A sign of the times yet again folks. Showboat is no longer going to exist . They have been taken over by part of the Noble Group and are going to be rebranded "Cashino". Its such a shame to see the place decline from when it was Thomas Estates to this...
I mean its been suffering a while now, ever since Riva Gaming got their hands on the group.
Get set for 70%, Current 86% machines will disapear as well as the "special arrangement" with Barcrests profit share on high techs in some sites.
I have been in some Cashino sites and think they are even worse than Noble branded arcades. shit promos and 70% galore.
Yep,heard this from a staff member the other day.To be honest,they are full of crap machines anyway here,all the reds they used to have are gone to be replaced by barx galore and triple 7 units.
I think they only have 4 normal £70 machines from about 25 that they have.
I know that even when riva took over they put the %age way down in my local ones, the manager even told me so.
Now they are just like all the others surely it won't be long before arcades are a thing of the past. With the exception of a few months in the summer holidays(for seaside arcs) you barely see anybody in them these days. Not surprising when they fill them with such blatant money grabbing rip offs.
Under Thomas estates they were a class act. If there is such a thing in that industry. Friendly staff, great promotions and high %age machines.
I think they have maybe 30 or 40 sites? Places like Ipswich has 2 and Coventry has 2, plus another 'Showboat' which is really 'The Nudgecave' in disguise.
Yep I agree, Thomas Estates made a killing, they knew exactly when the bubble was going to burst and sell it on.
Is Teddys Amusements simular to Thomas? Only been in a few and they "feel"a bit like showboats.
Iv got a showboat, terminator on 86%. few bags of piss, some good 35 goldengames. about 18months ago they had invincble cashatack darts empire(35) snakes. all would be gagging aswell.
I have been into a few Cashinos. I thought they did profitshare as well? Or is profitshare coming to an end full stop?
I suppose it's just another nail in an already well nailed shut coffin.
Here's a bit of nostalgia, it's 1996 and there's a Fairground in a chip shop up Holbrooks and also one along the Foleshill Road. Ady obviously wasn't doing them as they were both full of coins. However town isn't far away and a pocket full of pound coins is ammunition enough. The bus pulls into pool meadow and it's a short walk to The Showboat.
What's this? Yeah there's easily 40, yeah four zero people in here. There's chatter and babble and the staff look busy as people call out for change like hungry birds in a nest. It looks like the feature machines are taking up most of the floor space.
The aging dinosaurs are the video screens, the games that people can play on their Playstations, but they're still clinging on, taking the odd bit of shrapnel.
There are a few Bar Xs along the wall for the grannys, but look at the choice, have a look...Crystal Maze, Pot of Gold, Gladiators, Eastenders, Coronation Street, Indiana Jones, Boulderdash, Ten out of Ten, Cops and Robbers, Showtime Spectacular, Monopoly 60th. Samples blare out, it's rather noisy in here due to the sheer volume of machines being played.
I want to play Indiana Jones but there's a crowd of people around the machines there, but the Crystal Maze is free, great!
A few 'You lose a crystal....you're locked in.....that's all we've got time for now's later and my Fairground profits have dwindled.
Hold on, hold on....what's going on? There's a rippled effect, we're travelling through time......woooah! We're going forward.....14 years forward.....woooah yeah! It's still an arcade, let's walk in.....
Now there are 4, yeah FOUR NO ZERO people in the building.....oh hold on....3 of them are staff. I hear the continued sound of a collection of harps accompanying a continual stirring of pointless symbols that drop in pots, leprechauns and other symbols not worth a wank in various displeasing combinations. An Asian looking man who can't speak good English, certainly not good enough English to ask "What are the directions to the bookmakers, where I can bet on rigged roulette?" has found his way through the door. Maybe he just hankers the peace and quiet that you don't get in a bookmakers.
Let's have a look at the hi techs...oh yeah it's 3pm and they're all on resets or the same reels as two days ago. Probably the same for most of the bar Xs and lo-techs as well.
Let's try this lo tech.....oh it's full, four days after refill. What's that? £350 over the back for the £57 streak and a super moody rundown. Yep, not sure that 86% on the decals is that true.
Where are the other 39 customers? Well, 25 of them are in various local LBOs a few footsteps from the arcade. 8 of them have been prompted to give up gambling after putting £1000 into a Rainbow Riches to get two sets of leprechauns for £20 and £40, no pots and a few wells for £2-£15 each time OR £300 into an Astra for a handful of £2 tops OR £300 into an unchipped Power 5 for yet another third press GAME OVER.
2 of them are playing poker on their phones/computers the other 2 are browsing the markets on Betfair, 1 is down the casino and the other 1 is in Weatherpoons as they have more hi-techs and they sell beer.
Resets 3pm on a Saturday. Sums up the Industry nicely.
completely agree with everything there. There is no amusement in arcades anymore, it's 'leisure time' apparently. Shit machines, long drawn out cycles and miserable staff. true a lot of people were stung big when the 500's first came out, but I think the variety of machine has shrunk so much that theres not a lot to tempt people in anymore.
The law on minimum percentage needs to change to save arcades I think. Minimum 90% throughout. well I can dream, theres no law against that.
It wouldn't help griff, wouldn't matter if it was 98% by law.
People just prefer sniffing the BO of ninety nine fools gathered around a roulette terminal jabbering that 23 will come out as the ball started by zero.
That is what passes for fun these days.
Where is the fun in playing rigged Dond games, £500 games that never pay out and lo techs that play like £500 games on your own, when you can do it in a smelly room, full of smelly people with no money and what's more, rou is for desert.
So fairplay, they are wriniging the towel dry.
May as well have 30% bootleg on all hitechs.
That way at least you make a bit of cash from the two remaining regulars who 'just try a board'.
Lo techs on 50% bootleg.
All B3s on latest 88% software on pointless super soft 50p every three spins and nowt else profile.
If I owned an arcade, I'd have all the machines on 0% to be honest. That way I'd know that anyone collecting anything was up to something and I could bar them instantly.
I've also invited some new software for rigged FOBT roulette terminals.
Say you have bet £100 around the 9 area. Maybe with higher bets on 9 and lesser bets the furtehr you get from nine.
You press BET and the ball land in 9.....YES!!!!!!
but hang on
A little animation of a space ship appears, it hovers over the ball and beams it up, before spitting it out on number 6.
What the fook! You bellow, just about to go the counter when you see
So calmy you rebet and the ball spins around to number 9.
There's a little animation of a snail sliding up to the 9 area. There's also a bottle of Benylin tickly cough mixture (non drowsy) in the background.
COUGH! goes the snail and the ball flits around to number 4.
What the heck? What is going on? you bellow, looking to the counter for assistance.
. They have been taken over by part of the Noble Group and are going to be rebranded "Cashino". Its such a shame to see the place decline from when it was Thomas Estates to this...
yep
