Skill with prizes machines

What are skill with prizes machines?

A skill with prizes machine is a game you pay to play in which the prize is decided only by how well you play. The Gambling Commission’s guidance to licensing authorities describes it as a machine where ‘the winning of a prize is determined only by the player’s skill’, and adds that any element of chance imparted by the machine would make it a gaming machine instead. Its examples are trivia machines in pubs and clubs, which pay cash for answering general knowledge questions, and ticket-redemption games in family entertainment centres that reward a high score.

SWPs belong on our list of slot machine types because they often sit next to fruit machines and look similar. Legally, though, they are the opposite: a fruit machine is a gaming machine because chance decides the result, while a genuine SWP is outside gambling law altogether. Our short answer to what is a SWP machine covers the basics; this page goes into the test, the history and the maths.

The UK legal test: skill or chance?

Under section 6 of the Gambling Act 2005, gaming means playing a game of chance for a prize. Section 235(2) then sets out exemptions for some machines. The Commission’s advice on whether a prize machine is a gaming machine turns this into a series of questions about each game on the machine.

The key point is the second question. The Commission says it doesn’t matter whether chance predominates over skill; if chance can affect the result to any appreciable extent, the game is a game of chance. And if any one game on a multi-game machine involves chance, the whole machine is a gaming machine. That makes the line much stricter than many people assume, and it is why multi-game slot machines holding skill and chance games together are regulated as gaming machines.

Red flags: when a ‘skill’ machine is really a gaming machine

The Commission lists features that suggest a machine sold as a skill game is in fact a gaming machine, whether they are always present or switched on by a compensation mechanism.

• A skilful player isn’t given enough time to use their skill.
• A reaction-based outcome isn’t genuinely achievable by a human.
• A memory game doesn’t let the player retain and recall what they need.
• Controls behave inconsistently, such as a button giving different results for the same pressure.
• Payouts change according to the machine’s history, which may make the outcome predetermined.

If not every advertised prize can actually be won, the Commission says the game may be fraudulent and referred to other agencies. The same thinking explains why a fruit machine’s skill stop doesn’t make it a skill game: our page asking is stopping the reels a skill explains what the button really does.

SWP stakes, prizes and where the machines can go

Because a genuine SWP isn’t a gaming machine, it needs no licence or permit, and the law sets no maximum stake or prize. The Commission’s guidance says SWPs can be sited anywhere, from a pub to a cinema foyer or shopping centre, and they don’t count towards the machine allowances of pubs, clubs, adult gaming centres, family entertainment centres or bingo halls. A pub’s automatic entitlement to two gaming machines, explained in how many slot machines a pub can have, is separate.

In practice, prizes stay low. The Commission says it would be very difficult to make an economically viable genuine SWP with prizes above £50, the limit set by the industry trade body, because skilled players would win the top prize too often. A machine offering much more would likely draw questions about whether it is genuinely skill-based. The Commission also notes that SWPs may still be liable for Machine Games Duty and need registering with HMRC; GOV.UK sets out how much Machine Games Duty is paid (opens in a new tab).

The Category C and D figures are from the Gambling Commission’s gaming machine categories (opens in a new tab).

A history of UK quiz machines

Quiz machines are the best-known SWPs in Britain. Wikipedia’s quiz machine article (opens in a new tab) records the first UK quiz machine as Quizmaster, made in 1985 by Coinmaster of Cardiff. Early machines charged 20p a game with a £10 top prize. Leading makers through the 1980s and 1990s included Coinmaster, JPM, Barcrest, Bell-Fruit, Maygay and Ace-Coin.

From the start, a small group of serious players memorised large parts of the question sets and moved between venues. Manufacturers responded with bigger question banks and ‘spoiler’ questions, and since the mid-1990s formats have become far less friendly to expert players. Payout levels and jackpots are now lower than in the machines’ early years. For the fruit machine side of the same pubs, see our history of fruit machines.

How a pub quiz SWP works, step by step

1. Insert money. Most quiz games charge 50p or £1 a game; the price is shown on the screen.
2. Choose a game from the menu on a multi-game terminal.
3. Answer questions against the clock. Each correct answer moves you up a prize ladder.
4. Use any help options the rules describe, if your game has them.
5. Decide whether to collect or go on. Some games let you bank a lower prize or risk it for the next rung.
6. Collect your prize, or the game ends when you answer wrongly or run out of time.

The rules for each game should be on screen. If the timer seems too short for anyone to read and answer, or answers you know are right are marked wrong, those are the warning signs the Commission describes.

The maths of a quiz machine: why the top prize is so hard

Even a game with no random element can be very hard to win if the questions are tough. A simple calculation shows how a prize ladder stacks the odds against guessing. With four answer options, a pure guess is right 25% of the time; the chance of guessing several in a row multiplies down quickly.

Knowledge changes the picture, which is the whole point of an SWP. But game designers set the final questions so hard that the Wikipedia article describes reaching the jackpot as virtually impossible, and the Commission’s view that prizes above £50 are hard to sustain reflects the same economics. A £20 jackpot on a 50p game is 40 times the stake; to stay in business, the operator needs most players to pay many 50p games for each top prize paid.

These figures are illustrations of probability, not data from any real quiz machine.

Arcade games that are not skill with prizes machines

Several familiar machines look like skill games but are regulated as gaming machines. Crane grab machines with non-money prizes are Category D, with a £1 maximum stake and £50 maximum prize, and coin pushers are Category D too, with a 20p stake and £20 prize, no more than £10 of it money. Our page asking are crane grab machines rigged explains how their payout is controlled. Category D machines currently have no statutory minimum age, though operators have kept under-18s off cash-paying Category D slot-style machines voluntarily since 2021. A legal ban was announced by the government in May 2024 but had not taken effect by 21 October 2026.

Ticket-redemption games, such as shooting baskets for a high score, can be exempt if the prize genuinely depends on skill, according to the Commission’s guidance. This page is written for adults; our slot machine FAQs for parents covers questions about children and arcades.

Skill with prizes machines: pros, cons and who they suit

SWPs suit adults who enjoy quizzes and see the 50p or £1 as the price of a game, not an investment. They are not a way to make money: payouts have fallen and question sets are built against regular big winners. If you also play the pub fruit machine next door, remember it is a different thing: a gaming machine where chance decides and the house keeps a share over time.

SWP myths and facts

• Myth: a little luck doesn’t matter if skill dominates. Fact: under the Commission’s test, any appreciable element of chance makes it gaming.
• Myth: a skill stop on a fruit machine makes it a skill game. Fact: the machine still decides what can land; it is a gaming machine.
• Myth: SWPs must pay out a set percentage. Fact: there is no legal payout rule because they aren’t gaming machines; operators set prize levels.
• Myth: regular players can earn from quiz machines. Fact: question banks, spoiler questions and lower payouts make that much harder than in the 1980s.

Where to play online slots in the UK

Online casinos don’t offer skill with prizes games; everything in a casino lobby is a game of chance, including slots. If you do play slots online, the offers below are our partners’ current welcome deals, for new customers aged 18+, and terms apply. Unlike a quiz machine, your knowledge won’t change the result.

Coral gives 100 free spins worth 10p each on selected slots when you deposit and bet £10 or more on slots between 1 October 2026 and 1 February 2027; claim within 48 hours and play within 7 days, with no wagering on winnings. Ladbrokes gives 50 free spins a day for 10 days, up to 500 at 10p each, after you play £10 on slots; claim each day by 23:59, with no wagering, and spins last 7 days. Some payment methods, including PayPal, Skrill and prepaid cards, don’t qualify at either, and both belong to LC International Limited. PlayOJO gives 80 free spins at 10p on Big Bass Bonanza for a first deposit of £10 or more, with no wagering.

Set a deposit limit first. Free, confidential help is available from the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 and from GamCare (opens in a new tab).

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.