To the suprise of few, it appears likely that the claw machine is rigged. The claw machine is, of course, that ubiquitous gambling device, er, game of skill, found in pizza parlors, game arcades, and the like which allows the player to release a three or four-fingered claw over a pile of toys with the hope that it will snatch one up and deliver it to the chute. Although not officially confirmed by the manufacturers, the widely accepted belief in the industry is that (depending on the make of the machine) 80 to 90 percent of the time the claw is intentionally weakened so that it will not have a firm enough grip to pick up the toy. Only one out of every 5 or 10 times on a random basis will the machine provide enough electricity to the electromagnet in the claw that it will have the strength to deliver the goods.
One Australian three-year old, Noah Jeffrey, decided to stick it to The Man by climbing up through the delivery chute into the machine, where he thereupon happily dispensed the prizes through the chute to his eager compatriots.
ADDENDUM 4/3/2015: By sheer coincidence, after I posted this factoid this AM, the Vox website came out with a detailed explanation of how claw machines can be rigged by the owner so that the machines will pay off just enough to convince people to continue playing them while still making a nice profit for the owner.
ADDENDUM 4/3/2015: By sheer coincidence, after I posted this factoid this AM, the Vox website came out with a detailed explanation of how claw machines can be rigged by the owner so that the machines will pay off just enough to convince people to continue playing them while still making a nice profit for the owner.
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