5

The Games Are Surprisingly Fair

rkupbens/iStock/Getty Images

According to Michael, each Dave & Buster's ticket is worth about .4 cents. So a $200 prize costs 50,000-plus tickets. You probably have to play for decades to get that, right? Maybe not ...

"Short-term," Michael explains, "I'm looking to earn between 8,000 and 15,000 tickets in about an hour's time, at most. It averages out to 10,000 tickets, and I should be spending between $11 and $14. ... Last Wednesday I spent about $144 in chips to get 100,000 tickets, which should net prizes worth $400. On a perfect day, this would take two hours; on a horrible day, this can take as many as eight hours, but it averages out to four or five hours, and I should be making at least $50 per hour in net value."

Jeffrey Kontur/flickr
So just less than the median lawyer salary for top-notch Whack-A-Mole skills.

There is a shocking list of things we would do to make $50 an hour. The most appetizing by far is play video games.

But doesn't winning at games take skill and lightning-fast reflexes? Sure, but that's not as dire as you might think. Here's a video of Michael demonstrating his prowess:

4

The Manufacturer Will Tell You How To Beat Their Game

Juri Pozzi/iStock/Getty Images

Michael says: "Most game companies (the good manufacturers, anyway) will put the manuals for their games online freely, for anyone to download. You can tell the inner-workings of many games this way, including whether or not a game can be set to be unwinnable for a certain number of plays, or if the game adheres to a set percentage. ... Anytime I'm suspicious of a game having an unwinnable mode [where you'll always lose for a number of plays, no matter what you do], I'll immediately look up the manual."

Stacey Newman/iStock/Getty Images
And yes, they answer to the question you've been asking since childhood:
The claw really is rigged.

For most people, those manuals wouldn't really mean anything, but for advantage players, they are basically the machine's private diaries detailing all of its turn-ons and turn-offs (literally). For example, check out the online manual for Spin-N-Win, a pretty straightforward game where you hit a button to stop an electronic wheel in the hopes of landing on the Jackpot.

3

There Are Freelance Arcade Gamers For Hire

Bestandworstever.blogspot.com

"I often get asked to play for other people," Michael says. "People come up to me and say, 'Oh wow, you're awesome at that game! Would you consider playing for me? I'll fund it and split the tickets with you or buy you a drink or food!' How I handle this depends entirely on what game I'm being asked to play."

Stacey Newman/iStock/Getty Images
"NOPE."

2

The Management Is Mostly Fine With Advantage Players

Michael Ainsworth/The Dallas Morning News

We're tempted to think of these prize-based arcades like casinos, and advantage players like card counters. So does Dave & Buster's security eventually drag Michael to the basement and smack him around for "stealing" from the establishment? Nope!

"Despite my success and that of people like me, we're simply a drop in the bucket. Dave & Buster's are still making money long-term; advantage players are not that much of an impact on their bottom line," Michael explains.

Smart Destinations/flickr
Fill people with mojitos and convince them they can play basketball; the money pretty much prints itself.

1

Advantage Players Are An Entire Subculture Governed By Their Own Rules

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The advantage community and Dave & Buster's have an unspoken understanding of sorts. The company won't crank up their games' difficulty or set them to pay out a hilariously small amount of tickets, and advantage players agree not to gang up on one location and clean it out on a daily basis. This, however, can be achieved only by the players constantly keeping tabs on one another.

"I run the Dave & Buster's subreddit where players all across the country check in and update everyone on happenings at D&B," Michael told us. "It lets everyone touch base with local APs and ensure that the least number of people are playing key games ... If too many players swarm a key game, it will pay out more than it takes in, and D&B will (understandably) have to alter the game's settings or payouts."

Krigerix/iStock/Getty Images
"Apparently, 50,000 tickets have lost some of their purchasing power this week."

There are also other rules that advantage players must observe. According to Michael: "AP rules: no under-pricing one another on eBay when you're selling stuff. That's just bad form. ... When there's a limited number of machines to advantage play on and more APs that want to play it, each player should be taking turns playing the same amount of credits. Another big rule would probably be: Don't cheat on the games. You should be making a profit playing legitimately."

We assume the "or else" at the end of that last sentence was heavily implied.

Michael Lucas is an advantage player and Mewtwo fanatic. Cezary Jan Strusiewicz is a Cracked columnist, interviewer, and editor. Contact him at c.j.strusiewicz@gmail.com.

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