Source
r/japanlife•
cdpaper

What are your pachinko strategies?

Here are mine

  • Bring ear plugs
  • Play new machines exclusively, if possible
  • Bring 10,000 yen to ensure sufficient number of spins
  • Choose a machine that hasn't had many jackpots in the past few days
  • Choose a machine that has had a high number of spins today
  • Count balls - if I can't find a sweet spot on the dial that puts at least one in ten balls in, I move to another machine
  • When the fever is over, pack up and leave. I got what I came for.

What do you think about a "squatting" strategy of using the same machine all day?

EDIT: Added ear plugs, new machines

Posted Sep 29, 2016, 11:54 AM UTC · edited

954
takaharatan近畿・京都府•

"The only winning move is not to play" :-)

45
Tannerleaf関東・東京都•

John Connor should have hidden from The Terminator(s) in a pachinko parlour.

1
kaihatsusha中部・愛知県•

Wrong reference, Professor Falken.

2
calamitynacho関東・東京都•

"Let's chessing!"

1
mk572•

"How do I make money with Pachinko?" - "Run a Pachinko parlor"

22
tokyohoon関東・東京都•

Look at the building, look at the machines, look at the staff.

All that was paid for by people who thought they could win.

The only way to consistently make decent money in the long term at pachinko is to run the parlor or sell it supplies. Even the self professed pachinko pros never make a consistent profit over the long term.

The house always wins.

10
Tannerleaf関東・東京都•

The staff always look knackered at those places.

4
tokyohoon関東・東京都•

I know a few former pachinko hall staff - every one of 'em half deaf.

4
Tannerleaf関東・東京都•

:-(

3
hachihoshino関東・東京都•

One of my friends is from a family that owns a few pachinko places out in the boonies. Nobody in the family - and it's a big family - ever, ever plays pachinko.

You wouldn't buy meat from a butcher shop run by a family who'd all decided to go vegan.

3
Tannerleaf関東・東京都•

Never trust a skinny chef.

3
duraaraa日本のどこかに•

I work for a pachinko maker. Pachinko is, indeed, win-able, but all of your strategy, except for counting balls, is completely useless.

The part that makes it difficult to win is that it's difficult to determine the average number of balls without wasting money. It's not the dial, so much as it is the arrangement of the pins.

If you do find a machine where you get more than 10 (technically, you should be looking up the border of the specific machine) you should be playing it as long as possible, until closing, because your expected return is over 100%.

If you choose to play new machines or go on event days, etc., that might increase the likelihood of the machine letting more balls in, but basically the only thing that matters is that you get more balls in than the 'border line' for that machine.

9
qwertyqyle九州・鹿児島県•

Thanks for the imput. Could you do me a favor and explain it one more time though, understanding that I have been only once, and that was 10 years ago.

3
cdpaperOP•

you want this ratio to be larger than 1/10:

(balls that go in the hole) / (balls that don't)

So if you get, on average, one in eight balls in, that's higher than one in ten, so that's good.

1
cdpaperOP•

Thanks for the insight.

you should be playing it as long as possible, until closing

Do the parlours care if you do this regularly on the same machine?

1
duraaraa日本のどこかに•

Of course not. You can play whatever machine you want.

But they will change which machines have good pin configurations and which don't periodically.

2
cdpaperOP•

Thank you. I took your advice today. Switched machines a few times until I found one with a "sweet spot" at the top, so I can visually track where the balls enter the play area.

1
duraaraa日本のどこかに•

Did you track how many balls you got into the heso per 500 yen?

1
miyagidansidebar image contributor•

I don't play.

No offense fans.

7
digimer•

I walked in the door once, felt like my ears were about to be blown and walked right back out. I can't imagine how anyone can be inside those parlours for extended periods of time without hearing damage.

6
smunchyblue•

I saw a lady in there with a baby at her feet in one of the bassinet carriers. It looked like she'd been there for a while. Poor kid was probably too deaf to hear its own secondhand smoker's cough.

6
digimer•

How the heck is that not child abuse?!

6
smunchyblue•

I'm honestly shocked they actually let her negligent ass in.

5
Tannerleaf関東・東京都•

I bet Daredevil doesn't play pachinko.

2
Setagaya-Observer•

Nowadays they have even Non-Smoker Parlors with reduced Noise!

My Stategy: Don't go there when you want/ or need to win some Okane!

0†
digimer•

Anyone who treats any form of gambling as a way to make money is someone who is not very good at math. Gambling, for those inclined, should treat it as a fun time, and accept that they are going to leave with less money. The number of times I've heard people say "oh, I always leave with more money than I went with!"...

3
Le_Deplorable•

I'll never understand how the damn game works, every time I pass a parlor and get mildly curious and the doors open, my ears and nose are assaulted by the noise and tobacco stench anyway so guess it'll forever remain a mystery.

6
cdpaperOP•

Nowadays they're just fancy slot machines. The balls and video screens simply add more layers of excitement on top of the basic slot machine "game".

You adjust where the balls go using the knob on the right. When a balls falls into the hole in the middle, the slot machine spins itself once.

3
KyotoGaijin•

"Layers of excitement"

Huh? Every time I walk by a pachinko parlor I see only zombie stupefaction, not excitement.

6
Tannerleaf関東・東京都•

I think that they have to maintain a poker face; so the staff don't hit the "lose" button on their big control panel too soon.

3
ANewAccountYetAgain•

I knew I knew it! After winning more than 500€ at once my gold 777 rush streak was ended by suddenly entering "maintenance" mode.

2
OfficiallyRelevant日本のどこかに•

Yeah. Pros apparently make a shit ton, but I'd rather not risk the cancer. Hell, it's risk enough simply walking by one...

0
Kranklebottom•

I like to hide a powerful magnet in my oversized pompadour...

6
Tannerleaf関東・東京都•

Unicorn Ryuji?

0
Kranklebottom•

I was thinking more GTO

2
Tannerleaf関東・東京都•

I don't know that. Is that a boy's love manga?

-2
Kranklebottom•

Sweaty back alley affairs powered by pachinko cheating highs, yeah. My favorite scene is when Eikichi can't even wait to cash in his digital chips before jumping all over Tetsuo. The lady working at the window says oo la la

2
YaketySnacks•

It's pretty convoluted but you need one of your partners in crime to pretend to lose everything on the machine and smash it in a rage so it will need repairs. Then have the rest of your team impersonate maintenance people so they can...

Actually, just learn to play mahjong.

5
TrainwreckJP•

I went in once when I was underage. Had a hot machine that fevered around 5 times. When I went to exchange for money the place they told me to go looked like a trap house, it was literally a hallway inside a decrepit office building with a hole in the wall. I put my items on the small ledge, a hand came out, took the items, and came out with around 5万.

Never played again. I thought for sure I was going to get jumped.

4
nosake•

Here's my approach: While walking from the station, I cross the street to avoid the noise (and cigarette smoke) as much as possible.

3
JustbecauseJapan•

I try not to run over the fine cliental as they stumble across the street oblivious to traffic as they make their way to the combini for more chu-hi to wash away the pain of their existence.

3
tomodachi_reloaded•

I value my money, ears, lungs and sanity too much to go to a pachinko.

2
azumirm•

They are rigged, you know that right? This wouldn't be so bad if there were cash payouts and laws in place to prevent establishments using a 0% payout or sub 10%. The machines are also monitored and can be controlled. Really, pachinko is more of a waste of money than anything else in Japan.

2
Maybejapanese•

If you know how you can consistently make money though. I've know a few pachipuro.

2
Yuuyake•

if the machine can be rigged then the owners can choose a few "pros" and let them win. Not much of a loss for them and keeps the business going.

1
Maybejapanese•

It's not even being "rigged"; it's the same as a slot machine; it's not truly random and will give out a certain probability. There are always some that are set to give out money though, and if you can figure them out then you can consistently make cash. The establishments don't choose pros, and indeed will kick them out if they find who they are.

2
bschwind•

They're also a huge waste of electricity

2
Tannerleaf関東・東京都•

It was amusing that during setsuden, the pachinko places could still be seen from outer space.

2
AlexTreasure•

How much are you up?

1
qwertyqyle九州・鹿児島県•

2 balls.

3
hank2361•

I don't understand how people can enjoy playing pachinko. It's a waste of money and time. Get better at something else

1