In Britain, slot machines are commonly referred to as fruit machines or amusement with prizes (AWP) and are typically found in arcades, clubs, pubs, and sometimes take-out food stores. British slot machines usually have three or six reels with around 16 or 24 fruit symbols printed around them. To win money playing these machines, a certain combination of fruit symbols must appear after the reels are spun. Winnings are either paid out from the machine or sub-games are played. The machines resemble slot machines found in most casinos throughout the world, but the term “fruit machine” usually refers to the slot machines found in arcades and pubs. Fruit machines have a lot of extras, including trails and sub-games. The jackpots on fruit machines, however, are quite limited and often pay no more than a maximum of 25 pounds in any one win.

Sometimes fruit machines will payout multiple, sequential jackpots, also known as a streak, but each jackpot requires that a new game be played – essentially circumventing the 25 pound maximum payout rule. 

British fruit machines also operate slightly differently than do American slot machines. With American slot machines payouts are programmed to pay a percentage over the long run but in the United Kingdom the machines don’t payout immediately. Instead, UK slot machines are programmed to take on an amount above its payout percentage before winning, so if a payout is 95%, a machine will make the player lose ten pounds before paying out 9.50 pounds. 

The Fairplay campaign in the United Kingdom has claimed that the fruit machines use fraudulent gaming practices where, what appears to be random outcomes of gambles and chances that should be affected by a player’s decision, have actually already been predetermined. For example, let’s say you have gambled the win up to £25. At this point, the machine doesn’t want you to gamble anymore so if you select a “high” from the five, the machine will spin a three and you will lose. If you select a “low”, on the other hand, the machine will spin a nine and you will lose.

Fairplay’s allegation stems from the fact that the fruit machine computer hardware allows the RAM state to be saved at a particular point and then replayed, resulting in a different choice. The UK Gambling Commission has since warned the fruit machine industry that it must make appropriate modifications to fix the problem.