Topic: Claw Machines: a category of gambling? - page 6. (Read 1247 times)

I have the same hunch, it's possible that the claw is set up on how tight or loose they can be to make it difficult for the players to get prizes. Of course, as a businessman who wants to make players happy, we can't agree that we won't make money from the machines we set up in our place, right? then others will even like to play it more because it is challenging to do. There are times when other players have techniques that make them win a lot of prizes, like when it was trending on social media that they used a magnet for the claw, but that's not allowed, because that's cheating.

Claw machine is on a top of category of things to avoid with kids. Trying to impress or make kid happy, parents spend tons of money on it. Every parents wants to be kids hero, who has got a toy. Buying toy is different. Winning it in a game of luck owners greed is different.

I have googled gambling machine and found this https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/licensees-and-businesses/guide/gaming-machine-categories. According to it, claw machine or crane machine are D category gambling machine. Same as coin pushers. Even wikipedia say that claw machine are considered as gambling devices in some jurisdictions.

The way claw machines work is that the owner sets how strong the claw can grab and it randomly grabs with different levels of pressure. Every once in a while it grabs with enough pressure to let you win something. While people may fool themselves into thinking it is a game of skill, it is chance that you get a strong enough grip to grab something.

This is gambling because you risk money to be able to get a prize, and even this can lead you to addiction that's why this machine is widely available in shopping centers or any other place that people around because many are interested and they will try to play to get the desired prize which sometimes the money spent has exceeded the price of the prize targeted.
I think this is much more difficult than slot games to get win, because I have never won it even though many videos appear that also show how difficult it is to win prizes in this game, and sometimes I think this is designed so that the chances of getting a prize are almost 0, and I think those who can finally win are those who have spent enough money on this machine.

A person who play claw machine also risk money when he tries to pull out a toy. The cost of 1 game < toy price. Win a toy and sell it = get money. Gambling has age restriction, but when gambling online age is rarely asked. During regular gambling gamblers are also get portion of entertainment. People also get addicted when they want to pull out one specific toy or item and start depositing money into machine like nuts. Everything looks identical.

Although it has many qualities that are similar to gambling, such as luck, odds, and involves risking money, I don't think claw machines should be considered gambling. Because in claw machine any age can play the game, gambling has age restrictions when playing the games. Claw machines is a form of entertainment where you can get physical toys or plushies, although gambling is also seen as entertainment, claw machines are different in a way as for fun or challenge, than in gambling as risk-taking or financial gain or expectation of winning money.

You are forgetting that 1 game cost less than the price of that toy. Even though they are extremely cheap, the cost of 1 game is still lower than toys actual price. So they arent just recreational machines.  And what about fact, that you risk all the time with money? What about a wish to win, not just buy a toy? People gamble to win, and it does not matter if they win $1 or $100000. They still be happy, only the amount of happiness will be different. It is gambling after all.

I do not play those games, because 90% of the time, those "claws" are rigged. Yes, people might spot the way that these machines operate and some might even find a way to exploit them to their benefit. (Like using a strong magnet to pull metalic objects)

I like to play games that are "Provably fair" and where a little bit of skill and knowledge might render you some profit and not just entertainment. These days games like that are scarce and most games are rigged for higher profit. 

Yes, I can call these machines a different kind of gambling. After all, you pay money into the machine and in return you get a prize if you are lucky. For this not to be gambling, you should not win prizes with money. But you can also buy the toys you win from the machine in a toy shop. So you could also call these machines recreational machines.

I think it's complicated. Obviously, if I'm going to gamble, I want to win money. Because if I get a toy as a prize from these machines in exchange for money, I wouldn't call it gambling. I think it's a purely recreational activity. I am very confused about this. Because I can buy the toy from this machine from any toy store.

Life can also be considered as a gambling, and with this claw machines, I consider this as gambling because there's no guarantee that you will be rewarded after paying some to play, and that's my definition of gambling.

This can also be addicting and many in our locals who are already addict in this kind of game and other games in the amusement park, they spend the whole day just playing it in return of something that is not guaranteed. Well, we all have our own version of meaning of gambling, and for me this is gambling.

Yes, this claw machine has become one type of gambling game machine which gives gamblers direct opportunity to create their own opportunities and luck by directing the existing claws.
But now the claw machine has been presented as game for children with lots of dolls, candy and chocolate in it so that if it is related to money, it is gambling, maybe the children who play are also indirectly gambling.
Hahaha, this is just joke, but in reality, several casino games have been converted into games for children and I have seen many of them in several supermarkets that provide special playgrounds for children.

Honestly, I have never played it, but seeing several adults play game like that, I feel how great it is and how much fun and adrenaline can get.
However, when gamblers only care about money and certain amount of profit, they will not care about fun or adrenaline because all they think about is how to produce the profit.

I am not sure if these arcades have been setting up and making it easy to believe that each of us can win those toys that can easily be reached. It seems to me that they hire someone or one of their staff pretends to be a goer and just plays there casually with a lot of tokens and trying to get those toys that even if they're far from reach, they're attracting us as if they're easy to make. I am not sure if those tiktok videos that I have watched showing some tricks on how to easily take those toys are for real. It's a setup I believe and there's no hack in it and they are more of a promotional video that they're doing to attract goers go to them and buy tons of tokens or avail their discounted prices and promos.

I don't think that they're a fair game and none of them really is fair because it's a business. Expect that these games that can be found in amusement parks and arcades are there to play fair only for the establishment itself while giving small percentage of winners win. You see that these claw machines won't really have a strong grip unless you go in Japan and I think that games there are fairer and they're honest people. So, in the conclusion if these are gambling, I'd say yes. The same goes for the casinos that has their own tokens, we exchange real fiat money in exchange for their native tokens to be admitted and allowed to play inside.

Personally, I believe that it is  form of gambling simply because thereis a possibility of losing and winning something out of a stake or payment. It is just not alike with the traditional betting wherein high stakes are on the line. It is a form of gambling because of the idea of lacking assurance whether you'd win the prize despite of paying for your 'shot'. You are simply paying for the probability of getting more than what you paid for e.g $.5 for a stuffed toy. The claw machine's arm in most instances would be 'soft' to pull the desired prize off the machine. Well, indeed some people are using strategies to get the win but it doesn't work all the time and that still doesn't promote assurance, which for me, makes it a gamble.

Again, it is just different with traditional gambling games sinply because the prize is rarely money. Fun fact, any activity wherein someone will either gain or lose, tangible or not, reward or consequence, as long as assurance of winning or getting what you are expecting to have at the end of the game, would be considered as gambling.

This is actually a kind of gambling because you are buying things without any assurance of getting the items and you don't even have any consolation prize when you put your money inside the machines. Many get addicted of this because they see this kind of game in reels and short videos and once I saw someone wins some decent prizes from playing in this claw machine but they don't show how much they spend before that which make it obvious that they are just luring people to try this kind of game and get addicted by themselves.

Claw machines can certainly feel like gambling to some extent, given that you're putting money in with the hope of retrieving a prize. But it rather generally considered games of skill rather than gambling. The outcome isn't left purely to chance since your control over the claw has a significant impact on whether you win.
And I think it regulated differently from gambling machines, which reflects this distinction. It's understandable to see them more as an arcade game, where the primary goal is entertainment and skillful play is rewarded with a physical prize.

Regardless of the standards, I would categorize it as gambling and put it on the lower end, like those games with loot boxes because you still win a prize, but the rates are worse than actual casino games. Luck is always a factor because claw machines can be modified to only work at a certain time and you don't know how many tries are needed before it hits that specific threshold where you can snag a prize. In the long run, the owner should always come out on top unless they didn't set it properly.

Claw machines is the first form of gambling most of us were exposed to funnily enough.
It can very much be defined as gambling because really it's a game based on chance and the chances are fixed against you by the machine's computer. The machine has to always earn more than what the rewards inside it cost otherwise it's a pointless thing to host for any venue.

In my country there used to be many claw machines that had extravagant rewards like banknotes and even on some occasions gold coins. There was a crackdown in these as the law permitted police to seize them as unlicensed gambling machines. Really the same could be said for claw machines where the price is plushies, but at least it's not as obvious. I think persons under 15 should only be allowed there with adult supervision because otherwise the addictive nature of these machines can also get to them whereas there should be some limits.

How do we defined gambling?
In short form; gambling is anything stake with money for intention to receive a large or equals amount in return. So, to say this is gambling and it requires luck for you to win something from the machine and if you don't win then the other person enters to play since there are lots of people wanting to play. if there were no fund included then we can say is not gambling, as far as cash is involved for exchange for another higher or lesser amount then we can consider it to be gambling. This types of gambling are mostly skill based gambling because you must use yourself to play the game, so you must be technical enough or to discover the secret behind the winning before you could be winning regularly unlike online based gambling.

^^ But still, how do you get those tokens? right, you will buy it with your money and so that is already the very definition of gambling per se. Risk that involves money is already gambling and this is just a way for this arcade to hide it and make it fun specially for kids to play claw machine ask their parents for their money and play.

It doesn't mean that because it's token and then you are not being rewarded by money is not going to fall on the category of gambling.

I considered it as some type of a normal game because that kind of claw machine is usually found in arcade game,
I don't consider it as a type of gambling knowing that there is money involved, why? because we use tokens here to play, yes there is money involved at first but you will be using it when you buy token coins and that's what you use to play on the claw machine. usually in claw machines there is a trick because some of the hooks in it don't really get items but there are some people who are very good at playing it, I also often try things like that when I go to arcade shops and it's really rare to get a prize Another reason why it should not be considered as gambling is because when you win by playing it, the winning prize is some cute items, not the exact money.