Hilton Park very regularly at least 2-3 times a week and the others once or twice a month(ish).
We had a designated driver as I had not long passed my test at the time, had a job but no car.
Depending on the time spent 'bashing' that day we would pre-agree a cut for the driver at the end of the days 'work' Best I recall handing over was about £150, think that was our best day ever, roughly 12 hours none stop, arcades, pubs, MSS and me n buddy had (as best I recall) about £350 each after his 'cut'
No missues, kids or commitments during the day (work was P/T) so we could spend virtually all day most days at it and did do very, very well.
Regular 'trips' would include starting at Hilton M6 North bound and stopping at all services on way (and crossing foot bridge to do other side)
Chester, Stafford and Shrewsbury towns were very fruitful and seemed to be the best for 'novice players'
We even had (and this is the sad bit) a book with single tokens sellotaped in with a list of the pubs / locations etc which took the different types, towards the end we had that many didn't even need a 'cash' start.
We ran into loads of 'scroungers' and to be fair dumped them with loads of tokens at the start until the penny dropped we could use em instead of cash next time (young n dumb eh)
On the 'great' days we'd also stop in B&B's in a particular town to get an early start the following day, if maybe we hadn't gotten around all the pubs or was moving onto a town close save travelling from W-ton and avoiding the extra train fare if our driver hadn't taken us that day.
I vaguely also recall my bedroom windowsill had about 7-8 pint glasses full to the top with £1 coins and the wedge of 'changed back' notes shoved to the back of my wardrobe which sat their months as I didn't need it until things dried up.
God knows what we did with the cash, probably spent most of it on booze n fags but I did get my Ford Escort from it which lasted me 4 years
We must have crossed paths.
I do recall a group at Hilton Park I would often run into, and they were the "smart set", reasonably dressed etc, not the "can you spare a quid for a cuppa mate". I recall one particular scrounger who went by the name of "spider" or "fruit spider", he was the most prolific "quid for a cuppa", yet also claimed to "know the exploits". His particular talent was to slide in beside the novices and offer them tips to get a big payout. He would then hint, sometimes rather blatantly, that he should be "given a cut" for his help. He actually knew little, but was a chancer who would usually suggest basic "forcing" tactics, and then announce that he had helped them win much more than they would have were they to have played "normal novice mode".
I would often dump him at Hilton Park with a couple of quid, sorry about that
I did spot something that the rest of you lot seemed to miss, and that was the Pie Factory like behaviour of a couple of QPS games and a Mazooma. If they were forced for a jackpot, this would trigger the streak, much like the cash jackpot followed by exchange for feature Pie factory trick. What made it hard to spot was that the QPS jackpot tended to produce a "silent invincible" board for the next feature, and one had to travel around for a guaranteed repeater feature, not the jackpot, and one would not die. However, the "silent invincible" could die early if one tried to gamble against bad numbers, so it wasn't a complete invincible. The board after that would tend to reach £14 or so, and the one after a few quid, after which the machine was "dead".
Like Pie factory, it was a force that eventually gave £25 + £25+ on a repeat win feature + £14 + up to a tenner. It very occasionally failed if the machine was forced twice or more on the trot, and occasionally TWO further jackpot boards would result. As far as I could see, no one else was doing these. My success rate was high, but the machines relatively rare.
I started from the M4 corridor, sometimes going west to start at Chievely and Membury, and at other times it was to the north east and a Toddington start. It was then usually a case of covering the M1 and M6, also the M66 link over the Pennines, and occasionally as far as Carlisle if time allowed. Occasionally, I went all the way, covering everything right up to Glasgow. I also went up the northern part of the A1 on the odd occasion.
I've not done a trip for ages, just a couple of visits. However, I have noticed some changes that might lead to another era for players with the right skills and info. One is the appearance of "reverse change machines" that will convert coins back to notes. Another is that some machine note acceptors have become two-way, spitting out notes as well as coins for the prizes. This, in particular, increases the carrying capacity of a machine, very useful if one also knows the emptier. Being able to change vast coin collections back to notes also makes it less obvious to others that you have been winning big, and will also make one's "gambling trousers" last longer
I would often come in wearing my outdoor coat. This was nothing to do with the temperature, and all to do with extra pockets for coins and tokens. In high summer, it was a shirt with pockets (for tokens) and a decent pair of trousers. It was just TOO hot to bring in my regular extra pockets. I at least had the car in which to store additional coins and tokens, so didn't have to carry EVERYTHING around with me.
I would often sleep in the car rather than pay £50 for the hotel, and in those days 2 hour parking was only enforced at peak times. It's 24/7 camera based now, so little chance of taking liberties, so it would be a case of regularly turning around at the next junction for another 2 hours over the other side, repeating till all the machines were done and it was time to move on.
It's interesting to note that the hotels are STILL the same price as in the 1990's, around the £40 mark, and some are even cheaper, whilst parking has shot up in price and is more rigorously enforced. I am much older too, so if I go on such a trip now, I would probably use the cheapest hotels rather than pay the parking charge to sleep in the car. All I need now is to discover a new emptier or manipulator that makes it worthwhile. An exploit in the deal or no deal engine would be great, although not so great for the operators. (I am looking into it on my occasional visits
).
) used to gain 'off the street' knowledge of a particular machine to make a few quid.
jackpot every time!
