You never forget your first Werther's Original

Cardinal Sin · Post by **Cardinal Sin** » Mon May 14, 2007 10:43 pm

Nor your first blast on a fruit machine.

Myself, I was about 8 years old and on a ferry back to Scotland. I had 50p to spend, and opted to throw it in a fruit machine rather than an arcade game. I had to climb on a stool to get the money in. I hit the start button, lights started flashing. No idea what was going on, I asked a stranger for help. He randomly hit HI and LO buttons for a bit. Then I hit the collect, and £11 popped out.

I didn't dare tell my parents about it at first. When I did, I expected a bollocking about the evils of gambling - instead they laughed at me, thinking I was going to recount a story of losing my 50p when in actual fact I won a sizeable some of money. I was even encouraged to recount this story to friends and family - which made a pleasant change from me mumping and moaning about being bored and wanting to go home.

As I grew older, I started playing machines an awful lot more. I lost a helluva lot of money, did some things I'm not proud of, and nearly went over the edge. Gradually I learnt how they worked, met a few folk, learnt a few real "tricks", and even started to have money at the end of the week. I moved back to Ireland for a while, and the antiquity of the machines over there meant I almost made enough to pay back the huge debts I'd previously accumulated.

Moving back to Scotland with a full-time job, I still played them a lot but could now afford to lose, which I started doing with great regularity. For the first time, I realised the time, as well as the money, that I was throwing away. Supposed to be meeting someone at 7pm for a drink - turning up at half past 8 with pathetic excuses wasn't good, regardless of whether I had a pocket full of nuggets or not.

So after a couple more years of this, I decided to call it a day - and with a couple of relapses (and still having regular bashes of the quiz machines), I've managed to kick the habit. I would love to occasionally throw a couple of quid into a machine which I know is gagging, but I don't have the discipline just to stick to that - so it's really all or nothing. I can buy a lottery ticket or place a bet on the footie without consequence, yet fruit machines have to be off-limits.

You might be wondering why I'm telling you all this. I'm not trying to encourage anyone to give up gambling, nor crowing about giving it up. I'm just interested in learning your experiences about how you came about to be a gambler in the first place.

Rich

Drpepper · Post by **Drpepper** » Tue May 15, 2007 12:33 am

Living in whitby i've always been around them. Always played on 2p pushers etc till the age of 11/12.

With no real interest in them i decided to stick 20p into a £3 JP machine. If i'd have lost here i'm pretty sure i'd never have had any inclination to play a fruit machine again. As it happens, i won £6, and the rest is history.

Most expensive £6 i've ever won.

bigv038 · Post by **bigv038** » Tue May 15, 2007 12:57 am

drpepper wrote:Living in whitby i've always been around them. Always played on 2p pushers etc till the age of 11/12.

With no real interest in them i decided to stick 20p into a £3 JP machine. If i'd have lost here i'm pretty sure i'd never have had any inclination to play a fruit machine again. As it happens, i won £6, and the rest is history.

Most expensive £6 i've ever won.

simular story with me living near the coast all my life, started on the nudge up deluxes £3 JP doing my paper round money every weekend at the age of 12.

why is it you always win the first time you play?

maverick69 · Post by **maverick69** » Tue May 15, 2007 1:44 am

living by the coast also, went with the rents on occasion after goin to the beach to the pier, used to play the pushers aswell, until one day i put a 2 p in a tupenny nudger and 3 melons rolled in for a 5 pound jp, the rest is history and i got hooked, thousands of pounds later, im just starting to win consitantly lol. i blame that fuckin tupenny nudger, if it had roled in melon, orange, pear. my life would have paned out differently oh well, must have been fate

toothless11 · Post by **toothless11** » Tue May 15, 2007 8:29 am

People say im not addicted and can give up in an instant but in most cases this isn't true. I gave up for 3 months straight and i didn't feel the urge, however after my break im much more disciplined which makes things so much easier. Im not always thinking and playing fruits now which is always good however it is hard.

The fact that i know i can make a decent amount of money on them just shows that i might as well do something that i enjoy and am good at untill i get a full time job.

I started playing when i went to holiday camp in Devon called Ruda, Also living on the coast didn't help things. If you ut your mind to it then you can achieve anything!

Stopnstep · Post by **Stopnstep** » Tue May 15, 2007 9:52 am

I started on the old 2p machines when I was about 7, when I went to the coast with the folks, one that I can't remeber the name of had a skill stop on the name to enter the feature and i could ping it every time, from then I was hooked.

Only tended to play them when I went on holiday though, until I started playing in pubs. Enjoyed the Crest and JPM days and now make enough money to live comfortably, playing part time and working full time.

Still no better feeling than coming home a good few hundred pound up from a couple of hours play.

Rob Pots · Post by **Rob Pots** » Tue May 15, 2007 10:45 am

I started playing when i was about 8. 2 names spring to mind.........

Cash Alarm
Blue Streak

I played these in clacton about once a month when visiting my nan and even then i was 'forcing' for the 'Big 50'. 2p a go.....would spend hours building up a bank to realise it was only £8.60!!!!!

Then progressed to 5p a go fruity's. I remember what worked a treat was sticking 20p in every machine, hoping for a feature and the occasional JP. Also any machine with a 2 on the reels hoping for a hold for the bonus!!!
Machines like Andy Capp and Popeye if i remember rightly.

Then it was onwards and upwards on price of play. Now £2.00 a go. 100% rise in 20 years!!!! I still play occassionally but i stick to 10p party times and golden games nowadays at the seaside. Cant go wrong on these for a bit of fun especially party games!!!

betfred · Post by **betfred** » Tue May 15, 2007 10:48 am

toothless11 wrote:People say im not addicted and can give up in an instant but in most cases this isn't true. I gave up for 3 months straight and i didn't feel the urge, however after my break im much more disciplined which makes things so much easier. Im not always thinking and playing fruits now which is always good however it is hard.

The fact that i know i can make a decent amount of money on them just shows that i might as well do something that i enjoy and am good at untill i get a full time job.

I started playing when i went to holiday camp in Devon called Ruda, Also living on the coast didn't help things. If you ut your mind to it then you can achieve anything!

I live quite near ruda and tend to go down there a lot and poach the holiday players money. Do you live round here? They have now got loads of udated fruits in their arcade now compared to the dross they used to have, lol!

toothless11 · Post by **toothless11** » Tue May 15, 2007 11:45 am

Haven't been there for about 6 years where it was all filled with bwbs and old crests i.e liva las vegas, road hogs, pink panthers (original) circus, cluedos andy capps and loads others.

Im heading down there soon again though. What updated fruits have they got in there? Have they any 25 JPs?

betfred · Post by **betfred** » Tue May 15, 2007 6:41 pm

toothless11 wrote:Haven't been there for about 6 years where it was all filled with bwbs and old crests i.e liva las vegas, road hogs, pink panthers (original) circus, cluedos andy capps and loads others.

Im heading down there soon again though. What updated fruits have they got in there? Have they any 25 JPs?

I think there are a few, but mainly five and ten pound jackpots! When i say updated i dont mean really modern but it is compared to wat they used to have. Its full of italian jobs,vamp it up etc. Easy pickings though cos its packed with young chavs who come down here on their holidays from up north and aint got a clue wat they are doing!

chapman · Post by **chapman** » Fri May 18, 2007 9:41 pm

Growing up in liverpool, there isnt much attraction for fruit machines but goin to southport college for 3 years that was where i learnt the gambling trade from the local wuls who i went there with, they taught me the trade.

first machine i was hooked on was crazy fruits , i fucking hate that machine