As a Club worker in the Western suburbs of Sydney some 30 years ago,I had to do a course on the workings of poker machines,as part of my job entailed fixing jammed machines,paying jackpots,etc.on certain shifts.Depending on your age you may not have seen one of those old"one armed bandits."When you opened the machine and slid the "guts " forward,there was a screw underneath which could be either advanced or retarded to set the percentage of pays that machine would cough up.I can tell you that very few were advanced!Just enough so that other players could see that someone was winning,which would encourage them to keep playing,thinking it was there turn next!There was an infamous "Syndicate"of about 5 guys who learnt how to "walk"the reels by counting the clicks as they manipulated the handle they were pulling.I was fortunate to meet one of these guys at a Club I was working in,as he used to drink there,but was banned from playing the pokies.One night after the Club was closed and we were having staff drinks(he was still there having with the boss)the boss armed with a container of 20 cent coins,and as we watched in amazement he pulled up the major jackpot in 62 seconds!It was 7777,by manipulating the handle,he got a 7 on the first wheel,then "froze"that wheel until he got the second one,and so on until he had all four!As with all forms of gambling,greed took over,and once these guys started winning too often wherever they went,they gradually got barred everywhere they went.They even went to L.A.and won there too,but as with card counters at Blackjack,same story,barred again.That is the only time I have ever seen ANYONE beat the pokies.I saw guys lose their business,home and family through those stupid moronic things.With the advent of computerisation,I would suggest to you that it is ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE to beat the machine these days.I really think you should consider posting under the nom de plume of Uri Geller,although he was exposed as a fraud too.But having said all that,and knowing full well that you will take no notice whatsoever because these machines have got you by the short and curlies,please don't stop posting,I get a laugh out of your posts.