2 prizes at one time
Im actually an Arcade Manger at a FEC(Family Entertainment Center). Claw games can not be rigged. Operators must without the use of percentages, otherwise it is a form of gambling, and you would be shut down quiet fast. However arcade games, “ARE A GAME OF SKILL”. That means that if someone who plays regularly whether it be ticket, prize dispensing, or video, will win more/play longer, than a guest who doesnt play the games as often. But back to the claw game… Operators do have the option to make the claw loose or grab tighter. To win on a claw game, position the crane on top of plush, and move the claw left and right, back and fourth, to loosen the plush. This is how we regulate how easy it is to win… If we pack the plush in… it is harder to grab the plush. If a couple people win, it loosens the plush making it easier to grab. Depending on the operator, most want you to win! If one kid spots another kid with a plush, chances are very likely that kid is going to think hes going to win his first coin… which is most likely not the case, considering kids dont use the same thought process as an adult. The kid will try to grab a spongebob that is at the very bottom of the stack of plush. Your best bet is to loosen the plush, drag the crane across all the plush without picking anything up to set yourself up. Next coin you have a better chance of grabbing a prize. Also look at the crane, if there are prizes right on top, grab it before someone else does!
i got a white 4 gen itouch from one at newport beach 3 times the same day
I often try my hand at these cranes and I have received a reputation in my family as being proficient at using them. I often try the ones at the Nice carnival (a city in the southern french coast) and win about 1 in 6 times. The trick is not to actually grab the prize, but to go for the prizes nearer/ on the edge of the chute. When the claw opens, that knocks them in.
I work for a video game company.
First, of all, the author is 100% wrong when he says “your best bet is to sit back and watch other people play. Count the wins and losses and put up your money when it’s due to grip again.”
LOL. These machines don’t work that way. Slot machines in Vegas don’t work that way. Machine are never “due” to win. That’s not what 1 chance out of 12 means. There is no mechanism inside counting the wins and losses, keeping track. You might have a whole bunch of winners in a row, followed by a whole bunch of players who don’t win.
The author sounds like your typical gambler who bets on black or on red just because “it’s due.”
Second, we purchase LOTS and LOTS of plush (prizes) ALL the time! We have LOTS of winners. Ever week we are replenishing the plush, in all of our crane games. We WANT winners. If no one ever won, no one would play our games and we’d be completely out of business.
Third, yes we regularly monitor the tension on the claws. If we aren’t getting enough winners, we adjust the claw to make it easier to win. And yes, if we are getting too many winners, the claw is again adjusted to make it slightly more difficult.
Maybe our company is different than most… but yes, we want a certain (high) percentage of winners. And maybe that’s why we’ve been in business for so long.
Finally, yes, the game is for entertainment purposes, like everything else. But the games are not “rigged” in the negative tone that was used.
i won 2000 tickets at an arcade once but i realized after trying again that it had a pattern like two tkmes it was makeing biger adjustments then i could have more controll it was a hole drill game but it was the same with a crane i played on
Visiting Tokyo and spending over a grand on these stupid machines over the course of 3 months makes me realize that the satisfaction in the games are not only by getting the toy, rather the entertainment it brings along with it, unlike slots.
I hate those “crane game”.. Never could win any good prize when i was child, won some worthless stuff though.
I think it depends on where you play it. At some places the claws don’t grip that well. But in the place I stop at when I get gas I win at least half of the time. However, it depends on how the stuffed animals are place. If they are surrounded by other toys then I will most likely not get anything. But if there is a toy on top, I usually can get it. Toys that are against the glass are hard to get at since it is hard to position the claw.
In the UK, claw machines (btw they’re called ufo grabbers in Japan) now have to display a notice stating “**this machine is a game of chance**” to let people know the game is indeed rigged.
Some machines are “play ’til you win” which is a lot better for kids because they can play all they like until they grab something. You see them in indoor shopping centres and malls.
I have a friend of mine who wins a prize every time he tries. I dont know how he does it but its like he has the machine hypnotized.
yes the games r rigged maybe 1 out of 20 tries will grab with full strength
I remember seeing this exact same type of thing on discovery channel about 5 years ago! Also the way you beat those money pushing machines is to shoot the coin right near the part that pushes the coins, works like 1 in 2 times.
yesterday I see one with 50′s and 100 dollar bills in it.
Don’t believe this story at all, maybe some of them are rigged but that is considered illegal if they get caught doing that isn’t it? One’s I’ve mastered at I’ve won about 10 straight times playing the claw game.
The prizes aren’t that great anyway. Mostly cheap toys that are all made in China.
So, they are rigged. There should be a law against that! The writing on the machines portrays them as a game of skill, not chance. Nowhere is it mentioned that it’s rigged to crap out 11 times out of 12. They should be forced to print this fact on the front of the machine, see how many people play then. What a scam. Even for an arcade gambling machine, it’s pretty low.
Next time I’m near one of those machines, I’ll make a point of warning people. I know I’d be grateful to know!
I don’t know about that. My brother in law used to win multiple times on these things without wasting too much money on them. Theme parks, restaurants, anywhere where there were some he HAD to play them.
i used to work in a pub where we had one of these machines
and the guy would tell us it would give a teddy bear after the machine had accumulated £11.00
it was 30p per go and the bears cost 85p to make
so for every bear won the profit is £10.15p and there are 40 bears in each machine
so the answer is yes they only pay out every £11.00
The trick I found when I got 32 soft toys in 2 hours is that the toys are compressed. The machines I was on in Blackpool, NW England, had no difference in the claw grip strength at any time.
Yes, they are rigged. You insert greater value into the machine than the value you collect. The owner of the machine spends less operating the game than collects on revenues. It’s called “profit”. Yes, the scheme is rigged.
Yea these thing’s… kid’s ask dad can you get me something from that basterd box… *i can try* 5 buck’s later nothing, left that diner a failure. Also seems i had this problem as a kid, go into a arcade there it was i try i try, i shake the machine in anger the manger kick’s me out… Thanks for the secret anyway thought.
I always thought they were rigged which is why I very rarely play them, might as well go and play hook a duck on the fairground then.
There is one of this kind of game that I did win loads of times on once though, it was in The Black Cat II in Towyn. The game was one of the arm games where an arm comes across and swipes the prizes and you have to press the button just at the right time for it to hit the prize. The owner had just filled up the machine with prizes (and possibly even overfilled it!), anyway it was so easy to win then, just press a button and the arm would catch about 5 prizes. Played it about 10 times before the arm had split all the prizes so it was then too hard to get them.
One other thing was we also tried a game with spinning lights where you win a DVD at The Sands in Tal-Y-Bont (nr Barmouth). That was so obviously rigged – played 3 times and you always got the light just one off from where getting the DVD regardless of when you pressed the button. However in there they did have ticket machines and on the wheel of fortune you could quite easily win loads of tickets on that by going for a slightly smaller number, there was a big 50 tickets at the top, but it had 1 ticket either side, however to the right there was a 40 tickets light and either side of that was 20 or 30 tickets, so if you missed the 50 tickets you’d be getting 1 ticket, where as miss the 40 and you’d get either 20 or 30.
Guys,You can adjust the tension of the claws,and this in turn decides the amount of prizes one.(i know i own one)
Shock, Horror, “Fairgrounds and arcades are out to make money – official!” Why is anyone surprised? Respectfully, no fairground gambling machine is designed to lose money, otherwise the fairground owner wouldn’t hire them would s/he? If your time has come up and the cycle comes round, you will win. If you are really so desperate for one of those awful toys then hang back, watch the claw cycle, work out the number of losers to winners (could be as low as 15-1) and step in at the crucial point. Alternatively, go and work in a homeless hostel as a volunteer – far more rewarding.
yepp they are but sometimes there set so that after a sertaint amount of goes it will actually get something! i won a watch & a bracelet once & on the real hustle i learnt that inside the locked part is a swich that makes it that every 20th go it wont loose its grip and it will actually get something
I spent about £10 trying to get a teddy from one of those machines and on the way home I stopped at a shop to get some milk and the teddy I was trying to win was there for 4.99! >:L
Of course these grabbing machines are built like any other arcade machine so that the operators can control how often someone wins. The grab is programmed to relax just before it drops the prize in the box but it can be timed not to do this one in a certain number of times If the arcade is in seaside venue then the gap between the setting to hold the prize is quite long as the clients are constantly changing but in one in say central London where there is a regular client base then the gap is set shorter so you win more frequently and thus you keep returning to the same arcade. It is not a mystery it is just business