Claw Machines are Rigged

If you ever thought the claw machine was rigged, that it was taunting you as it swung the toy in the air only dropping it just as it hovers near the exit slot, you aren’t paranoid. In fact, there are instruction guides available where the management of profit is stipulated. This stipulation is an equation programmed into the machine where the owner decides on the profit margin, and the machine then calculates when a person will win.

In the 1950s the claw machine was considered a gambling device and federal law prohibited them across state lines. Laws relaxed decades later, and now we can find claw machines that not only give away stuffed toys, but electronic gadgets such as iPhones. They can even program the machine to make you think you’ve almost won.

So next time, when you find yourself cursing quietly after losing money in a claw machine, know one thing: it isn’t your fault.