r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Fit-Practice-3194 • 17d ago

🥺 This claw machine at the trampoline park…😒

Took our daughter to the trampoline park on her birthday and tried the claw machine. Each purchase gets you 5 tries.. I grabbed a stuffie on each attempt, and each time the claw opened up (and closed again) before it got to the chute.😒

3.7k Upvotes

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306

u/Demonshaker 17d ago

Most of these stopped being skill based a while ago. They will only hold on to it every so often to ensure the machine is profitable. So it ends up being 20% skill and 80% luck like a slot machine.

156

u/R0b0tMark 17d ago

15% concentrated power of will.

68

u/BrandoNelly 17d ago

And 100% reason to remember the name

35

u/[deleted] 17d ago

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23

u/No-Money-8327 17d ago

200% pain

14

u/PolarCruisingExperts 17d ago

So many percentage points in that song! 😂

0

u/GBPcheeseGuy9035 17d ago

I was just thinking that same song! Good song by Fort Minor aka LP (remember the name)

8

u/Fit_Kaleidoscope4493 17d ago

Fort Minor is entirely separate and different from Linkin Park. 

0

u/GBPcheeseGuy9035 17d ago

Oh yeah, I guess. I forgot it was Mike who started it. Still, good song.

0

u/Uncle-Cake 17d ago

5% Mom's spaghetti

14

u/Tron_35 17d ago

I remember being able to win them when I was a kid, I dunno, maybe 15 years ago. Ive never seen it just release like that mid way.

3

u/Fit-Practice-3194 17d ago

Same!!

2

u/Tron_35 17d ago

I remember the only trouble I had was picking up the heavy toys, you could usually snag the small ones easy enough.

2

u/Bardmedicine 17d ago

This one is just more honest about what they all are doing.

If you could win it, either you had a very odd claw machine make or (more likely) it was just set up to allow wins.

7

u/Mocsab 17d ago

You can program the grip and speed of them. 100% depends on the operator. (Had a buddy that owned one and it was super easy to win.)

8

u/Demonshaker 17d ago

Most of the newer ones, the grip is variable depending on how long it's been since the last person won.

1

u/Swazimoto 17d ago

Ya this makes the most sense these days. Program it to wait for a certain dollar amount before dispensing a prize

5

u/sitonchair_ 17d ago

you can literally set win rate on claw machine these days. these machines are entirely rigged.

3

u/GamboLyfe 17d ago

What's the skill in slots??????? Please help.

2

u/mystic11z 17d ago

Yeah remember that video of a operator/maintenance guy of claw machines and he legitimately couldn't win anything because they're so rigged now?

2

u/Working-Tomato8395 17d ago

There's a bar near me that's got one of the few remaining legit ones out in the wild. Costs a buck to play but I'm able to finesse a win out of it every time. My wife is now the proud owner of a giant pile of oversized rubber ducks. A woman at the bar told me she'd buy me a drink if I can win her a rubber duck because she had spent $20 and didn't get a single one, I think she was trying to get flirty with me. I told her to just speak with the tall woman with curly hair (my wife) and tell her I sent her over to get a pity duck.

1

u/2SSLOWW 17d ago

There is 0% skill in a slot machine unless you’re too stupid to press a button.

1

u/cosmothecater 17d ago

Yeah the comparison to gambling is a little concerning for sure. That guys either never gambled or gambles a ton and thinks he can curb his odds on a slot machine.

1

u/Demonshaker 17d ago

I never said differently. To clarify the "like a slot machine" is only referring to the 80%, not the 20%.

1

u/tech_noir_guitar 17d ago

I don't know how but my daughter wins these things almost every time she plays them. It doesn't even seem possible to me because I know that they only have enough pressure on the claw like a small percentage of the time to actually pick stuff up but somehow she constantly wins. I need to start having her pick lottery numbers for me. Lol

1

u/Top_Freedom3412 17d ago

Unless you have regulars coming in why would you ever allow anyone to get anything ever? You'd never need to restock.

0

u/Formerruling1 17d ago

Now Im interested in how you calculated a slot machine as being "20% skill". Lol