Re: OT: Cracking Speech by JDV!

On 2/20/2025 9:40 AM, Martin Brown wrote:

This meant that, at a very early age, we were all familiar with the
concepts of chance and had no illusions about it.  The result was that
none of us had the slightest inclination to start gambling.

>
There must be SOME appeal to it as it is such a common exercise.
I think it allows people to THINK they can beat it (esp things
like sports betting).

 There were one or two games that had a sufficient element of skill and judgement involved "Penny Falls" being the most common one that I could make a handsome profit on the 6 coins I started out with. I wouldn't play at all unless I was pretty sure I could win more by doing so.

Pinball machines added flippers to turn th4em into "games of skill";
prior to that, they were games of chance (and, thus, illegal).
[A similar reason applies to the creation of "ten pin"]
Amusingly, virtually all were manufactured in Chicago -- and illegal
to operate, there (despite being legal in damn near the whole rest of
the country).

Apparently called "Coin Pushers" in America I prefer the British name.
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coin_pusher#History
 The only problem was the sheer weight of 1" 1p copper coins (back in the good old days when currency was made of valuable non-ferrous metal).

A lot of games are designed to appear easy but have either been
tweaked to alter the expected game play or have had their
odds jiggered -- often silently.
E.g., there are gambling jurisdictions, here, where a slot
machine can display playing cards (leading the user to think
in terms of the odds of getting a particular DEALT hand).
But, their algorithms are the same as if they were displaying
cherries!

Amusing to think that they are naive enough to think someone would
create a product that can be "beaten" -- given that such an
event would come at their expense!
>
[Of course, there are many ways to "beat" a machine -- but this
is done by exploiting weaknesses in the design, not the algorithms]

 Some had weaknesses in both. I only played machines where I knew there was a weakness. Modern all electronic ones are much harder to beat and I don't bother trying. Pub Quiz machines were another favourite target.

"Attacking" the coin counting (payout) mechanism is a common hack;
if you can trick the machine into thinking it has NOT dispensed
a particular number of coins, it will keep trying.  Ideally, until
the hopper is empty!
Of course, machines aren't unattended so doing this without getting
caught is difficult.
["Grey area" machines are an easier target.  They are located
in "private" settings (as they are illegal) and poorly monitored.
Typically "clubs" of some sort.  But, you have to be willing to
"steal" from your fellow club members...]
We used to love hacking (electro-mechanical) pinball machines back
in the day.
Many had a "match" feature where the last two digits (in effect,
ONE digit as the rightmost was fixed at '0') would be compared
to an internal "random" number and, in the case that they agreed,
you would be awarded an extra game.
Of course, there is nothing random in an electromechanical game;
the events that advance the "random number generator" are known
and observable.  So, one could just track the state of that
in your head and, just before the end of the game, TILT the
game when your score coincided with the internal state.
Other games had targets that had to physically reset at the end of
each ball -- completing a sequence usually awarded a game or ball.
Or, a ball would be held captive in a target while points are being
awarded and then ejected at the end of the sequence (electromechanical
machines use a score *motor* to do sequencing so things happen
pretty slowly).  So, you would SIT on the glass to deflect it just
enough to prevent the targets (or ball) from moving.
And, of course, you could lift the game onto your toes to change the
level of incline (this actually requires MORE skill to operate, in
part because you are now immobilized).
The most reliable hack was to exploit flaws in the coin mechanisms.
You could effectively use *pennies* in lieu of quarters to get a
game.  Couple this with other tactics to extend your play and
you could actually *make* money:  "Anyone want to buy 20 games
for a dollar?" (given that you've only paid 1p for the lot)
[Of course, the appeal is mainly intellectual]