And the penny drops ... right on top of that huge pile you've been contributing to for the past few hours. That's right, surely you've played these before? The arcade industry calls them 'pushers' and they form a large part of the floor of any respectable arcade. Huge cabinets, from the tatty to the classy and imaginative. A simple game, take a look through the machines large glass windows - those are 2p's right? So, off you trot to the change counter. You are greeted by a withered old woman, she says ".... ...." - oh, thats right, she doesn't speak, she just gives change. A few moments later your gambling back to the machine already reaching into the cup to gather together your first few 2p's. You insert them one by one and they drop onto a moving platter, before being swiftly knocked off and shoved in an ungainly fashion towards a bunch of of other 2p's, teetering in a dangerous manner towards the payout tray at the front of the machine.

Surely ... this has to be the one ...

Nope, it's shoved them anywhere BUT off the front and into the tray. Even places you didn't know existed in a plethora of possibilities that seriously undermine your attempts to become a penny millionaire. Underneath other coins. On top of other coins. Down the sides and into the ever filling cashboxes. You name it, they've been there.

You'll often see people examining machines closely with a concerted look, considering the placement of their next coin - is that one really about to drop? Possibly ... and you could possibly make a small fortune from these 'true skill' machines if it were not for a few problems. Firstly, the amount of coins that you'll hear dropping into the cashbox can just be downright disheartening - but more often it's the sneaky little tricks that the machines operator has been up too. I'll list the most common ...

(1) Removing coins from the pusher so tha
t there is a less that generous sprinking of coins to be had, it means that you're going to either have to leave or insert a hell of a lot of coins before it's going to drop anything considerable.

(2) Placing larger prizes, even notes on top of the coins as a player incentive. The chance of these finally reaching over the edge is almost non-existant.

(3) The use of useless tokens as prizes. I spotted this one in full flair in France, you'd have to pay for the privilage of obtaining some tokens to play with and then invest a small fortune in obtaining such wonders of the world as a 'cigarette lighter', or god forbid, 'a pocket alarm clock'.

It's a little known fact that these innocent little machines which trade in the small change of the casual gamer looking for a bit of mindless entertainment can be an arcades biggest earners. It's not uncommon on a four or more player machine for this simple game to drop £100's into the cashbox on a busy day. Oh yes ...

It's not just restricted to 2p's, 10p and even £1 machines are now common although I've seen these get very little play compared to the smaller stake machines.

I'm not trying to paint a dull picture of these machines. In fact, I'll conclude that they offer superb entertainment value (I've played for hours on a few quids worth of 2p's) and really are fun for all ages. More power to the pusher ...