What Casinos Have Coin Pushers?

When people get asked to rattle off betting options available at land-based and online casino USA sites, most gamblers fail to mention coin pushers — and this is because these products rarely get featured at gambling establishments and online.

For the uninformed, a coin pusher does what its name suggests. It is a game where coins get pushed often off a metal ridge. According to history books, their origin dates back to somewhere around the early 1960s, with a machine called Wheel-a-Win pioneering this concept. It featured an arm that would sweep across a coin-filled surface and nudge some of these copper plates through holes placed in random spots for big win rewards.

Penny Falls, released in 1964, was a machine that followed a similar concept. After the success of these two devices, this game cabinet category slowly became a mainstay in arcades around the globe.

These days, coin pusher machines still boast decent popularity in territories like the UK and Japan. Yet, you would be hard-pressed to find them as featured gambling games at real money casinos in the United States. Some US arcades still house them, but only in jurisdictions that allow this wagering form.

You see, their legal status is often murky in many regions, and they face many of the same problems as fish tables, a genre of online casino games for real money found at some gambling sites and arcades in specific US states. So, coin pushers are legal only in specific markets.

Below, I provide a quick guide to finding pushers in gaming venues across the US while noting if casinos make money with these arcade games and why these gambling devices are worth playing. Also, we mention a few quality online picks that players can pair with a casino bonus en route to some exciting on-the-house gambling entertainment.

What Casinos Allow Coin Pushers? Are They Legal?

Vegas casinos don’t have coin pushers that provide cash prizes, only ones offering other types of rewards.

Here is the deal regarding the legality of coin pusher games. They are not illegal under federal law. That said, they are illegal in most states if they deliver cash prizes, and that is why you don’t see pushers in casinos in Las Vegas, except for a few places like Circus Circus, where the rewards are show tickets and the like.

Gamblers are more likely to spot them in a convenience store that sells instant win lotto cards than at any highly reputable game of chance venue.

Coin pusher machines also get relegated to arcades, gas stations, and cruise ships because they give off a low-rent, low-roller vibe and have a skill element. Gambling commissions obligate operators that every one of their offered products must have a payout rate above a specific percentage. Thus, given that this type of game features a skill aspect that is not possible.

US territories that permit cash prize coin pushers are Minnesota and Illinois. The Land of 10,000 Lakes is home to eighteen casinos, while The Prairie State has eleven. That refers to commercial and tribal venues that offer Class II and Class III gaming. What is interesting is that in many states, like California, Native American casinos can have coin pusher games since state gaming laws have no bearing on tribal land.

So, these devices are only allowed within a reservation’s borders and not outside them. So, the best bet is for players to look for them at tribal locales or in casinos in Minnesota and Illinois. Though, the chances of finding a spot that hosts them are as slim as locating a no deposit bonus that gives away over $100 in free-play funds.

Casinos can’t make money from skill-based gaming options because they run the risk of someone getting so good at a particular game that they rarely lose when playing it. However, some are entirely chance-based, involving Plinko-style gameplay, and they can tie into a progressive prize network, similar to the one slot machines can pay out in their free spins bonus rounds.

How Do You Win in a Coin Pusher Game?

In most coin pusher games, the goal is to slide a quarter down a chute, aiming it to fall directly behind stacks of others. These will usually rest on top of a sliding surface. It is one that pushes other coins on the main area in front of it towards an opening at its end. Naturally, players need to locate coin pushers in arcades and casinos that have gotten packed to the gills with coins.

Then, look to drop multiple coins simultaneously and try to layer them in a horizontal line across the playing field section. If they manage to do that, drop as many coins as possible onto the cabinet’s sliding surface; that will help push those in front to fall to the main area, and the following push will hopefully lead to some coins at the far end dropping off the ridge into the prize slot.

Some coin pushers have a bonus chute located in the middle of the main surface, and the coins that fall into it fill a cup that provides a payout once it reaches a pre-determined limit. Fashioning quarter-like tokens in an attempt to cheat is not wise. If these nefarious actions get discovered, they can lead to a ban from the premises.

That is about it. There is no other tactic one can implement to improve their odds on elementary coin pushers. Remember that the odds of winning are not terrific in any choice from this genre, and these gaming products are unsuitable for high-limit play.

Online Coin Pusher Games

Ganesh Wealth from PlayStar is likely the most famous online coin pusher game around.

Now that it has been established that coin pushers are not Las Vegas game mainstays. Let us discuss where interested parties can find online iterations for real money gambling.

First, it must be stated that the offer of virtual coin pushers found at online casinos is also not vast. PlayStar, a global game provider that supplies its internet gaming products to sites operating in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, is the top developer of titles from this game category.

Their coin pusher series includes Ganesh Wealth, Cai Shen Dao, and Pirate King, which are more or less identical releases with different themes. They utilize random number generation algorithms similar to those implemented in video poker, and at some sites, these titles can contribute to rollover completion.

All three have gameplay that mirrors the one described above and can payout wins up to 200x. Gambling sites allow these picks because they randomly payout rewards and use concepts found in slot casino games.