It's SH*T or bust time.

[peter.clayton]

On the 17th of September I posted an article entitled, "Are we about to lose our shirts" and got slated. I had said that a few guys I know plus myself would set up a pub fruit machine site with real feature boards for cash. My, how everyone laughed, especially Dunhamzzz. Well, the site goes live at 7pm on February the 2nd and the holding page goes live, probably this week.

It will be the only site in the world that features a wide range of feature board machines, with the emphasis on the A in AWP, stakes from 10p to about a fiver. So pick your level. We're also going to be doing skill games too at video quality, probably not from day 1 though.

We're also looking for players to Beta test the games in order to try and break them. Will keep you posted.javascript:emoticon(' ')

Could still lose our shirts though. Jesus, these things aren't cheap so your support would be welcome indeed to keep me out of debtor's prison.

[Dunhamzzz]

Please give me the opportunity to eat my words and let me beta test!

If you read my post I simply pointed out that it would cost A LOT of money, mainly for the developers, who you need to 100000% trust as how do you think all these fruit machine emptiers arise?

A few Q's that arise...

What programming language are they coding everything in, Flash/Actionscript?
Have they got experience in doing so? Its easy to tamper wit the values between client/server over flash, see http://www.raymond.cc/blog/archives/200 ... sed-games/ for a primitive tutorial.
Do YOU know the language the are using so that you could spot any dodgey business?
Have you got licenses for gambling?
What %s are you running at?
What machines will you have? Have you considered I can download emulators for free?
Have you taken the recession into thought?

Seriously I will gladly help and try out your service, but I couldn't be more pessimistic.

[aaamusements.co.uk]

Best of luck, keep us posted.

I had forgotten all about this to be honest!

[GaryChandler]

You posted over at fruit-emu? there's propably a few over there that could help you out

[peter.clayton]

You are right, it has cost a lot of money, but I don't believe in doing things by halves. Most of the games are in flash and the servers are fairly nuclear strength. Same servers that the top guys like 888 use.

Payout will be about 80% on AWP and 50% with SWP, with features like happy hours for double the spins etc. Cash transactions by NetBanx probably.

We, hopefully, will be launching with about 7 machines and a few skill games. The fruits are fantastic, far better quality than anything I have seen on emulation, they are exceptional, and very expensive. The fruits are loop feature boards and trails with everything you would expect in a decent pub game.

You can't win money on emulation anyway so that's not really a competitor.

Yes we have the licences, very expensive, which appears to be a recurring theme. As I said before, it's shit or bust. Pointless doing anything that looks crap.

You can also play every machine for free for as long as you like or spin from 10p to £5 per shot, entirely up to you.

Will post the URL when I can which asks people to register pre launch and allows registration for Beta testing which will happen about December time.

Recession we are suggesting will be good for us, on condition you really deliver AWP and not just rip people off for very little A. Gambling on lower fees increases when economic times are tough.

The problem with the manufacturers is that as revenues decline, they double the spin cost to make up for it. This is actually the biggest driver in reducing revenue, which means less playing, so they increase the slot rate again. It's a self fulfilling prophecy or doom.

A decent 10p spin machine still performs as well as a 50p spin machine but gives better value for the player. Yes, we have done our research.

Doesn't mean we're right. Here's hoping.

We are also very keen to design the next lot of games to the specs that players want, hence the last post I did.

I had said before it is a few mates and myself (which probably didn't sound very professional), but we are fairly well placed to make this happen. Just business guys who love machines and see a gap. Might not be there! We'll see.

Hey, who doesn't like a gamble?

[Mattb]

A 10p spin machine just delivers more losing spins for the player than a 50p spin one, that's all. But if you are just trying to attrat the casuals then that could be fine. Harder core players prefer bigger stakes as it takes less time and is usually bigger reward.

Just a question. All uk pub AWPs are progressive.....ie the more that goes in without collecting, the happier it gets. What will these be like? Surely they can't play like this, otherwise it will really put people off. But if it's random, the prize structure won't work too well will it?

[peter.clayton]

The intention, eventually, is to link the machines for mega prizes, to keep the players happy. It will be the fairest site on the new, we hope, with regards payout. Skill guys will be rewarded. Punters take their chances on the lower stakes.

[Matt Vinyl]

Interesting stuff - would be more than happy to be a beta tester. I've got quite a bit of experience in programming (and of course playing!) so may be able to help.

Hope it all goes well for you!

[aaamusements.co.uk]

Will you be running an affiliate sign up scheme?

If you do then it would be something that I would be interested in, as I have a couple of websites with good quality traffic that would fit well with your sort of theme.

[Stopnstep]

Who will be stating these games? And have they had any experience in the profile of fruit machines before? It is one thing getting a game to look good it is a whole differnet ball game getting it to play well and to get people to come back again and again.

[ob]

hmm 80% payout, that's very low for online payouts, ie. sky vegas or kerching casino most slot games are around the 95% mark, don't think there's any sites that go lower than 90%...

The reason for this, is that a random game would play very poorly on a low percentage, and you can't have progressive (compensated) machines online, as they would have to be "dead" as such when the player started playing them, otherwise you wouldn't make any money.

80% etc. may work in pubs on compensated machines where there is no better options for punters who frequent them, but it won't wash online I'm afraid, when other casinos offer 95%+

[milk monitor]

Bizarrely most small businesses are trying to put a positive spin on recession at the moment, I hope all this hasn’t come at the wrong time for you.

Sounds like you've really given this a big effort - good luck.

[peter.clayton]

Fingers crossed.

http://www.unionjackpots.com

[mr lugsy]

gotta agree with most of what ob said ,but i wish you every success all the same,i play online "randoms" for micro stakes(buying fun) from time to time and some seem quite generous considering.i hope you manage to incorperate some decent gameplay into your fruits and look forward to trying a few bucks on your site sometime.

[fruitypie]

Fingers crossed.

http://www.unionjackpots.com

Looking very good peter. Infact i am very impressed . Bloody good luck to you sir. p.s I will be joining :P