Woman Suing Chuck E. Cheese's for Promoting Childhood Gambling

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

Maybe her kid has crappy hand to eye co-ordination and didn't win a single ticket. After making a scene and bawling his eyes out in front of mum she decides to do they only thing a parent can do when their perfect little angel fails at something; sue.

 

[ReservoirAngel]

If you want money, work for it. Throwing random accusations at a business doesn't entitle you to $5 million you greedy *****!

 

[wfpdk]

i don't remember this kind of stuff being a problem when the word arcade brought up images of street fighter and golden axe rather than skeet-ball and some game resembling roulette... article seems to be lacking in that information.
as i see it, it used to be that you where spending money on entertainment now it's just a very round-a-bout way of spending $20 to get a $5 prize after waiting around for a bit.

 

[ImprovizoR]

She's asking for 5 million bucks because she wants those machines out? Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

 

[The Diabolical Biz]

The only reason it not considered gambling is that no matter what it lands on, you win. It is claw machines and those ones that you line up the lights and win something like Nintendo DS, those should be outlawed. I spent $20 trying to win a notebook computer before I realized I was spending some serious cash on a rigged machine.

Oh god that one where you line up the lights is terrible. I've wasted far too much money on that game, and the very last row is impossible. I kept pressing it earlier and earlier but it always bumped it over one so I lost, its rigged for sure.

It's rigged, but it is possible. Hell, a friend of mine won a PS3 on one of those. The staff at the arcade looked mildly disgruntled, to say the least.

OT: 5,000,000...seriously...how many tickets or whatever did she buy...

 

[JDKJ]

The judge is going to throw this out because it's not gambling when you get tickets or prizes

If she's suing Chuck e cheese, then she's going to have to sue every carnival and theme park game too

Actually, that's not what usually determines whether a game is gambling or not. The determination usually hinges on whether the game is one of "chance" or "skill." Most carnival games (e.g., throw the ball through the hoop or the ring over a peg) are games of skill. Games of skill, where the players can in some way affect the possible outcomes, are usually not considered gambling. Games of chance, where the player can do nothing to affect the possible outcome (e.g., betting on the number that will appear on a spin of a roulette wheel) are considered gambling. In fact, that the game awards players tickets that they can exchange for "prizes" (even if those prizes are cheap plastic trinkets) would actually help satisfy the legal definition of gambling because there's usually a requirement that the game, in order for it to be considered gambling, pay the players something of "value." Matter of fact, if the games in question didn't award winning players with some sort of prize, then, whether a game of chance or a game of skill, they wouldn't satisfy the definition of gambling. Is there's no pay-out, it can't be gambling.

 

[JDKJ]

gambling-luck based
arcade machines- skill based (maybe some casino games are skill based but that,s considered cheating)
LEARN THE FUCKING DIFFERENCE!

"Keller had taken her children to Chuck E. Cheese's and saw that some of the games featured a device similar to a roulette wheel. The suit states that the games are based mostly on chance . . . ."

According to the plaintiff, Chuck the Mouse has games that are based on chance, not skill. If this is true, then those games most likely fit the legal definition of gambling.

 

[CosmicCommander]

This moronic woman should be punched. Hard.

Seriously, it's a kid's game; just shut up, you fun-hating hag!

 

[gibboss28]

"WAAAAAAH Somewhere has something I don't like, WAAAAAAH"

That really is all I managed to get from reading that article.

 

[Vrach]

God people are so sue happy these days. This woman probably just saw a chance at some easy cash and jumped at it.

Either that or she's the "WON'T SOMEBODY PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN" type. Or both.

 

[JDKJ]

She's asking for 5 million bucks because she wants those machines out? Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

Actually, what the OP's article fails to make clear is that the lawsuit is a potential class action. So technically, she's not asking for $5 million for herself alone. That $5 million would be divided among everyone who chooses to join the class action. And that's just the initial demand. It could be decreased or increased. It depends on the final damage award per class member (assuming the class ultimately wins), multiplied by the number of plaintiffs that ultimately choose to join the class. At this point in time, it's more a number pulled out of her lawyer's ass than anything else.

 

[Jumplion]

The only reason it not considered gambling is that no matter what it lands on, you win. It is claw machines and those ones that you line up the lights and win something like Nintendo DS, those should be outlawed. I spent $20 trying to win a notebook computer before I realized I was spending some serious cash on a rigged machine.

Oh god that one where you line up the lights is terrible. I've wasted far too much money on that game, and the very last row is impossible. I kept pressing it earlier and earlier but it always bumped it over one so I lost, its rigged for sure.

And this is a stupid lawsuit, it makes no sense whatsoever. Even if what they are doing is wrong, then they should stop doing it, not give her money. Her getting money should not come into the equation regardless of the ruling, she has done nothing to earn it or deserve it as compensation. If they have to give out money it should go to the local government or something.

Really? Once I won a Camera from on of those machines.

I'm pretty sure those stacking games are rigged, they skip over the block that you need to stack on the last row and it goes so fast that you don't notice. I got to the top once. Maybe it randomly lets someone be a winner, I have no idea, but it's probably as rigged as those crane games (extremely loose claws, barely holds on to the thing, automatically shakes if it gets to the top to jolt the prize out of it).

OT: I can see where the lady is coming from, and in a sense I do think she has the right to sue. But 5 million? Yeah, no, unless she lost, like, 2.5 million from playing that Chuck E. Cheeses roulette wheel, I don't think that would fly.

 

[zombie711]

What if encourages you to use math?
has anyone seen those game were you have to push the prizes through a small hole?
what if you were to measure the machine and use laser pointers and a timer to know exactly when to push it.
Can you do that, or is it illegal?

Ps if games encourage gambling do the ball bins encourage fighting?

 

[Eggsnham]

This reminds of that one news thing where they claimed that smarties candy can promote smoking cigarettes to kids because a few kids on the internet crushed up some smarties and blew the dust around. Apparently the dust looked like smoke and news channels everywhere saw profit.

 

[Siberian Relic]

Kept looking through the article for the part where it explains the woman was born the day prior.

 

[JDKJ]

The only reason it not considered gambling is that no matter what it lands on, you win. It is claw machines and those ones that you line up the lights and win something like Nintendo DS, those should be outlawed. I spent $20 trying to win a notebook computer before I realized I was spending some serious cash on a rigged machine.

Oh god that one where you line up the lights is terrible. I've wasted far too much money on that game, and the very last row is impossible. I kept pressing it earlier and earlier but it always bumped it over one so I lost, its rigged for sure.

And this is a stupid lawsuit, it makes no sense whatsoever. Even if what they are doing is wrong, then they should stop doing it, not give her money. Her getting money should not come into the equation regardless of the ruling, she has done nothing to earn it or deserve it as compensation. If they have to give out money it should go to the local government or something.

Really? Once I won a Camera from on of those machines.

I'm pretty sure those stacking games are rigged, they skip over the block that you need to stack on the last row and it goes so fast that you don't notice. I got to the top once. Maybe it randomly lets someone be a winner, I have no idea, but it's probably as rigged as those crane games (extremely loose claws, barely holds on to the thing, automatically shakes if it gets to the top to jolt the prize out of it).

OT: I can see where the lady is coming from, and in a sense I do think she has the right to sue. But 5 million? Yeah, no, unless she lost, like, 2.5 million from playing that Chuck E. Cheeses roulette wheel, I don't think that would fly.

She's suing as a class action, so the demanded $5 million isn't for her alone. It's for the entire class. The OP's article left out that part.

I don't think that Chuck the Mouse needs to rig his games of skill. The "rigging" is done at the counter where you exchange the tickets you've won for your "prizes" which are usually some cheap plastic crap that they import from China at a cost of $1.00 per hundred. So, even if you were a World Champion of Skee-Ball player and could bowl a perfect score every time, it would still cost you more to play those games than it's costing Chuck to give you your "prizes." Under those circumstance, Chuck's guaranteed to make a profit off you. He can't lose.

 

[Jumplion]

The only reason it not considered gambling is that no matter what it lands on, you win. It is claw machines and those ones that you line up the lights and win something like Nintendo DS, those should be outlawed. I spent $20 trying to win a notebook computer before I realized I was spending some serious cash on a rigged machine.

Oh god that one where you line up the lights is terrible. I've wasted far too much money on that game, and the very last row is impossible. I kept pressing it earlier and earlier but it always bumped it over one so I lost, its rigged for sure.

And this is a stupid lawsuit, it makes no sense whatsoever. Even if what they are doing is wrong, then they should stop doing it, not give her money. Her getting money should not come into the equation regardless of the ruling, she has done nothing to earn it or deserve it as compensation. If they have to give out money it should go to the local government or something.

Really? Once I won a Camera from on of those machines.

I'm pretty sure those stacking games are rigged, they skip over the block that you need to stack on the last row and it goes so fast that you don't notice. I got to the top once. Maybe it randomly lets someone be a winner, I have no idea, but it's probably as rigged as those crane games (extremely loose claws, barely holds on to the thing, automatically shakes if it gets to the top to jolt the prize out of it).

OT: I can see where the lady is coming from, and in a sense I do think she has the right to sue. But 5 million? Yeah, no, unless she lost, like, 2.5 million from playing that Chuck E. Cheeses roulette wheel, I don't think that would fly.

She's suing as a class action, so the demanded $5 million isn't for her alone. It's for the entire class. The OP's article left out that part.

I don't think that Chuck the Mouse needs to rig his games of skill. The "rigging" is done at the counter where you exchange the tickets you've won for your "prizes" which are usually some cheap plastic crap that they import from China at a cost of $1.00 per hundred. So, even if you were a World Champion of Skee-Ball player and could bowl a perfect score every time, it would still cost you more to play those games than it's costing Chuck to give you your "prizes." Under those circumstance, Chuck's guaranteed to make a profit off you. He can't lose.

As they say, the Chuck always wins...

For the crane stuff, I've seen some pretty lofty prizes like iPods/iPads up for grabs, and other things like 50 free movie passes. In those cases, it would make sense to rig those machines so that people would put more money in the machine than it what the prizes cost them.

 

[JDKJ]

The only reason it not considered gambling is that no matter what it lands on, you win. It is claw machines and those ones that you line up the lights and win something like Nintendo DS, those should be outlawed. I spent $20 trying to win a notebook computer before I realized I was spending some serious cash on a rigged machine.

Oh god that one where you line up the lights is terrible. I've wasted far too much money on that game, and the very last row is impossible. I kept pressing it earlier and earlier but it always bumped it over one so I lost, its rigged for sure.

And this is a stupid lawsuit, it makes no sense whatsoever. Even if what they are doing is wrong, then they should stop doing it, not give her money. Her getting money should not come into the equation regardless of the ruling, she has done nothing to earn it or deserve it as compensation. If they have to give out money it should go to the local government or something.

Really? Once I won a Camera from on of those machines.

I'm pretty sure those stacking games are rigged, they skip over the block that you need to stack on the last row and it goes so fast that you don't notice. I got to the top once. Maybe it randomly lets someone be a winner, I have no idea, but it's probably as rigged as those crane games (extremely loose claws, barely holds on to the thing, automatically shakes if it gets to the top to jolt the prize out of it).

OT: I can see where the lady is coming from, and in a sense I do think she has the right to sue. But 5 million? Yeah, no, unless she lost, like, 2.5 million from playing that Chuck E. Cheeses roulette wheel, I don't think that would fly.

She's suing as a class action, so the demanded $5 million isn't for her alone. It's for the entire class. The OP's article left out that part.

I don't think that Chuck the Mouse needs to rig his games of skill. The "rigging" is done at the counter where you exchange the tickets you've won for your "prizes" which are usually some cheap plastic crap that they import from China at a cost of $1.00 per hundred. So, even if you were a World Champion of Skee-Ball player and could bowl a perfect score every time, it would still cost you more to play those games than it's costing Chuck to give you your "prizes." Under those circumstance, Chuck's guaranteed to make a profit off you. He can't lose.

As they say, the Chuck always wins...

For the crane stuff, I've seen some pretty lofty prizes like iPods/iPads up for grabs, and other things like 50 free movie passes. In those cases, it would make sense to rig those machines so that people would put more money in the machine than it what the prizes cost them.

Games of skill are often "rigged." 60 Minutes did an expose of carnival games and found that most of them are rigged. They had an NBA player with a 70% free-throw average shoot basketballs at the hoop and he kept on missing four outta five. Turns out the hoop wasn't a perfect circle. It had been deliberately bent into an egg-shape, causing the ball to rattle in and out.

And those stuffed toys in the crane games are stuffed . . . with sand. They weigh more than the crane can pick up. They've done their homework. They've figured out that before someone can successfully pick up a $100 iPod, $1000 in quarters will be pumped into the machine. They can't lose.