2p machines: an arcade guide

2p machines in the arcade: what they actually are

The 2p machines in a British arcade are mostly coin pushers, also called penny falls: glass-fronted cabinets where you drop a coin onto a moving shelf and hope it nudges others over the edge into the tray. The 10p machines nearby are usually small slot-style machines with reels that pay cash. Both count as gambling in law. They are Category D gaming machines, the lowest of the categories set under the Gambling Act 2005, with the smallest stakes and prizes.

That legal status surprises people who think of them as harmless seaside fun. They are low-stakes, but they work on the same principle as any other gaming machine: you pay to play, the machine keeps a share over time, and prizes are uncertain. Our answer to whether arcade 2p machines are gambling explains the legal test. This page, one of our slot machine guides, sets out the rules and the maths for adult players.

This guide is written for adults. Category D machines have no statutory minimum age at present, but cash-paying slot-style machines have been 18+ under an industry policy since 2021, and the government plans to make that a legal requirement. See the age section below.

The Category D rules behind arcade 2p and 10p machines

Category D is split into several subtypes, each with its own stake and prize cap. The figures come from the Gambling Commission's gaming machine categories (opens in a new tab); the government's May 2024 decisions left existing stake and prize limits unchanged.

The Category D glossary entry gives a short definition, and our page on what a Category D machine is answers the common questions. For the whole system, from B1 casino machines down, see gaming machine categories explained.

Category D machines must display their payout percentage, with two exceptions: crane grabs and penny falls don't have to. So a 10p reel machine should tell you its theoretical return, while a 2p pusher won't. That difference matters when you try to judge what play costs, as the maths section below shows.

How a 2p coin pusher machine works

A pusher looks mechanical and simple, and in many ways it is. The coins you can see are real, the shelf really moves, and gravity does the rest. Here is the sequence in words:

1. You drop a coin into a slot or chute at the top; on many machines you can steer where it lands.
2. The coin falls onto a moving back shelf that slides forward and back on a short cycle.
3. As the shelf moves forward, it pushes the coins in front of it towards the front edge of the lower playfield.
4. Coins that fall over the front edge drop into the payout tray and are yours.
5. Coins that slide off the sides drop into channels that return them to the machine, not to you.
6. Some machines add prizes, bonus tokens or a display that triggers extra coin drops.

Step five is the one that decides the economics. A pusher keeps its share not through a hidden computer but through the coins that never reach the front: the ones that slip off the sides, and the large mass that just sits on the shelf as a float. The overhang of coins at the front edge looks as if it is about to fall, which encourages one more coin. Our page on pusher machines covers the variants, including those with prizes on the playfield.

Coin pusher myths and what is really going on

Timing a drop can change where a coin lands, which makes pushers feel more like a game of skill than reel machines. But the cabinet is designed so that, over time, more coins go in than come out. A packed shelf usually means many people have fed it, not that it is ready to pay. The same thinking applies to crane grab machines: read are crane grab machines rigged for the facts behind that common question, and are coin pushers gambling for the legal side.

10p arcade machines: small slot machines that pay cash

The 10p machines in an arcade are usually cash-out Category D machines: a reel game with a 10p maximum stake and a £5 maximum prize. They look like small fruit machines and work like them, with software picking each result and a paytable showing what each line pays. Unlike pushers, they must display a payout percentage.

These are the machines the government means when it talks about ‘cash-out Category D slot-style machines’. In its May 2024 response on land-based gambling measures (opens in a new tab), it said it would make it an offence to invite, cause or permit under-18s to use them. Ticket-out machines, with stakes up to 30p and prizes up to £8, are treated separately and are not covered by that plan.

Machine Games Duty is paid by the arcade on its takings, not by you. For the bigger version of these machines, see our pub fruit machine guide and Category C machines explained.

What 2p and 10p arcade machines cost

Small coins hide how much is being staked. A bag of 2p coins feels like loose change, but every coin is a stake. The table shows how far a set amount goes at each coin size, before any winnings are fed back in.

For a 10p cash-out machine, you can work out the average cost from the percentage on the label: total staked × (100% − payout percentage). If a label showed 80% (an illustrative figure), 200 plays at 10p, £20 staked in total, would cost £4 on average. For pushers there is no label to work from, which is one reason to set a strict coin budget. The slot cost calculator and how much a slot costs per hour show the same idea for other machines.

Prizes are capped low: no Category D money-prize machine can pay more than £5 a go, and pushers no more than £10 in money. So an arcade session can't win back a large loss, and treating it as a way to make money doesn't add up. For tickets and tokens, our page on what slot machine tickets are explains how redemption works.

Other arcade machines: cranes, tickets and adult-only areas

Arcades mix Category D machines with others. Knowing which is which tells you the stake, the prize and whether the machine is adults-only by law.

Category C and B machines are 18+ only. Licensed family entertainment centres can offer Category C and D machines, while unlicensed ones, run under a permit, can offer Category D only. Adult gaming centres can also offer B3 and B4 machines, up to 20% of their machines. Our pages on family entertainment centres and adult gaming centres explain the differences.

Age rules for 2p, 10p and other arcade machines

The rules are in transition, so here is where things stood at 21 October 2026:

• Category B and C machines: 18+ by law.
• Category D machines: no statutory minimum age at present.
• Cash-out Category D slot-style machines (10p stake, £5 prize): adults only under a voluntary industry policy since 2021.
• The government's May 2024 decision to make under-18 play on those machines a criminal offence: announced, not yet in force.
• Ticket-out machines, pushers and cranes: not covered by the planned offence.

Our page on Category D age rules tracks the change, and can under 18s play arcade machines answers the question directly. Parents and carers will find the wider picture in our page on children and arcade machines. Whatever the legal position, these are gambling machines, and this site doesn't suggest them as an activity for children.

Where to find 2p machines: arcade and other UK venues

Category D machines can be sited in a wide range of places, though the Gambling Commission notes that outside arcades, family entertainment centres, pubs and travelling fairs they are unusual.

Seaside towns and holiday parks are where most people meet pushers; see seaside arcade machines and holiday park arcade machines. The broader arcade slot machines page describes a typical arcade floor.

Penny falls and seaside arcades: a short history

Pushers are a long-standing feature of British seaside arcades, and their old name, penny falls, survives in the Gambling Commission's own wording for the subtype. Decimal Day, 15 February 1971, changed the coins every British machine took. A government memorandum on the 2006 changes estimated that in 2005 there were about 17,000 pinball, pusher and crane machines in Great Britain, alongside around 192,000 amusement-with-prizes machines.

Since the Gambling Act 2005 took full effect on 1 September 2007, pushers have been regulated as Category D machines, with their own subtype and limits. Our histories of British seaside arcades and decimalisation and fruit machines tell more of the story.

Keeping arcade play in proportion

For most adults, a few pounds in the pushers is a small part of a day out. For some, low stakes become a habit that adds up, or the arcade becomes a place to escape to. A few simple rules keep it in proportion:

1. Set an amount before you go in, and bring it as change rather than using a card at the change machine.
2. Count it in goes: £5 is 250 2p coins or 50 10p plays.
3. Pocket any winnings you collect instead of feeding them straight back in.
4. Leave when the amount is gone, and don't go back for ‘one more bag’.
5. Notice if you are visiting arcades more often or for longer than you meant to.

If arcade play has become a problem, you can ask to self-exclude from arcades; our guide to self-exclusion from arcades and bingo halls explains how. GAMSTOP covers online gambling only. The National Gambling Helpline, run by GamCare (opens in a new tab), is free and open 24/7 on 0808 8020 133, and our safer gambling page lists other support.

18+. Gambling should be entertainment that costs money, not a way to make it. Decide a budget before you play: plan a slot budget. Free, confidential help: National Gambling Helpline 0808 8020 133.