The Stacker Thread

[Septimus Prime]

http://www.blur101.com/2007/07/28/stacker-tips-and-knowledge-for-the-arcade/

Okay, so we all know this game is rigged, but who here has won anything? So far, I've gotten right up to Major Prize a few times, but I haven't actually won.

Here are some vids.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77XWTTKRYfU&feature=related

Suckers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djloVB22r5Y&feature=related

Yeah, fuck Flamin' Finger.

[epp1e]

Yeah, fuck Flamin' Finger.

lol, wow. They're just making the arcade scene die even more.

[Vegett0]

I hate Stacker so much. I got up to grand prize as well but of course, have not been able to win anything.

I remember the first time I got to grand prize and was amazed I didn't get the last one since I did the others just fine. I just figured it might be a slight change in timing or something. Then all the info about it being rigged started appearing and I don't even bother with those things anymore.

[ThePurpleBunny]

Shit sounds like it's no different from slot machines in Vegas.

Unless you have Q making your gadgets, forget about even cheating.

[Manx]

I now have a mission... :tup:

[YellowS4]

Staff at the arcade here look at the counter and win the prizes for themselves. Doesn't help that they throw the ratio high enough that they make an extra $1000 per give out.

BK Stacker

[Olan]

i work at an arcade, i always feel bad watching parents trying to win wiis for their kids on stacker. They ask me if they can actually win and i usually just tell them there is practically no hope, and of course the kids are going apeshit and calling their parents names and shit for not winning.

[DragonSama]

I've tried it a few time and gotten to the top on quite a few occasions but never won anything from it yet. I only try when I have $2 at the end of the week to blow.

you know the more I've read about these things being rigged the more I wonder why no one has sued them yet because of it?

[BBCampbell]

I won a PSP off one...

[Mr. Bastos]

we had something similar called Lighthouse at the arcade I worked at.. my assistant manager told me that it was rigged to go off after a certain number of coins.. he used to keep track of it and every couple weeks he would win something without spending more than a few dollars, we never had anything good.. but still free games or gameboy sp's(ds had just barely come out at this point) that he could sell to people were pretty good. lol

[Rickstah]

Got this video store that has 360's and PS3's in there, for a dollar play. Of course, I never see anyone win, but usually by the time I visit again one of the 2 is gone. I did win a PSP out of that same machine about a year ago, before they started to put good consoles in there (and jack up the price to a dollar).

[Septimus Prime]

Okay, so I did some "research" for my local Stacker (basically, I bought some ice cream and sat around, watching the machine, for 20 minutes). In 20 minutes, the machine had 4 plays, 2 of which were from me. Discounting myself, I would then assume that the machine gets, on average, 1 play per 10 minutes, since I was watching it about half an hour before the mall closed anyway and assume that most of the plays will be made during prime shopping hours. Since my mall is open 13 hours per day, this amounts to an average of 78 plays per day.

Now, the top prizes in this particular machine are DS Lites and PSP Slims, valued at approximately $150 apiece (there are other prizes, but they suck, and no one would want them). Judging by this, I would then fathom a guess that the odds of winning are anywhere between 1/200 and 1/300—not so low that the machine doesn't make any profit but not so high that it loses customers by seeming to be rigged. If this is true, then, if given the 78 plays per day, the machine should be beatable every 3-4 days.

So, I guess my plan of attack would be to scope out the machine every 3-4 days to see if anyone has won. And, if not, I would then play and win.

[f_man]

Okay, so I did some "research" for my local Stacker (basically, I bought some ice cream and sat around, watching the machine, for 20 minutes). In 20 minutes, the machine had 4 plays, 2 of which were from me. Discounting myself, I would then assume that the machine gets, on average, 1 play per 10 minutes, since I was watching it about half an hour before the mall closed anyway and assume that most of the plays will be made during prime shopping hours. Since my mall is open 13 hours per day, this amounts to an average of 78 plays per day.

Now, the top prizes in this particular machine are DS Lites and PSP Slims, valued at approximately $150 apiece (there are other prizes, but they suck, and no one would want them). Judging by this, I would then fathom a guess that the odds of winning are anywhere between 1/200 and 1/300—not so low that the machine doesn't make any profit but not so high that it loses customers by seeming to be rigged. If this is true, then, if given the 78 plays per day, the machine should be beatable every 3-4 days.

So, I guess my plan of attack would be to scope out the machine every 3-4 days to see if anyone has won. And, if not, I would then play and win.

some good stat calculating.

not a bad way of basing your strategy. though there are a few major assumptions going on:

based on this video posted earlier:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djloVB22r5Y&feature=related

--the trigger for winning is probably when that deceptive 2nd block doesnt appear. the author says the machine can be rigged to only
win 1/800 games at MAX. if thats max, then it probably means that only after 799 successful attempts at getting to the last level, will that last level be winnable.

--you get a perfect game everytime you play. im not gonna refute this because shit....everyone here plays fighting games. and im pretty sure after some practice we could all nail that 1-framer (assuming 60fps). if the above holds true, and the trigger goes off only on perfect games, then youve gotta make the assumption that everyone else is having perfect games.

of course, you can re-strategize to accommodate for this. you could just watch for an hour, and see if anyone gets to the last level.

ill admit i was a sucker for this game before this thread...though im thinking this machines selling like hotcakes and based on how often ive seen this in random places (middle of malls, movie theaters, target) that the house is making good income off a 9sq foot piece of their property.

----
a statistical aside:

this would be a funny post to copy into the poker thread. because a lotta people there would start going into the fact that theres definitely negative expected value for the player and definite +ev for the house. even if one could boost their edge through timing strategy, 1/200 and 1/300 is still -ev for a $150 prize assuming $1/play. 150(1/200) + -1(199/200) = -.245 at 50cents a game though, based on that sample....GAMBLEEEE

[Tiberious]

Can't stand this thing. Place i worked had one sitting there for .50 a play. Small prizes were keychains, big prizes were PS2 games, or other similarly-valued items. Only ever played to win the small prizes, 'cause I knew that last line was rigged. Same company as that Lighthouse bullshit, and had a few frustrating experiences with THAT one. But, I have a huge collection of miniature bowling pin keychains now...

[Return of Shiki]

Yeah, it seems like any idiot who plays video games at least casually ought to win the minor prizes.

Intestesting note about the "perfect games" though. I imagine all the machines are rigged based on the value of the major prizes.
I seen machines with PSPs and DS Slims as MINOR prizes. I knew a regular customer back when I worked at Gamestop who actually won 360s and PSPs (though periodically, he only went to the machine once a week) and would often trade them in for cash.

[tharimrattler]

I manage an arcade that has one of these except its a "Giant Stacker". Same thing as stacker except more prizes. These things do pay out, I can't reveal the tricks of the trade though.

[YellowS4]

--the trigger for winning is probably when that deceptive 2nd block doesnt appear. the author says the machine can be rigged to only
win 1/800 games at MAX.

That's the setting at the arcade here.

$2/play, 1/800 chance = gg.

The major prizes: Wii, ps2, psp and nds.

Stingy motherfuckers.

[BananaWeed]

Practice online:
http://www.stoopidgames.com/index.php?changeGame=stacker

I've seen many people wasting their money on this game, and have yet to see anyone win.

[Septimus Prime]

Someone won today, so it looks like I'll have to reset my day counter. And the online version is a joke because not only is it not rigged, it also uses the mouse button, which you can depress instantly (as opposed to some big, garish button whose trigger point is ambiguous).