Rio de Janeiro is a city known for beautiful festivals, beaches, street crime, corruption and powerful drug cartels. Recently, officials warned of a new threat, claw machines.
Police in the city executed 16 search warrants during the week of Aug. 25, targeting the crane games. They said these machines are actually games of chance, similar to slot machines. Therefore, they are illegal under Brazilian law.
Download the SAN app today to stay up-to-date with Unbiased. Straight Facts™. Point phone camera here
Officers seized not only claw machines, but also laptops, tablets, cellphones, a firearm and even the plushies inside of machines. This isn’t the first time Rio’s claw machines have come under scrutiny.
May of this year saw 80 machines taken away in a similar operation. Police found that the claws were rigged to only grab a toy after a set number of attempts, making it impossible to win.
It is suspected that organized crime may be behind the operation, as criminal groups already control forms of gambling across the city. They’ve been known to own illegal slot machines and a local lottery known as the “animal game.”
In the U.S., claw machines are considered games of chance, though they are specifically exempt from gambling laws. Owners do need to follow certain rules laid out, which can vary from state to state.
As authorities in the Brazilian city continue their investigation into the machines, it’s clear that even something which may seem harmless, like a claw machine, could have a darker side.
awkwardbegetsawkward on September 3rd, 2024 at 22:37 UTC »
These are illegal in every state in the US, but no one actually enforces these laws. I think New Jersey and Washington state do. They actually have whitelists of games that are allowed in their states. Some other states set limits on the value of the prize.
They are actually worse than games of chance. If the chance on a slot machine is 1 in 1 million, then every player has the same chance to win. On these games, you have a zero chance of winning until a certain threshold is met.
Some are based on how the arcade set it up. Some can only be set up this way. Common games that like this include: Key Master, Barber Cut, Cut2Win, etc.
There is such a thing as a fair crane game. Generally, you set the strength of the claw with an allen wrench or an adjustment on the voltage that holds the claw closed. The more expensive the prize, the more likely it is that the game is rigged.
My family had arcades and we wouldn't do this.
On the amusment machine operator groups, you have people who freak out every time there is a crackdown. And then there are the people who know that "winners make players."
I know a guy who has dozens of arcades, and he won't put games like this in for two reasons. (1) He is a legitimately decent person. (2) He didn't want to be on the news when the inevitable crackdown came. I know another operator that bragged to me that he reset the play count on the game with an Xbox in it every night, and then let someone win once every few months.
LoverlyRails on September 3rd, 2024 at 22:05 UTC »
For anyone who didn't read the article
and (if you didn't already know)
In the us, our claw machines do this too- some machines are way more noticeable than others. Look at how they don't even try to half-ass close and grab.