Play Pachinko For Real Money
If you ever enter a Japanese gaming parlor and find something similar to a pinball machine, then do not get confused. What you see is a Pachinko machine, which is a very popular gaming device in Japan. It looks very much like a pinball machine which has been made to stand vertically. Compared to some of the other Japanese games that date back at least to a few centuries, Pachinko is a very recent phenomenon. However, in a short span of time, Pachinko has achieved an unprecedented level of popularity.
Just to give you give a slight idea about the popularity of Pachinko – the automobile sector in Japan generates about $150 million in revenue, whereas Pachinko generates about $300 billion, almost twice that amount. There are now Pachinko museums in Japan, which exhibit old Pachinko machines. It might be a bit hard to imagine, but Pachinko is as synonymous with the cultural image of Japan as Mt. Fuji or the image of the rising sun is.
History of Pachinko
Pachinko machines first appeared in Japan around the 1920’s. These machines were inspired form the American children’s game called Corinthian Bagatelle. As years went by, it grew in popularity amongst the adults and soon there were parlors where a lot of people could enjoy this game. These parlors were closed down when the Second World War began but made a comeback soon after the war was over. In 1948, Nagoya became the first place to have a Pachinko parlor.
The word Pachinko is derived from the Japanese term pachi-pachi, which refers to the sound made by collision of many small objects. Pachinko machines had pretty much the same mechanical design and kept on growing in popularity till the 1980’s. The mechanical machines relied on bells to indicate the state of the machine and lights were mainly used to indicate problems with the machine. A lever or a flipper was utilized to launch the balls. The velocity of the balls was determined by the extent to which the lever was pressed. After 1980’s, machines started changing and soon only electronic machines were being used.
How to play Pachinko
The game play of Pachinko is a cross between pinball and a slot machine, though it is a game that relies mostly on luck. Pinball is not a game of chance, as you have flippers to control the ball. But in Pachinko, there is nothing that you can do after the balls have been launched. Here is an explanation about how this game is usually played.
To begin playing at a Pachinko machine, you need to buy Pachinko balls. You can buy anywhere between 5 to a 100 balls. After that, you decide the price you want to set for each ball. Generally, the price varies from $0.05 to $5. This is important because once you decide to cash out, the amount of money you get will depend upon the number of balls there are and the price that you set for each for these balls. Clearly, the objective is to have as many Pachinko balls as possible.
After the purchase of these balls, you are required to launch the balls, similar to what you do in pinball. There is usually a knob or a plunger, which is used to launch these balls. Adjusting the knob would set the force with which these balls are launched. Too little force and they will not reach anywhere, and too much force will make them disappear through the exit path.
After the launch, the balls fall through the display in front of you. On the screen, there might be cups or gates made of pins. If the balls fall directly to the base of the screen, then you do not get anything. If they pass through the gate or fall in a cup then you earn a few more balls for every single ball.
Most of the modern Pachinko machines activate the slot machine when a ball falls into the cup or passes through the gate. This free spin is what is important, because if you hit the jackpot then you can win a lot more balls.
Pachinko payouts
The payout system is not as simple as that of a slot machine. When you end your round, you always have an option of cashing out the balls or you can play further. If you end up hitting the jackpot, the payout system changes slightly. Here are the two most widely used payout systems of Pachinko.
Kakuhen: Kakuhen mode occurs randomly after a jackpot, and is also referred to as the fever mode. In Kakuhen, your chances of winning another jackpot increase significantly. When the Kakuhen system is activated, you are given a free spin and stand a better chance of winning. There is another type of Kakuhen, which is activated after every jackpot, but for those to work the player needs to hit a specific number of odds in a limited number of spins.
Jitan: Jitan is another payout mode, which happens when you do not hit a jackpot for a lot of rounds. Once the Jitan mode is activated, it lasts for several rounds. In this mode, the number of gates or cups in which the balls can fall are increased or become wider. If you are able to pass the balls through these gates, then you get several more balls as a payout.
Pachinko is a game of pure chance so there are no particular strategies which can help you in the game. The most you can do is to observe how the balls fall at a particular setting of the knob, and then change it accordingly.
Pachinko variants
Different variations of Pachinko that can keep players hooked to the game are available today. One of the most common amongst these variants involves combining the game with a sports theme. Pachinko when combined with a theme like the NBA or baseball can be highly entertaining.
Another popular variant, which is available online, is called Dolphin Paradise Pachinko. The game has two animated dolphins, gates and images of young Japanese girls. Some versions of Dolphin Paradise may also have a shark in the layout. The rules are the same as the normal version of the game, but the game play is a lot more entertaining.