As a kid, you may have tried claw machines a few times, as I did. When my kids are at a mall or an arcade, they often see that big pile of toys behind the glass, so they ask for a few coins. I usually tell them no because the chances of winning seem slim to none. For most of my life, I had never actually won or seen someone win anything from a claw machine.

Then one day we were in an arcade and the whole place just stopped for a moment as if an elephant had walked through the front door. Everyone was in awe because some guy had actually won something from a claw machine. It really is possible to win!

Last week, I came across a video about a guy who regularly beats claw machines (also known as claw cranes). And that led me to investigate this further. Apparently, there are ways to beat them or increase your chances, but only certain kinds of claw machines are ripe for a score. Others should be avoided because they are designed to fail nearly every time; their claw gripping pressure is too weak to grab anything.



Source: Creative Commons via Flickr by Ayleen Gaspar.

Also, there are ways to hack certain claw machines by making them think you are conducting maintenance on them. That seems to flip them to a kind of “jackpot” mode where you have an excellent chance of scoring a toy. The downside of hacking the machines is that the property owners may confiscate your stuffed animals and kick you out. If you don't believe me, check out the second video below.

Speaking of enforcement, some places have laws that govern claw machines. In the U.S., this is handled at the state level. In those states that regulate claw machines and other prize games, laws usually specify that a certain percentage of the attempts (e.g. at least 1/12 or 8.33% of attempts) must result in a successful outcome.

Next time I go to an arcade, I’ll bring a garbage bag to hold all those stuffed animals I plan to win. Wait, I don’t even like stuffed animals. But it's a matter of time before some community group will be asking me for toy donations for children in need. Imagine me showing up with a full garbage bag.

Here are the videos, both quite entertaining.