Why do you lads have gambling machines in a lot of your pubs?
Posted by 1tiredman@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 117 comments
I'm from Ireland and I've been to England twice and I've been to a few pubs and almost all of the pubs I've been in have had a gambling machine.
I'm from Ireland and that isn't really a thing here but it's something I've noticed in England and it seems very exploitative. I'm a drinking man I love to drink but I'm not a gambling man. I do the Euromillions when it goes over 100 million but that's as far as my gambling goes. I just think putting gambling machines in a place where people are going to be steamed is a bit fucking wild and they tend to be more common in working class area pubs which is even worse
Naive_Reach2007@reddit
Always been the way, had a friend who every Friday would sink all his money into one, then get mad when someone else came up and hit the jackpot
Sometimes he'd win though. Never really though about it, but very few European bars have them
McLeod3577@reddit
I had a mate who grew up in Blackpool and he knew all the machines and when they would pay out. Absolutely great guy to go drinking with, because he'd hit the jackpots so often and then buy the drinks. Legend!
KSAW11@reddit
Was his name Jay by any chance?
McLeod3577@reddit
No. But I am sure there's loads of bandit experts from Blackpool!
danieljamesgillen@reddit
Never knew how, but I knew a couple people in my life who would sink those machines every time. I think they'd be watching all the machines in the pub the whole time, seeing one that has taken a lot of money in and not yet paid out, and then jumped on it and got a big win. Was cool to see, my mate Conail paid so many nights out doing that as I recall in 2008.
The new electronic big screen things though are horrible, I returned to england after 10 years abroad, they weren't around when i left, now I came back, it's horrible them being in a pub, so bight and distracting, and the games.. I tried one out of curioisty, it was just shit. Total waste of time.
GrabbedByTheGhost@reddit
Why is having bright and distracting gambling machines any worse than having big bright and distracting football screens up everywhere?
AdministrativeShip2@reddit
I used to clean up on the quiz machines. I worked in a pub with several and would take notes of the answers, watch them until ready to pay out, then get the jackpots
But those died a death with smartphones.
1tiredman@reddit (OP)
Yeah I've noticed that the win rate on them is very low lol. They're really just there to take vulnerable people's money as is the same with all gambling machines
Albert_Herring@reddit
Nobody's going to be installing them to make a loss, indeed.
No-Mechanic6069@reddit
Yet, it’s worth comparing with roulette, which has a 97.5% return.
pods1937@reddit
Definitely them taking advantage.. rtp is set at 84%, and lots of flashing lights are very attractive when you are looking for a financial breakthrough whilst you drink your sorrows away....
Double bonus, when you lose, you buy more beer 🍻 👍
owningxylophone@reddit
I used to work building fruit machines, they all have their tells as to when they are going to pay. The one I always remember is the one I spent about a year building and repairing back in the 00’s - Crazy Fruits, can still remember the tell too… once it goes to the “bonus game” thing the little text screen will say either “Crazy Fruits” (no major payout coming) or “MAD FOR IT” at which point you just keep going and never bank and you will get the jackpot.
People in pubs that had one hated me, but it paid for many a night out clubbing.
pods1937@reddit
Once it goes to the bonus screen, the outcome is predetermined, so what you say is possible.
Before you press the spin button, every outcome is random wih modern slot machines. There is never any 'tell', as this would be impossible.
Going back 25 years, things did work differently however. In the UK pubs, there would be a limit of how much cash the machine could hold, so when it was nearly full, the chances of payout would increase.
Ok-Blackberry-3534@reddit
I feel like quite a lot of European bars have them. I vaguely recall seeing them in Spain and Hungary. But they tend to be in bars rather than cafe/bars.
GiffenCoin@reddit
Can't comment on the whole of mainland Europe but it's completely illegal at least in France and Germany. Although you can do sports betting in France (the famous "PMU") and there are Spielhalle in Germany which are separate gambling halls that presumably serve alcohol (never entered one).
Freerollingforlife@reddit
There’s fruit machines in German pubs and restaurants…
cryamiga@reddit
there's bookies in aussie pubs, don't think that's a great idea myself..
flohara@reddit
In East Europe is is bad, especially small villages. The less hope people have, the easier it is to exploit them with the idea of quick money. And they don't stop at the end of the money they have, they pile up debt too.
Advanced_Volume_4500@reddit
Eastern Europen usually have separate casions where you'd go for one, its rarely in a bar itself(giving Bulgaria as an example).
flohara@reddit
Oh what I'm talking about is your classic middle of nowhere shithole, sticky floor, may get stabbed, don't bring your kids in type of establishment, in a village less than 2000 residents. Casinos are high class in comparison.
Advanced_Volume_4500@reddit
You will barely find bars in these places, but trust me - a casino you probably will 🤷♂️😃
VolcanicBear@reddit
When I worked in a pub people at least had the sense to ask if it had paid out recently.
My response was always "I don't know, I don't pay attention" but at least they tried.
No-Television-9862@reddit
I had a mate spend all his money on a fruity then went missing for an hour and came back, turned out he lost all his money then went to the bank to extend his overdraft lol
Admiral_Eversor@reddit
Yeah it's pretty bad lol.
msf97@reddit
All slots based games are a cancer. You literally cannot win; there is no advantage, no edge.
Sports gambling far far superior and way more defensible.
WestleyMc@reddit
The crazy thing is, the machine literally tells you what percentage of your money you will lose over the long term and the regular players will still swear blind they’re ’up’ or have some sort of system!
R2-Scotia@reddit
If you let someone else feed it then it will be obliged to drop a payout soon after to.keep its win-lose ratio. A friend of mine who spent far too much time in his local used to make money by being observant.
WestleyMc@reddit
Most pub goers know that ‘one neat trick’ too, I have heard it many times.
The way you know this does not work is every single pub owner and member of bar staff would be jumping on the machine every time it hasn’t paid out for a while to get that sweet sweet score.
You may have better odds , but not beyond 100% ROI
R2-Scotia@reddit
What should it do when it gets full?
Admiral_Eversor@reddit
That is not how randomness works. A machine might pay out loads several times in a row. It might go a day without paying out. It all averages out over a long period of time to where the house wins.
Your friend has been afflicted by confirmation bias - they randomly won a couple of times, and now they are seeing a pattern where there isn't one.
R2-Scotia@reddit
Some of them aren't so random and will make a big payout if they are full.
It wasn't a couple of times, it was like once a week for years.
WestleyMc@reddit
Found the guy who plays fruit machines!
ZekkPacus@reddit
That worked with the old electromechanical machines but is a lot harder to spot with the new fully digital ones.
Admiral_Eversor@reddit
The house always wins for almost all gambling - it wouldn't exist otherwise.
msf97@reddit
This is true, but you can win on sports. It’s possible. Slots based games are chance
I can’t get a penny on with Ladbrokes or Coral. That’s because they think I have an edge. Let me know the next guy to be banned from the fruit machines or other slots!
Jeremys_Iron_@reddit
It isn't possible though. If you look up the bookies and calculate the odds, you could bet on every single option and you'd still slightly lose money overall due to commission hidden behind the odds. Therefore long term you are likely to lose.
RedditButAnonymous@reddit
Yeah but you dont bet on all of them do you? Thats the idea behind sports betting, is you use your knowledge of the game and try to make money that way
Im not even a gambler and even I can see the appeal to sports specifically
Jeremys_Iron_@reddit
Your knowledge isn't as good as the collective knowledge of the bots setting the odds.
Catman_Ciggins@reddit
No no the guy you're replying to is actually the one guy who's gambling sensibly, he can stop any time he wants and h is categorically NOT an addict in deep denial.
HawaiianSnow_@reddit
One could say that its not chance, its a gamble.
Conscious-Ball8373@reddit
Wait until you see pubs in Australia ☹️
Admiral_Eversor@reddit
I don't really drink so I'm immune 💪
BowiesFixedPupil@reddit
Euro millions tonight pal, 130m Euro or something, get on it!!!
You answered your own question by the way - exploitation and capitalism. I'm not sure how pubs are owned in Ireland but here, there's about 10 companies that own 99% of pubs. These companies are utter parasites, hence the machines and £7 a pint.
PatserGrey@reddit
Vast majority of Irish pubs would be of a much more private venture. That's not to say there aren't some rich people who own a bunch of pubs but it's nowhere near you conglomerates like Wetherspoons, Youngs etc. etc. - like unless you knew the background, you'd not know certain pubs had same owner. While it's great for look and feel, the price of a pint was high in Ireland long before the UK has been on the road to catching up.
Incidentally, I believe a few of the handful of 'spoons that opened in Ireland in last decade have actually shut already.
KSAW11@reddit
why is it so high in ireland? you literally make the giness and other stuff right there?
PatserGrey@reddit
Taxes and costs mainly but I cant I can't overlook a bit of greed sprinkled on top.
I was drinking pints of Ghost Ship for £2.30 in Brentwood, Essex last week - not the jicest oub in the world but fine for watchng a match. Nowhere back home could a get a drink even close to that price.
1tiredman@reddit (OP)
The pint prices have gotten extortionate here but I always thought it was down to the cunts who own the companies like diageo with Guinness
mrdibby@reddit
To my understanding price is more down to other costs of running establishments, much less the cost of alcohol.
A pint can has kept around £2 in an off license for the last 15 years while a pint in a pub has gone from like £4 to £7.
allen_jb@reddit
National Lottery is apparently £1 billion jackpot.
Nobody needs that kind of money.
Prizes should be capped at like £1 mill max. per winner - that's still a life changing amount of money for like 99.9% of people.
escapingfromelba@reddit
I do.
If people want a lower prize then there's plenty of other draws they can enter, this notion of a cap is a form of puritanism.
BillPayers@reddit
Why fuel one addiction at a time when you can do two?! Great British efficiency
KSAW11@reddit
i mean germany has packets of cigarettes in metal trolleys right next to the tills in supermarkets
H0vis@reddit
Time was they weren't a big deal because they couldn't eat a mortgage payment in half an hour. Now though gambling is secretly propping up pretty much the entire economy so we have to put up with them.
FartWar2950@reddit
In Australia the bookies is literally inside the pub to maximise exploitation of drunkenness.
Asuranath@reddit
I'll be honest I can't remember the last time I even saw someone on a fruit machine.
Krakshotz@reddit
People are more likely to bet after a few drinks. Alcohol loosens self-control and increases risk-taking
yiddoboy@reddit
Because people like to gamble as a recreational activity and they are profitable for the pub.
NotAProperAccount3@reddit
This isn't an answer to your question, but in Australia they have machines that basically act as actual bookmakers (this was before everyone could do it on their phone anyway) in their pubs. I assume you're talking about 'fruit machines' and the like? I do agree pubs etc. are better without these. Feels like it would be something that would be really easy to legislate against as it could be tied to your license.
I do think the fact that people can simply gamble any time from their phones sort of makes it a moot point these days unfortunately.
luciferslandlord@reddit
Yes it is mooot because of phone gambling
white1984@reddit
Fruit machines are known as pokies in Australia. The rules about pokies vary depending on the state as gambling is a state matter not a federal matter.
PutAutomatic2581@reddit
Fuck, I forgot to win the lottery tonight!
zephyrmox@reddit
Mate try Australia.
External-Praline-451@reddit
They love their pokies in pubs.
Byte141@reddit
Australia was insane, everywhere you looked there was some sort of gambling machine, screen or advert. That doesn’t even include the machines out the back either
Dizzy-Abroad323@reddit
Pretty much a bookies attached to a pub
Mozambleak@reddit
Man you should see Australia and the 'Pokies'. Couple fruit machines is nothing by comparison.
But yeah it's exploitative. Get them drunk and try get some more money.
Communist_Ninja@reddit
They’re gone now, but I remember the last time I was seeing family in Ireland and they couldn’t get why I was literally obsessed with seeing a cigarette machine in a pub. Must’ve been like that for you?
VFrosty3@reddit
They are truly awful. I used to work a bar, there was a win % set on the machine. We’d make loads of money on it. I had to empty the hopper when the boss was away, hundreds of pounds sometimes and we were a small sports social club.
A few people would pile quid after quid in there. One bloke bragged about how he’d won the jackpot, £200, but I’d seen him stick about 3x that amount in there that month. That was just that month, let alone all the other months. Mental.
They’d all have these theories that if you held a button down, pressed another button, it helps your chances. It didn’t. It was utter nonsense.
I bet they’re even worse now that you can probably use a card or mobile to play on them.
Cpan03@reddit
My town has a kebab shop with a slots machine 😂
Dyalikedagz@reddit
Is it really odd? I've seen many pubs in Ireland where you walk through a door directly into the bookmakers next door!
ItsDominare@reddit
just a bit of fun pal
Salaried_Zebra@reddit
Because there's no law against it and there's money to be made.
Expensive-Draw-6897@reddit
You hit the nail on the head there. They are always in working class pubs. Same here in Scotland. We used to get the fancy quiz touch screen ones but people travelled round the country earning money off them.
Morganx27@reddit
It's fun, that's why. Have a few drinks, pop your loose change into the machine, see if you get something back. I think there should be limits on how much you can put in there, mind. Personally, I'd say you shouldn't be allowed to put notes into them.
Honey-Badger@reddit
Im wondering what sort of places you've been going to. Like yeah Gambling machines to exist but these days its only like the worst pubs that have them.
Tough-Oven4317@reddit
This lost makes fruitys sound like the most tempting thing in the world lol. Most people couldn't give a crap about a fruity. It's hardly some kind of immoral thing. Strange flavour of pearl clutching
Flavourifshrrp@reddit
There used to be quiz machines as well….i didn’t mind having a pint and spending a pound or two. You could win money on those to, but I never got near that.
But now it’s all gambling machines in the pubs round by me, they must make the most money.
Cheap-Rate-8996@reddit
If you think England is bad for this, never go to Australia. It's on another level entirely. Australian 'pubs' are just mini-casinos at this point.
hopium_od@reddit
More regulation in Ireland making fruit machines a lot harder to host. Need a license and approval from local authority.
superjambi@reddit
It's only in pubs that are a bit rough, in my experience. A nice pub won't have them, a really nice one won't have TVs either.
elbapo@reddit
Why is anyone downvoting this when the guy is right
Banes_Addiction@reddit
Nah, I disagree. They're all over the place.
superjambi@reddit
Rough pubs are yeah
elbapo@reddit
I want to say that:
a) thats a certain class of pub and you may want to trade up your mates over here at some point. There are plenty of pubs which dont.
And b) dont ever go to new Zealand/Australia if you dont like these. Many pubs have whole rooms full of these machines and they are way fancier than ours!
exile_10@reddit
If you find the UK pub / gambling thing a bit much do not go to Australia.
BillWilberforce@reddit
Pubs automatically get a licence if they want it for 2 Amusement With Prizes (AWP) (fruit) machines. And they rake in cash. Only 80% of what goes into them is paid out.
I can remember working in a private member's club about 25 years ago. That had a £250 pay out. Somebody won it, got the repeat chance twice. Netting £750. He then put it all back, into the same machine the next day.
Simon170148@reddit
I guess because the pubs and machine owners make money out of it and they're allowed to
PazyP@reddit
I think it’s a traditional thing, always been a puggy in pubs yea it’s exploitive and yea it’s plays on people’s additive tendencies especially when drunk.
I’ve never been a gambler, I’ve put a few bets on but never more that a couple of pounds but when I was a student having a few pints with my mates after uni I’d love a go on the quiz machine all 3/4 of you huddled around it trying to win deal of no deal
mining-ting@reddit
Wait till you go australia, whole bookies in every pub
UKAOKyay@reddit
fruit machines (slot/gaming machines) are taxed in the UK through Machine Games Duty (MGD). Operators pay MGD on the "net takings"—total stakes minus prizes paid out. As of early 2026, the standard MGD rate on machine profits is 20%, with rates of 5% or 25% applying depending on the cost to play and maximum prize
MobiusNaked@reddit
Don’t go to Australia if you think UK is bad for this country
Nuo_Vibro@reddit
Ny local just got taken over. Used to be a freehold, now brewery run with a landlord. He absolutely did not want a bandit in there, brewery made him
ServerLost@reddit
Gives the habitual drinkers something to do.
ClevelandWomble@reddit
They probably make more money than the beer does. Market forces.
Nebulousdbc@reddit
The machines are usually set to 80%+ return to player, in addition to the RTP the cost of renting the system and the electric to run it it probably doesn't work out to be all that much to the pub
Additional-Nobody352@reddit
Don't see them as much thesedays outside of slightly rougher pubs.
PartyPoison98@reddit
They're a moneymaker for the landlord.
Realistically, they're becoming a lot less common. Other than Wetherspoons, I'd be surprised to see one in your average pub.
jonschaff@reddit
Fun fact: the mafia. Also the mafia guy who made them popular? Killed by the mafia.
Mark Knopfler wrote a great song about it.
blue_rizla@reddit
It’s just a fruit machine tbh. A minority of pubs might have one. I didn’t know they weren’t in Ireland too. They’re seen as a bit old fashioned, pubs with a younger or more female clientele probably wouldn’t have one.
I think you’re clutching pearls a bit here tbh. To be so aghast and worried about how there is a gambling machine in the corner of a working class pub? They do sell alcohol at that pub too you know, that has also been bad for these poor, vulnerable working class people.
DennisDunkdalk@reddit
Roughly 2 in every 3 pubs has a fruit machine which is not a minority
blue_rizla@reddit
Fair enough, I don’t have statistics on it, I was just going off how many of them I remember seeing.
The point is really that there’s plenty of places to gamble away your life savings, I don’t think fruit machines in pubs is really the make or break on problem gambling. If we want to ban everything that can lead to a social problem, then surely alcohol itself is far, far higher up that list.
OptimalDescription39@reddit
As someone who's seen friends get hooked, it's absolutely predatory. Pubs + booze + vulnerable people is a dangerous combo. Surprised it's still so common.
Albert_Herring@reddit
Fruit machines in pubs have been a thing as long as I've been going to pubs, but they used to have a very low limit but law (in the early 1980s it was a maximum £2 payout on a 10p stake) and to see anything higher you'd have to go to a casino, which were rare. They were supplied and maintained by the same companies that did pinball tables and Space Invaders machines. I guess that at that point the idea was that you could scratch the gambling itch (and make the landlord some money) without doing too much social damage - at that time there was also very restricted advertising for gambling, bookies had to have their windows blanked out, etc. Bring all that back and I'd be happy.
TinhatToyboy@reddit
Not easy to make a profit with a UK pub, anything that contributes revenue is a plus.
YchYFi@reddit
If it's a wet pub more likely to have them. Not sure why. Always been like that. Spoons does too.
Mundo7@reddit
what is a wet pub?
YchYFi@reddit
A place with little to no food (mostly bar snacks) and serves only drink.
Ok-Blackberry-3534@reddit
Spoons absolutely packs them in. I think there's a legal limit to how many you can have in one venue, and they definitely seem to max it out.
PARFT@reddit
never seen anyone win apart from the landlord when it’s quiet
dismaldunc@reddit
watched a guy in our spoons... he was at the fruit machine and paying £1 a go. pressed the button about every 5 seconds. I counted up to 70 in a few mins, I assume some of that was "winnings" but he walked away with nothing. He didn't look like he had a pot to piss in, so assume that was a chunk of his wages gone. (tho he might be a multimillionaire, I just like making up back stories for peeps that I see)
Usual-Journalist-292@reddit
Yup, I recently watched a man put £30 into a machine, win until his balance was around £200 but did he stop at that point? Nope, he carried on until he lost it all, yelled in anger then went up to the bar and came back with a fresh pint to put more money back in the machine and carry on again.
Seems to just take advantage of those who have more money than sense.
Spottyjamie@reddit
Do we?!! Only seen them in two wetherspoons in my city
seklas1@reddit
Probably because laws allow it, and pub owners get some money for having them in there.
Mikey463@reddit
I have never actually clocked that in Ireland. Been there many many times all over and never noticed gambling machines not being in pubs. Never use them over here but it’s not good for people that do if they are wasting lots of money. If it’s just a little and they can afford it then I guess it’s okay.
UpThem@reddit
Poker machines in NI pubs can be as bad.
__mz@reddit
I guess it’s no different to a casino serving alcohol 🤷🏼♂️
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