Have you got a problem with a pub or arcade?
To
add your view please send an email to
cj.smedley (at)
gmail.com If you've been barred for playing machines legally
for what you to believe is an unfair reason you can now slag off that pub, club
or arcade on the internet! Send me an account of what has happened to you using
the email above and if approved I will publish it here on this page for the
world to see.
HALL OF SHAME (updated 12-12-09)I went to
Cornwall to stay with Shaun (a member of my club) to see the 1999 solar
eclipse. While down there for a few days we thought we would go to Newquay to
do a bit of gambling. I went with Shaun into an arcade which had a row of
£15 jackpot machines. I saw an Italian Job which is one of my favourite
machines. I went over and put in about 10 quid to see how it was playing. It
was fairly quiet in the arcade so put in another 10 to listen if the coins were
going to fall down into the cashbox. None did so I figured it wasn't ready to
pay and I would collect what I could. I managed to get an invincibal board to
get 15 of my 20 back. I then tried a fiver in a FRENZY but it wasnt ready for
anything so we left. Shaun and I split up cos he was meeting his misses so I
wandered off to
NEW SPACE CITY. I walked in
and soon found the £15 jackpot machines. Nice arcade I thought. I still
had 20 coins on me from the last arcade so proceeded to an Italian Job which
happened to be the first machine I came too. Within a couple of pound I had a
15 jp from a yellow feature board and I thought the machine might be streaking
(it turns out it wasn't as it is a nasty rechip), I collected this then stuck
about 10 quid back in. The next feature was rubbish and I realised I wasn't
going to make any money. While playing off the credits I got a tap on the
shoulder from a greasy young security type bloke who asked me to leave. I asked
'What on earth for?'. He replied 'We have been contacted by another arcade and
been warned of someone matching your description.' I asked 'Warned about what?
I have only been to one other arcade and I lost a tenner!'. He simply replied
'I'm sorry you have to leave. I don't have a reason, it is just the rules.'
Well I walked out of there completely stunned. I mean I have been into hundreds
of pubs in my life and NEVER been barred, not even when I was using some of the
classic emptiers of the past couple of years! I walk into a poxy arcade in
NEWQUAY and get barred for losing! Anyway the arcade is
NEW SPACE CITY in NEWQUAY so don't ever go there! I was
so incensed at the barring that I decided to create this web page so other
players can tell their tales. I mean getting barred for winning isn't right
anyway, but getting barred for losing is just taking the piss. Someone has to
win. The manufacturers put all these wonderful features into machines for us to
work out, then the arcade owners bar us when we do! What a joke. So below is a
form, if you have a tale of an unfair barring, be it a pub, club or arcade then
tell me all about it and I may put it on this page. For the benefit of the
players involved I will not use any surnames on this page.
From
Christine (An ex Nobles employee)I used to work for nobles amusements
AKA Luxury Leisure. I can sure tell you a few tales about the company and its
staff. I think it is unfair that innocent people get kicked out for winning
what area managers see as too much money but they put a fortune in and are
lucky to break even and as for that snotty bitch from london "ms £4.89p
an hour", get a life. It is the nobles bros and they are millionaires out of
peoples suffering as they are addicted to gambling. But there are some that do
it for fun. I would advise people not to buy anything from this company ie,
goods (tax dodge), food etc. The security is shoddy you would think for a shop
with a large amount in it they would have proper security, the photo images
that were on that memo are crap to make out anyhow. And no you are not barred
from all nobles they say that to scare you. Why? I have no idea. Also they
break laws of human rights by advertising for staff floor ops. For example they
then get alot of replys from males as well as females. The males get an
application form, knowing that he has no hope in hell because they dont hire
guys (equal ops) to work on the floor.
From Maggie:I work in
the gaming industry, to hold ancillary machines these places need a gaming
license which has to be applied for through the local magistrates. If there are
any real greivances about the way you have been treated by one of these
proprietors you can write to the magistrates in the area, these sort of issues
are taken into consideration when licences are being renewed.
HEADLINE: ALL NOBLES ARCADES HAVE BANNED ARRAN! Arran says: For no
given reason I now find myself barred from all Nobles amusements in the UK.
Saturday, I was playing 8ukp Roller Coaster in
CORAL
ISLAND, I was 13ukp /down/ at the time. Three gentlemen approached
my machine, then asked me to finish my credits and leave. Naturally I
challenged them for a reason, but all they would say is that ' the mangement
did not want me to play', and some crap about 'knowledge'; except to add that I
was not welcome in "any" Nobles establishment, particulary Funland. Now I have
been playing in Funland and Coral Island for many years now, I have
occasionally been busted for doing the 'emptyable' machines, but never barred
from both at the same time. During this time I've noticed that several
professional players ply their trade in Coral Island, several of them locals.
It amazes me how these players are never challenged, even though the better
ones are netting in excess of £1000 per week. Yet I (who go there
relatively infrequently) get barred for 'knowing too much'. If I was a cynic, I
might believe that I was being barred on the request of the 'other'
professionals, who appear to be 'well in' with the management. I might even go
as far as to suggest that there may be some sort of trade off going on. Maybe I
am a cynic. The same sort of situation is most certainly in evidence in other
Noble's establishments, where the 'sharks' are making several hundred pounds
per week unchallenged, whilst anybody with a degree of professionalism is
getting barred. In all cases the 'sharks' are very well in with the management.
Any suggestion that I may be alluding to something sinister going on will of
course be strenuously denied, however it certainly makes me think.
Anyway, with Nobles holding a virtual monopoly of decent arcades, and
trying to increase their position of strength all of the time. I now find
myself barred from all the local arcades. Unless I fancy getting my knee caps
threatened in the shady places.
Here's the rub: I am not a criminal, I
always play machines honestly, but will naturally apply all my knowledge and
experience in order to maximize my chances of winning. Who wouldn't. I have
never employed illegal, or improper methods to win from machines. I am always
civil and courteous to the staff (even when getting barred). So why is it that
I am no longer allowed to spend an enjoyable afteroon or evening in my local
arcade, often winning, sometimes losing. Nobles amusements have too much of a
grip of the amusements arcade segment in my opinion, this now directly affects
me personally. I will now make it my crusade to do something about this.
Here's a few questions, if anybody could help to answer these I would
be very grateful. 1. What is the legal status of a ban, i.e. what /could/
happen to me if I ignore it. 2. What is the process that Nobles must go through
to get a gaming license? 3. Is it possible to challenge an application for (or
renewal of) such license. 4. If answer to 3 is yes. How? and what happens then.
Arran H.
HEADLINE: NOBLES DO IT AGAIN! (NOBLES IN GRIMSBY) I
invited Jus down to Grimsby today. Nice chap, a proper player, no keys or other
suspect activites. We went into Nobles arcade (Victoria street; there are two
in Grimsby). The staff came up to me and asked me who he was and I replied
"Justin". Also they seemed anxious to know where he was from. They eventually
asked him to leave. I remained in the arcade and asked "what's he done?". In
fact he had done nothing at all wrong but I was very disturbed to find that
they had a computer image printout of Jus. Not from inside an arcade but by his
car, most likely taken by a zoom lens camera. I asked to see the picture,
stapled to the back was an internal memo. The memo asked to look out for
strangers - in particular Justin. The photo included banned for I quote
"manipulating machines by pressing the buttons". Outside I spoke to Jus who
informed that he had never been there before ever! This could easily be you or
I, banned before you ever go in. The law likens an arcade's right to refusal to
that of a public house at least you can appeal against a pub ban. Thanks for
listening, I had to get this off my chest. Simon H
BUTLINS POOR
SHOW, from Patrick WakehamA couple of months ago I went to butlins and
went in the
Crack a Jack arcades. I won the
jackpot out of the machine Fruit Explosion, and repeated it 4 times. The man
that worked there said " your not allowed to take that much money. You'll have
to give me £10." I refused and in the end he called security and asked
them to remove me from the arcades, and I was banned for the last 3 days of my
holiday
QUICK EXIT from QUICK SILVER, from Julian Hardy About
2 years ago i went into
Quicksilver in
Peckham High Street, south east London where i found a Big Bucks, my
favorite machine from days gone by. I pumped this machine with £30 and
was still losing when this jumped up manageress asked me to leave. WHAT! - I
said 'What have i done?'. I don't have to give you a reason she said. I
protested long and hard but she had convinced herself that i was up to
something just because my brain works a lot faster than hers. Maybe she wanted
me out so she could play and win my dosh. I walked out fuming knocking a bowl
of sugar on the floor as i left. It was the first and last time i ever went
there. BASTARDS!!!
Coeley's by SmiddyI got barred from
Coeleys arcade at the funfair. the little
twerp serving on the cash desk came out cos i was winning and said go higher
and i said no so he delibretly pressed the lo button so i lost. So i then said
go away back in your box. He said no this is my arcade and boxes. so i had to
leave cos he was a pest and his daddy barred me. That sucks man!
From
Dan A.When going to Brighton I go to an arcade called
Regency Arcade just off the seafront. When
I go there which is about 3/4 times a year I play Wipeout, Funny Money and a
few other 25 machines. On my last visit all the machines I played paid out a
few jackpots so I ended up making about 150 a time. The first day I went into
the Regency Arcade the woman behind the counter changed up my 1 coins into
notes without a problem. The second time she looked at her boss who said "I can
only change up 50, if I had the notes I would change 500, but people tend to
use the cash machines for notes". The third time I went into the Regency Arcade
I went to one of my favourite machines and was told by a short guy in there
"you cant play machines in this part of the arcade", I asked why? He replied
cause my boss told me to say that to you. I then said "I want a reason?" so the
lady behind the counter said "its cause you know cheats about the machines". I
said "thats crap, I dont know any cheats, im just naturally lucky" she then
said "don't believe you" I said "look i'm rich enough and make enough money
anyway". I then said "happy new year" to the whole arcade and left. I feel
really angry that I got told I couldn't play certain machines, isn't the whole
idea of going to an arcade to win money? I feel I was treated like
shit.
