full time

[mr lugsy]

Had a few days to think about this one as its been a long time now since playing fulltime.
i started work at 16 as a trainee cnc programmer for an electronics company after 4 years of this i'd had enough of the monotony and jacked it to waste my life away.
i used to think that working for someone else was an absolute joke ,and had other subversive views aswell.after a few years playing there was a gaping hole in my c.v . now and again i did try to "slot" back into society but was thwarted many times by the lack of recent job refs.
eventually i just gave up trying,although the job centre kept sending me for interviews i'd just act apathetic as the jobs were not all that brilliant,and i could make a weeks shit wage in a day (even in the middle of winter i had one sweet day a week every sunday)
i used to wonder all the time ,what would i be doing in years to come?
and i knew that i couldn't do it forever, but i was stuck in a rut and couldn't be arsed with anything else .

the easy money spoils you ,you have a lesser sense of it's worth.

then one day i got told mr x a local arcade manager was looking for me, i hadn't a clue what he wanted and as i hadn't pulled any major skanks lately i went to see him.
he told me he was buying a place out west and offered me a job outta the blue saying"it's better the devil you know"
i took a few days to decide that it was my ticket out of the game.
i did however find it hard for quite a while ,initially was doing loads of hours . i would often get grumpy when i saw people sacking off gatw boards on ij1 and cluedos lol. i was also caught many times punting when i shouldn't have been ,old habits die hard

there is definitely difficulty in adjusting to a totally different lifestyle ,it's true. when some of you pro's give up slotting you'll see,but it aint the end of the world trayhop you'll be o.k man

[rickroll]

ive been playing full time for 10+ years now and I dont know of many professions where I could make £3000+ a week after tax, for the ones of us who have it's all about bank roll management, Ive put enough away that if it does dry up then I will be alright but for now I work 6 days a week solid.

[Drpepper]

I think the hardest part of it all is that when you gamble you lose the value of money.

When you're just touring round all day drinking coke and slotting, money goes in, more comes out, you sort of just accept it.

Same happened to me and poker, you get into a nice little routine, but sadly the time came to get a job(mainly due to worrying about CV and what people thought about me), it's hard spending a day working in a sweaty pub thinking all you had to do to earn the same was just find a flying red, or trapping someone with aces.

I still find it really hard to adjust after a few weeks, i was happy with going to college, coming back, playing poker, and just withdrawing money whenever i so desired, and i'd only been in the game for a couple of years and part time, so good luck, you'll probably need it.

[Stevie S]

if youve got enough cash a cafe in the rite place should easily make you a half decent wage and with the rite contacts wouldnt cost all that much to start up. throw a machine in there aswell if ya get the space.

shops just up the road from me had a good sized shop up for rent a few years ago positioned next to 2 high schools, 2 primary schools about 6 other shops including a post office were all the oldies go and the nearest cafe from that spot was a good 5 -10 minute drive plus plenty of parking! im sure i would of made a killing!

[Martal~Wombat]

You mean soi and mw's ?

soi? cant for the life of me think what impulse this is? and i bet its bloody obvious i dont think i'm gonna sleep tonight thinking, anybody help?
obviously i know the 2nd one hence my username.

[JG]

clue: on it spin

[ob]

You mean soi and mw's ?

soi? cant for the life of me think what impulse this is? and i bet its bloody obvious i dont think i'm gonna sleep tonight thinking, anybody help?
obviously i know the 2nd one hence my username.

oh dear god, spin on it obviously :P ...

[Scott]

Can't believe you don't know SOI mortal.

[blackmogu]

but if you were playing soi whist the vivids were out, then i feel really sorry for you! because you really were missing a lot.

Every board was JP capable on SOI... and they had great streak potential. Quicker than a vivid to do alot of the time. Also funky D&B tunes !

[petera]

ive been at this longer than most, and ive said this before in another thread, but when it all comes crashing down, (and i for one firmly believe 2years max) to the point where it simply isnt worth going out any more, then it wont just affect me financially, it will affect me mentally aswell ,,,, now before all the cries of bullshit start flooding in let me explain

like many others, ive known nothing else but this life, having never had a conventional job,
it will be far more than a financial upset, (that alone will hurt, im not gonna pretend it wont ),but for me (and im sure i speek for other life term players) the psychological upsets will be far greater ,,,,,, no1 no other skills to speek of (i cant even wire a plug or put a shelf up lol),. so this means the bottom of the employment ladder, no2 no qualifications (see no1 lol).,,,,,,,,,,, no3 and perhaps the biggest mental stigma is that because we have lived to our own devices for so long, i have no respect for authority ,,,, (no i dont mean the law) i mean, i wouldn't be able to take orders from a boss of anykind, let alone be told ive got to be somewhere at 7am every morning, or sweep up (fuck off you sweep up lol)
im just saying that this lifestyle has spoiled many of us and mold'ed us into the personality traits we have now ,

here's a question for you to ponder ,,,,,, you see a brand new tv costing a grand in a shop window you quite fancy, do you A save up for it like a regular 9 to 5 joe, or B just buy it on a whim because your a rich slotter...???? exactly

im not asking for sympathy lol, im loaded lol but that wouldn't last long sitting on my arse doin nowt ,,,,,,
im just saying people should realise the massive psychological personality change that will come when its all over ,,,,,, trying to blend back into normal society sounds a nightmare to me, of course i know a few of us might try to open businesses, and be our own bosses but thats easier said than done

i dont expect thoughtful intelligent reply's of people in this game short term/part time, you haven't developed the mind set yet and probably will just see me as a spoilt whinging twat, and the sad thing is your right i most probably am.

but im definitely not the only one who's riding this train, and its the other passengers on it with me that id'e be most interested in hearing reply's from.

I think you have been lazy.
I play 2-3 days a week and have done for many years.....
BUT.....I also learnt a trade alongside this so I dont have to rely on bloody machines.
When Ive been in arcades and seen some wasters hanging around trying to knock the crap out of a shite 5 quid machine I think you sad bastards.
Sorry mate no sympathy here , you should get off your arse and go and learn a trade of some description
There really is no excuse.

[fmlad2002]

ive been at this longer than most, and ive said this before in another thread, but when it all comes crashing down, (and i for one firmly believe 2years max) to the point where it simply isnt worth going out any more, then it wont just affect me financially, it will affect me mentally aswell ,,,, now before all the cries of bullshit start flooding in let me explain

like many others, ive known nothing else but this life, having never had a conventional job,
it will be far more than a financial upset, (that alone will hurt, im not gonna pretend it wont ),but for me (and im sure i speek for other life term players) the psychological upsets will be far greater ,,,,,, no1 no other skills to speek of (i cant even wire a plug or put a shelf up lol),. so this means the bottom of the employment ladder, no2 no qualifications (see no1 lol).,,,,,,,,,,, no3 and perhaps the biggest mental stigma is that because we have lived to our own devices for so long, i have no respect for authority ,,,, (no i dont mean the law) i mean, i wouldn't be able to take orders from a boss of anykind, let alone be told ive got to be somewhere at 7am every morning, or sweep up (fuck off you sweep up lol)
im just saying that this lifestyle has spoiled many of us and mold'ed us into the personality traits we have now ,

here's a question for you to ponder ,,,,,, you see a brand new tv costing a grand in a shop window you quite fancy, do you A save up for it like a regular 9 to 5 joe, or B just buy it on a whim because your a rich slotter...???? exactly

im not asking for sympathy lol, im loaded lol but that wouldn't last long sitting on my arse doin nowt ,,,,,,
im just saying people should realise the massive psychological personality change that will come when its all over ,,,,,, trying to blend back into normal society sounds a nightmare to me, of course i know a few of us might try to open businesses, and be our own bosses but thats easier said than done

i dont expect thoughtful intelligent reply's of people in this game short term/part time, you haven't developed the mind set yet and probably will just see me as a spoilt whinging twat, and the sad thing is your right i most probably am.

but im definitely not the only one who's riding this train, and its the other passengers on it with me that id'e be most interested in hearing reply's from.

I think you have been lazy.
I play 2-3 days a week and have done for many years.....
BUT.....I also learnt a trade alongside this so I dont have to rely on bloody machines.
When Ive been in arcades and seen some wasters hanging around trying to knock the crap out of a shite 5 quid machine I think you sad bastards.
Sorry mate no sympathy here , you should get off your arse and go and learn a trade of some description
There really is no excuse.

As harsh as the above sounds, you only have yourself to look after..

Fortunately, my day job paid considerably higher, than i have ever earned on a month on fruit mahines, (and some months were well in to the 1k's), so i never became tempted, though i know loads of lads that had minimum wage jobs saw the Lotta Lucks and jacked it in to become so called 'pro's.

The key obviously is to look far enough ahead to see where the market is going, With Vivid, blantently advertising fruit machines can be 'beat', punters perception took a serious nose dive (as did the landlords)..

The big chains complained to LL machines were payin out too much money, but hey look were LL are now..

The industry got too greedy anyways, so i'm glad they are having some payback..albeit with job losses..

The recession will weed out all the chavs and semi-pros, leaving those with 'true skill' and inside knowlege to rule the way !, back to the good ole days, some will say !!

[harry2]

I would also think that some of the c £800 million taken in FOBT's annually would have found it's way into a fruit machine which doesn't help the traditional industry.

[Martal~Wombat]

You mean soi and mw's ?

soi? cant for the life of me think what impulse this is? .

DER!

[Mr McStreak]

some excellent points made by dray.... extremes were like vivids, a golden opportunity, but once word got round you had kids running around in airmax tracksuits brandishing refil keys and generally making things bang ontop for those who bother to be discreet.

I used go past pubs on the bus, keeping an eye on whether the caesars was numbers etc. Id go in unless it was 4 7.

I started at 14, im 30 now and dont fancy having to answer to someone 10 yrs my junior. but I havent saved enough money, and when it is all fucked the transition will be hard to face. I know players who have been light years behind me in terms of skill and knowledge, but manage to save hard. these people still look up to me, but fuck knows why.

Its depressing.

That said the last 15 months have seen something of a renaissance occur, endless money on offer. 2 yrs left, max, before this is all but a distant memory

[Mr McStreak]

Sorry tray not dray