Nudge buttons

Hi

I have recently come back from a visit to england, and I saw there some slot machines with a nudge feature. Basically, it lets you push a reel a step further. I was wondering:
1. Does the feature always get triggered only when you can win, or does it sometimes happen when there is no chance of winning?
2. It seems that the nudge can change the payout of the game, as you can lose a spin that you should have won, if you nudge incorrectly. How does the house control the payout of this is the case?
3. I saw that one game let you lose if you nudge incorrectly, but another made you win regardless (kind of making the nudge feature just bells and whistles as it had no effect on the outcome). Which way is considered a "true" nudge? Which is better liked by pub players?

Thanks!

So the reel stops but the player gets the option to make it go one stop further?
Is this per reel or what?

ah ha! I am in my element.

A pub 'fruit machine' is nothing like slots you have in the states.
Firstly the jackpot is set to a maximum of £70 ($100) but some are still £35 or £15 some seaside resorts have £5 too.
I know what your thinking, the jackpot is pretty stingy, but it can often repeat multiple times, some up to 3 or 4 times.
Next the payout is an awful 78-98% usually around 80%. But the machines are designed for entertainment rather than hardcore gambling. There are ways to constantly win, but I will come on to those later. The % is actively maintained by the machine, and each spin pre-determined the 'choices' it offers you have little or no effect on your result.

The machine has usual line wins, like three cherries for £1 or three bells for £70.
Wins can be gambled up to the jackpot, by going higher or lower on numbers 1-12. This gamble is not fair, and you are usually wrong when you choose higher than a 2 or lower than an 11. You can collect your win, or exchange it for the feature (see below)
You occasionally get the option to 'hold' any of the three reels (1,2 or 3) if you like the symbol on it.
Or you get the option to 'nudge' the reel down one space (or up to 4) if you like the symbol above it, these nudges can be shared out amongst the reels as you see fit, you usually know how many nudges you have, but mystery nudges are known.

There are little 'cheats' that are programmed in, so after using your nudges and you dont get a win, if the machine offers you a chance to hold the symbols, simply press spin to get a guaranteed win.

The feature board is usually something like a snakes and ladders board on the top section of the machine, you start at the bottom and work your way up to the jackpot, passing ? spaces along the way that could (nearly always) kill you. You roll the dice and get awarded cash and features along the way. The board is usually cleverly worked out so that you can always land on a ? space no matter where you are on the board. So if your getting greedy the game can be over anytime the machine wants it to be.

Most modern machines have an 'invincible' or red mode when the name of the machine turns red instead of the usual yellow colour, no matter what you a jackpot is imminent if you know how to play them. The machines go hot and cold. And unlike vegas slots, a machine that has just been hit for the jackpot 3 times, is now very unlikely to pay again for about a week. The reverse is also true, a machine that has not paid out is more likely to pay out now. You can usually gauge the happiness of the machine within the first few pounds, and decide if its worth pushing. Some people like to make the machine happy by refusing all wins, and pushing the machine over the edge to get the jackpot.

The machine tracks the money in and money out, and the actual % percentage. The difference is called drift. If the drift is say +£54.00 the machine has more money than it should, and will be looking to dump money soon. but if the number is negative it will be somewhat tight. The % is known to drift wildly, but always gets back to the target. Some modern machines build up a reserve bank that can be paid out in one lump, such as a triple jackpot repeat.

Yes, indeed. Totally unlike the slot machines here in the States.
The most we fool around with are free spins or some sort of bonus round and certainly no "nudge factor" here. The most shocking thing I read in your post was the "not likely to payout a prize soon after having hit a jackpot". This is totally unlike the USA wherein a slot machine is able to pay out a jackpot on its very first spin as well as after having just paid out a jackpot.

I think thats because these machine are anything but random. Everything is already mapped out, it makes no difference what you do, or what button you press, the result is the same everytime. I have emulators that demo various machines, I will zip something up and let you guys try them out, I think you will find them a million times more fun that standard slots.

Ok I have put together a little package of UK fruit machines, some fine examples of what we have here. If you need any help or advice, let me know. I can add more too. There are about 400 different games, all variations on a theme. There are plenty of cheats and hidden features in these too.

The link is Fruit Machine Emulator.

Usually the spacebar is the spin button, buttons 1,2,3 will nudge or hold the respective reels. The button to the left of 1 will cancel the holds if you make a mistake, and sometimes it will slow down a skillstop. You can usually just click on the buttons with your mouse, but not always. Button 0 (zero) adds credits to the machine or you can try clicking on the red box on the top right of the machine.

wow
I thank you so much for the info!

Quote: yuvaladam

wow
I thank you so much for the info!

No worries, your welcome. If you need info on how to play the emulators, let me know. I am not sure how easy they are to play for people who dont know.

Games can definitely offer nudges when there is no chance of winning. IN fact, you will usually have either exactly enough (if you know the reels) or end exactly one short. UK machines are the KINGS of "near miss".

The games do three things when they award a feature.

1) make it a guaranteed win. this is the rarest case, unless the game is streaking
2) set it up so if you play it properly you will win. this happens sometimes when the game is streaking, and sometimes when it's not.
3) win is impossible (most of the time, it's this)

The classic Barcrest fruit machine Cash Attack is a great example. (this fruit machine is rather well loved, from what I have heard. :) )

In this game, nudges are awarded by numbers on the reels, and also sometimes off the mystery award for lining up three horseshoes.

Fairly often, the game will give you enough nudges to keep nudging in more nudges, and when you run out of numbers to aim for, you can line up three horseshoes, and get.. more nudges. despite that there are MANY possible awards, nudges are the one that's most frequently given. Fairly often, if you can do this and also not nudge in a smaller win by accident, you will have jackpot long before the machine was ready to spin it in directly. Sometimes it may take 30 or more nudges in the right order to actually get that jackpot that was offered.

However, the game always knows how many nudges the jackpot is away, and can decide to stiff you on the last set of horseshoes before you get to nudge in the jackpot, and leave you one nudge short.

And sometimes it will flat out give you what you need from the start.