serene02

I was reading that GP's can help with gambling addiction by prescribing Naltrexone. I don't know a great deal about it, I was just skim reading. Might have it's own long term affects but it could potentially help with that gambling craving and the continuous gambling cycle and if it does stop that euphoric buzz then maybe gambling might lose it's appeal? J

Anyone who suffers with any kind of destructive addiction is never truly freed from it's clutches. It's rare, but even today when I go to an arcade I feel that euphoric excitement of gambling wash over me. Getting into a non destructive pass time/hobby is the key. J

The stone cold truth of where gambling addiction can take you. Thanks for the video Al. I can certainly relate to those dark times. It's amazing how even when you have hit rock bottom you still find a way to gamble. I read that gambling addicts are wired in a way that their brains release fewer endorphins than 'normal' people. Heres a line from a favourite song of mine that I can really relate to, the song is about addiction, heroin in this case. 'Now I'm reversing down a lonely street To a cheap hotel where I can meet the past Pay it off and keep it sweet' Death on the stairs - The Libertines J

Definitely, I really enjoy the commentary it makes the videos in my opinion. Keep up the great work Al J

I'd say it's not that the emptier was coded in, more that it's just a case of there not being any code to deal with this specific combination of play. Fruit machine programmers use high level languages for coding these days and it's very likely, if not law, to have the code commented throughout. J

I can safely say I never pissed myself. I was lucky to get out of gambling, I'd always had a decent job, but that was suffering from my destructive lifestyle. I had two separate lives, gambling and the fun social stuff with women, drugs, music etc... I was an indie kid at heart, but gambling won out every single time and I lost a lot of the good friends... I'd say that's my only regret looking back. J

Photographing is a decent alternative even if you did left side and then right side with the flash on. Easy enough to stitch afterwards. J

I spent most of the 90's as a hardcore gambler, sometimes even roughing it in seaside resorts just to keep on gambling, usually when we couldn't get a B&B I might add, it was sometimes difficult to get a B&B when there are 2 or 3 young kids. Some of these were great times though, gambling all day, clubbing it till 3am then dossing around till the cafe opened and then doing it all again. J

You can't actually purchase any versions of CS from Adobe any longer, at least not in the UK. It's all Creative Cloud. I got a second hand CS5 from ebay with installation disk etc for around £80. I then purchased a CS6 upgrade fairly cheaply. J

There aren't many DX'ers in this scene anymore, I'd say most use some version of Photoshop. So if you are looking for possible future help when creating a DX, it's probably a good idea to use a version of that... but you could try GIMP, it will most likely be set out in a similar way, or even use paint. J

I had a touchscreen that used infra red beams in the corners, think yours does too. Mine was a pain as it was barely 2 point touch. I've used the one in the link below in portrait mode, definitely a great screen, the best touchscreen I've ever used, 10 point multi touch (capacitive). Only 1080p though. https://www.ebuyer.com/646730-acer-t272hlbmjjz-27-full-hd-va-led-touch-monitor-um-ht2ee-005?mkwid=s_dc&pcrid=51482416139&pkw=&pmt=&gclid=Cj0KCQjwibDXBRCyARIsAFHp4fqjJIhU-j_TMhRU76-piWTfOgTB0Oy5YqrOyDOkhg6PRdz4EcEFQpgaAoLxEALw_wcB J

Oh yes, cheers Al Pretty sure this a version my mate could empty by getting golden tickets when the machine really shouldn't be letting you. J

Normal play wouldn't be affected, the streak pot obviously could take a while to recover. I might try an early version of MMM and play it how I would it the wild, then force a streak all out see how it pans out. These obviously weren't as good gameplay wise to classics like Eastenders, but the streak was quite rare on these. There was a fairly bad Epoch based Maygay that could be nasty if it had been done... especially if you wanted to do it again.... 'Golden Ticket' J

I posted what we have in the dat to where you uploaded the pic. J

I think the worst Maygay machine on the M1a/b tech are... The Guvnor Fantasy Football On the Buses J

A lot of the Maygay's 'block' exploits didn't affect normal play, they wouldn't necessarily be in a particularly bad mood after someone had done one. Though it could mess the streak cycle up as those exploited wins were paid from that saved for pot. The gamble block on these was blatantly obvious and at least the number reflected that well. Good numbers all the way £5 then a 5, 6, 7 or 8. J

Maygay did lose their way on some of the later machines. To be fair they did release a diverse range of games on the M1a tech over the years and produced their fair share of what I'd consider classics. They get flack for the way they block out wins above a certain level until the machine was in an enriched period of play but I preferred this and I'd say a lot of players preferred this model back in the day. J

It had a decent enough sound package. I'm sure I've seen a youtube vid of one. J

Ha, ha, yes Daley Thompson's. Yeah think that was probably the only type of game I did use a joystick on. Great game too. J

I used Q A O P and M. Ah, can remember now 'redefining the keys'. I did upgrade to a Spectrum +, plastic keyboard, wasn't the same. Though I did further upgrade to a 'toastrack' loved that machine. Unfortunately I got rid of my Sinclair collection a couple of years back now. I sold an early serial Issue One ZX Spectrum and a Toastrack both around the same time. I did get good money but I kind of miss looking at them, they were in excellent condition too. I Still have a few consoles and a few C64 games and books but nothing to what I did have. J

I always used a battered old Atari 2600 stick without the rubber stick cover. Loved that stick. To be fair though on the Spectrum I hardly ever used a stick, usually keyboard for control... redefine keys I have some great memories to my mates dads and he'd give us tapes full of the latest games. LOL I also only joined the school computer club because they copied games... That stopped though not long after I'd joined... J

These were two of my favourite add ons I had for my Spectrum 48k Multiface One (Romantic Robot) WafaDrive (Rotronics) My mate had a 'Video Face', think that was Romantic Robot as well, he could grab digitized video stills from a video source and print them to his thermal printer

Wow ? Tommy, that is some serious cash fella. Glad you can turn to a creative hobby to escape the destructive force of gambling. I'm no expert with photoshop but if you ever need help or advice with anything get in touch. J

I love the stories they really transport me back to my gambling days around the same era, gambling slowly started to control my daily life for many years. So many bad gambling experiences that you kind of skip over those and try to remember the good times, there were many of those too. Skegness was our playing area back in the day. Taxi there £20, often sneek into Butlins at night, do the pubs and arcades, get out of there around 3am and just walk to Skeg and wait for the local cafe to open, which was 5am... Stay in there for a couple of hours try to catch a bit of a sleep ready for the arcades at 9am. I was 19 around this time and it was before we had wheels. J