has anybody played pachinko before? why is it so popular in japan?

Question

if you don't know what pachinko is, it is best if you don't answer the question. =)

Answer 1

While being in Japan, a person dont need to work, a pachinko parlor earnings are the substitute for job. Anybody can earn good living. I know many of my friends only goes to pachinko for money. As far as my own experience is concerned. I went there once and put the 100 yen coin in the socket, within a second my machine start buzzing and I got 7000 yen against my 100 yen coin. Then I start going regulary 2 hours a day and at the end of the month I have 100.000 yen (ju man) in plus. In pachinko You can eat , smoke, and drink beer specially (sapporo) beer my favorite one you also can make friends if u go regular. I want pachinko culture to spread all over the world.

Answer 2

You can find at least 1 pachinko palour in most town. It is gambling and very addictive because like what one of the guys said, you can get good money from the machines. There are many so call professional pachinko players in japan who make a living playing their lives away. Some got so addicted that there was a case of a mother who left her baby in the car just to play pachinko. The baby never made it.

For those who are unsure what pachinko is, it is like a slot machine, except that there is a lot of ball bearings which you shoot (from a knob that you control) the bearings and hopefully they gets into some high scoring slots (which will discharge some more ball bearings). End of the day, you exchange the ball bearings for goodies or cash.

Answer 3

I do know Pachinko but I do not play the game..
Yes, it is popular for gamblers ..only..

Most waited on line to win the big jackpot..I know this because many of my co-workers play it.. If they come to work with smiles then they won. if they come to work tired, then they lost the game..I don't really like the noise, and the people mostly smoking inside and outside so if you don't smoke, not a good place to go.
Pachinko is a mixture between slot machine and pinball. The player is quite passive while playing pachinko. He or she is only controlling the speed with which many small steel balls are thrown into the pachinko machine.

Most of the balls just fall down the machine and disappear, but a few find their way into special holes. This activates a kind of slot machine. As in the slot machine, you win if the same three pictures appear. This occurs quite rarely in pachinko, but if it happens, you win countless new balls. When just playing for 500 or 1000 Yen, you may likely just lose all your balls within a few minutes.

Pachinko machines can be found in pachinko parlors which are spread over the whole country. Many parlors also offer a corner with slot machines. One can recognize parlors easily because they are bright and colorful. Inside a parlor it is loud and smoky.
Some Pachinko professionals read a lot and waited a lot to hit the big jackpot.
If you go to Osaka part, early in the morning they patiently wait for the pachinko center to open because they believe that the Jackpot is for early riser.. I do see them yawning and reading newspapers but they are not annoying..they just wanna play.. and win the game...

Answer 4

I live in Nagoya the home of Pachinko. They probably created it because this area lacks excitement. It's probably popular beause there are too many retired old people with nothing to do... and the loser otaku guys see them and figure they have nothing do either so they join in and get hooked too.

Supposedly there's a skill to it though... the men who have loads of free time actually do it enough times to get skilled at it and they can actually make some money.
When a new pachinko parlor is opened some of the machines are rigged to be winners to draw in the crowds. Ive especially seen the crowds line up outside hours before opening in those cases.

Answer 5

It's an okay game. I had some fun and didn't win enough balls to get a prize. I guess people like the challenge of trying to direct the metal balls thru a tricky maze. That and super loud noise of clanking balls. I saw people who had thousands and thousands of those shiny balls. Man were they lucky. I guess slot machines are to us what Pacinko is for the Japanese.

Answer 6

for oldies its a popular gamble they play it because maybe they are not busy and nothing to do,others play it for fun others just to spend money,others just because they are with friends who is a gambler.and other wants money that's why they play pachinko.it is so popular because it gives back your money double or sometimes triple.for those not so old they usually play slot .

Answer 7

played it a few times, they give you the winnings in cash or household items and such. It's gambling, and it's really easy to get addicted to. For some it's a way of life.

Answer 8

You can experience with Flash game.

Old style Pachinko
http://www.rinku.zaq.ne.jp/bkayf600/npat/open.htm
click each numbers eg.1-1, 1-2, ,,,,

Today's Pachinko - automatic shooting
http://games.yahoo.co.jp/games/flash/pachinko_light.html

How to play.. hm...please find Japanese around you and ask.