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‘I wouldn't have become addicted to fruit machines if it wasn't for coin pushers’: A case report of adolescent coin pusher use leading to lifelong gambling-related harm

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Abstract

While most previous adolescent gambling research focuses on the illegal use of age-restricted products, adolescents can also often gamble legally using machines such as coin pushers (aka ‘penny falls’ machines). Using a qualitative case report design, we use an in-depth interview to complement previous findings, which have associated recollected adolescent use of coin pusher machines with levels of adult gambling-related harm. We recruited a 57-year-old male with a history of significant gambling-related harm, whose initiation into gambling involved the adolescent use of coin pusher machines. The interview was audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Three themes were identified: the structural similarities between coin pushers and traditional gambling formats, the role of proximity and normalization in facilitating progression to riskier gambling, and the participant's suggestions for population-level harm prevention measures. This novel case report highlights how a person's lifelong struggles with severe gambling-related harms began with adolescent exposure to coin pusher machines. Greater awareness of this case could encourage more gamblers to share similar experiences, alongside helping to educate parents and policymakers about the potential harmful consequences of using coin pusher machines.
‘I wouldnt have become addicted to fruit machines if it wasnt for coin
pushers: A case report of adolescent coin pusher use leading to lifelong
gambling-related harm
Jamie Torrance
a,*,1
, Jessica Smith
a,1
, Philip Newall
b
a
School of Psychology, Singleton Campus, Swansea University, Swansea SA28PP, UK
b
School of Psychological Science, 12A Priory Road, University of Bristol, Bristol BS81TU, UK
ARTICLE INFO
Keywords:
Coin pushers
Penny falls
Gambling
Harm prevention
Public health
Qualitative
Case report
ABSTRACT
While most previous adolescent gambling research focuses on the illegal use of age-restricted products, ado-
lescents can also often gamble legally using machines such as coin pushers (aka ‘penny fallsmachines). Using a
qualitative case report design, we use an in-depth interview to complement previous ndings, which have
associated recollected adolescent use of coin pusher machines with levels of adult gambling-related harm. We
recruited a 57-year-old male with a history of signicant gambling-related harm, whose initiation into gambling
involved the adolescent use of coin pusher machines. The interview was audio recorded, transcribed, and
analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Three themes were identied: the structural similar-
ities between coin pushers and traditional gambling formats, the role of proximity and normalization in facili-
tating progression to riskier gambling, and the participants suggestions for population-level harm prevention
measures. This novel case report highlights how a persons lifelong struggles with severe gambling-related harms
began with adolescent exposure to coin pusher machines. Greater awareness of this case could encourage more
gamblers to share similar experiences, alongside helping to educate parents and policymakers about the potential
harmful consequences of using coin pusher machines.
Introduction
Gambling during adolescence is a strong risk factor for experiencing
gambling-related harm in adulthood (Dussault et al., 2019; el-Guebaly
et al., 2015; Sharman et al., 2019). Most adolescent gambling research
focuses on age-restricted gambling products such as slot machines and
scratch cards (Calado et al., 2017; Ceallaigh et al., 2024; Ho, 2017).
However, from a public health perspective, research should not ignore
gambling and gambling-like opportunities that are legal for adolescents
to use, such as video game ‘loot boxes (LY, 2022; Xiao et al., 2024).
Since loot boxes are in most jurisdictions legal for people of any age to
use, they tend to be engaged in by many more adolescents than online
slot games (Gambling Commission. Young People and Gambling 2024:
Ofcial statistics 2024), and so could present signicant public health
impacts even if their per-person harm impacts turn out to be signi-
cantly lower (Brooks and Clark, 2023; Gonz´
alez-Cabrera et al., 2023;
Zendle et al., 2019). But video game loot boxes are less than a decade
old, and so the potential impacts of these harms may not be known for
some time. In contrast, the UK has legally permitted the use of ‘coin
pusher machines (aka ‘penny falls) without age restriction since the
1960s (Holmes, 1988; Miers, 2013), despite meeting the formal deni-
tion of gambling (Williams et al., 2017). Machine users insert coins of up
to £0.10 in value, which fall onto a moving platform above a ledge of
many other coins, in the hope of pushing signicantly more coins off the
ledge that can be collected as winnings (see Fig. 1). These machines may
also offer additional prizes, such as sweets or small toys, with a total
value of up to £5. Coin pusher machines are a signicant enough part of
UK culture to have inspired a long-running TV gameshow called ‘tipping
point.
Coin pushers may become less relevant as societies become cashless.
However, perhaps because of their legality, 14 % of Great British (GB)
1117 year-olds recently reported using coin pushers in the last year,
compared to 2 % who had gambled online (Gambling Commission.
Young People and Gambling 2024: Ofcial statistics 2024). This
* Corresponding author: Vivian 934, Singleton Campus, Swansea University, Sketty, Swansea SA28PP, UK.
E-mail address: jamie.torrance@swansea.ac.uk (J. Torrance).
1
JT and JS are joint rst authors who contributed equally
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Psychiatry Research Case Reports
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/psycr
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psycr.2025.100246
Received 1 September 2024; Received in revised form 21 November 2024; Accepted 11 January 2025
Psychiatry Research Case Reports 4 (2025) 100246
Available online 12 January 2025
2773-0212/© 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ).
suggests that coin pushers remain an important gambling format for
Great British youth today. This is important, as retrospective research
has repeatedly associated higher levels of recollected use of coin pusher
machines with gambling-related harm experienced as an adult in UK
(Newall et al., 2020; Parrado-Gonz´
alez and Newall, 2023), Australian
(Newall et al., 2021), and US samples (Bastiani et al., 2023). In all of
these studies, 60 % or more of adults recollected using coin pusher
machines at least once as a child, again conrming the potential public
health implications even if the per-person risk is low. However, the UK
Governments Department for Culture, Media, and Sports (DCMS) 2023
White Paper on gambling mentioned the common limitations among
this literature (large sample retrospective studies) as a reason to avoid
taking any regulatory actions on coin pusher machines (DCMS 2023).
Research should therefore use complementary sources of evidence to
continue investigating other aspects of coin pusher machines. For
example, coin pusher machines could be argued to have structural
similarities with other harmful gambling formats such as electronic
gaming machines (EGMs). Both machine types involve audiovisual
feedback, near-miss events, and could promote userscognitive distor-
tions, such as the perceived predictability of machine outcomes. These
are all structural characteristics that have been associated with harm in
EGM use (Dixon et al., 2014; Dixon et al., 2015; Livingstone, 2017;
Palmer et al., 2024; Pisklak et al., 2020). Furthermore, coin pusher
machines are typically housed in UK seaside arcades, and often placed in
close physical proximity with EGMs, which could help ease the transi-
tion to these more harmful gambling formats (Badji et al., 2020; Russell
et al., 2023). In particular, direct lived experience from former coin
pusher machine users could be helpful (Ortiz et al., 2021), especially
given the lack of available longitudinal evidence.
We therefore present a qualitative case report of an individual with a
history of signicant gambling harm whose initiation into gambling
involved the adolescent use of coin pusher machines. We acknowledge
that qualitative case reports are not representative of the wider popu-
lation, nor do they allow for explicit casual inferences (Baskarada, 2014;
Priya, 2021). However, this approach can provide a deeper under-
standing of the possible range of outcomes associated with coin pushers
(Lose, 2017), and serve to methodologically-triangulate previous nd-
ings using a different evidence source (Bekhet and Zauszniewski, 2012).
This study was therefore guided by an open and exploratory research
question: What can the potential self-reported impacts of adolescent
coin-pusher use be on lifetime experiences of gambling-related harm?
Methods
This study followed the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Quali-
tative Research (COREQ) guidelines (Tong et al., 2007). Ethical
approval for this study was obtained from the School of Psychological
Science Research Ethics Commitee at the University of Bristol [#19,
281].
Case report approach
Qualitative case reports allow for in-depth explorations of complex
phenomena within their real-life contexts (Baskarada, 2014; Priya,
2021). This method is therefore ideal for understanding the nuanced
interactions between early experiences and later behaviors (Stake,
2008). We opted to take an inductive and constructivist approach
(Thomas, 2006). This is useful for synthesizing fragmented
lived-experiences to create a more integrated and fundamental ‘story
(Schwandt, 1994). Specically, we utilized Interpretative phenomeno-
logical analysis (IPA), which epistemologically complements construc-
tivism (Colahan et al., 2012). IPA is particularly valuable in the context
of gambling research due to its idiographic and phenomenological na-
ture (Shinebourne, 2011). IPA therefore provides useful insight
regarding the meaning that individuals ascribe to their gambling expe-
riences (Houghton et al., 2023; Parke and Grifths, 2012; Pattinson and
Parke, 2017).
Case selection
The participant was a 57 year-old British male, with 49 years of
gambling experience, and who was presently in recovery. A relationship
was established between the researchers and the participant prior to the
current study taking place. One of the research team met the participant
at a gambling conference, where an initial conversation about the par-
ticipants adolescent use of coin pusher machines occurred, in combi-
nation with the researchers own perspectives on the relevant evidence-
base. Therefore, the participant was selected purposively and invited to
participate via email.
Procedure
Following provision of an information sheet, the participant con-
sented digitally and provided brief demographic information. Subse-
quently, an in-depth interview took place online via Microsoft teams in
May 2024. The participant attended the online interview from his home,
with his partner present but off-screen for support. The interview was
led by Author 1 (PhD) and Author 3 (PhD) who are both Lecturers in
Fig. 1. Interior and exterior of a typical UK coin pusher machine.
J. Torrance et al.
Psychiatry Research Case Reports 4 (2025) 100246
2
Psychology with experience in qualitative gambling research (Newall
and Talberg, 2023; Newall et al., 2024; Torrance et al., 2021, 2024). The
participant did not receive payment for taking part in the interview.
The interview lasted approximately 90-minutes and was guided by a
semi-structured interview schedule comprised of open-ended questions
and relevant prompts. The nal interview schedule consisted of 11
questions/prompts. Examples include: tell us about your rst few en-
counters with coin pusher machines, and what drew you to them initially?
and What were the circumstances or feelings that contributed to the shift
from coin pushers to other gambling products?. These questions were
developed based on our initial discussions with the participant before
the formal interview. We learned that coin pushers played a signicant
role in initiating his lifelong struggle with gambling-related harm.
Therefore, we aimed to delve deeper into these aspects of his experience
while retaining the exibility required to explore any additional areas of
interest. To complement this exploration and to support the analysis,
both authors made short-hand notes during the interview (Phillippi and
Lauderdale, 2018). Saturation was conrmed by the researchers as well
as the participant, who stated that he had no further experiences to
share. Subsequently, transcripts were supplied to the participant for the
purposes of accuracy and validity (Candela, 2019).
Analysis
The interview was recorded and then transcribed verbatim. The IPA
analysis was informed by the guidelines provided by Pietkiewicz and
Smith (Pietkiewicz and Smith, 2014). This process began with Authors 1
and 2 immersing themselves in the data by actively listening to the audio
recording numerous times. The next step involved repeatedly reading
the transcript while making additional notes through double herme-
neutics. This involved observing how the participant seemed to interpret
their own experiences and how this understanding inuenced their
behaviour (Montague et al., 2020). These descriptive notes were com-
bined with those made during the interview. Next, more explicit ‘codes
were highlighted by the researchers in order to develop clusters of
‘emergent themes (Pietkiewicz and Smith, 2014). These emergent
themes were later rened through regular discussions between the
research team until a consensus was reached. As researchers with
backgrounds in psychology that focus on harmful gambling, we
acknowledged the potential for our positionality to inuence our in-
terpretations. To address this, we employed bracketing techniques such
as peer debrieng sessions to challenge our interpretations, and
employed respondent validation where the participant was provided our
nal themes and narrative (Birt et al., 2016). Through these strategies,
we aimed to enhance the credibility and trustworthiness of our ndings
while acknowledging the inevitable inuence of our professional biases.
Consequently, it was conrmed by the participant that in his opinion,
our interpretation was valid and grounded in his meaningful
experiences.
Results
Three main themes were identied: 1) Structural similarities to
traditional gambling formats, 2) A gateway to adult gambling behav-
iour, and 3) The need for harm reduction measures. These themes
collectively illustrate the ‘journey of the participant in relation to
adolescent use of coin pushers (see Fig. 2). These themes are discussed
below with supporting participant quotes.
Theme one: structural similarities to traditional gambling formats
Coin pushers held signicant meaning to the participant, as they
evoked vivid childhood memories of seaside holidays. He recounted
feeling an ‘overwhelming excitement to play the coin pushers during
these trips. The participant felt a strong ‘urge to engage with the coin
pushers, despite usually feeling ‘short changed afterwards. He stated
that as a child, he did not have an ‘appreciation for the value of coins
won and lost. For example, he recalled his grandparents giving him a bag
of coins to use throughout one particular holiday, which were spent
entirely on the machines:
That was meant to be my pocket money for the week. It didnt last that
long. It actually lasted that afternoon for me, and I remember coming
back to the caravan with an empty bag.
The participant noted that in retrospect, the appeal of coin pusher
machines was largely due to their structural similarities to traditional
gambling formats. For example, the captivating sounds and lights,
were noted as being nearly identical to those of fruit machines and slot
machines placed nearby:
The noise of the coins falling down in a big cascade and crash, that
crescendo of sound. I couldnt wait to scoop them up out of the trough and
put them back into my pot and start all over again
Similar to many EGM users, the participant enjoyed engaging with
coin pushers ‘in-person and ‘alone. This preference for solitary
gambling stemmed from his past experiences of struggling to ‘t in
socially during school. Additionally, the physical aspect of coin pushers
allowed him to select the machine with the most coins on its ledge and
employ various strategies of inserting the coin into the slot. In retro-
spect, the participant realized that these efforts were futile and ‘silly,
akin to the illusions of control commonly experienced by slot machine
gamblers:
As a 7- or 8-year-old, youre not really thinking of physics. I thought ‘if I
put that coin in that slot there on the left hand-side, its going to pretty
much fall on the left-hand sideIts going to push those coins there.
Hopefully something will drop onto the next ledge, and itll make the ledge
fall.
Theme two: A gateway to adult gambling behaviour
Perhaps due to the structural similarities mentioned above, the
participant recounted his seamless ‘transition from adolescent use of
coin pushers into adult gambling behaviours. Initially, he had used
pocket money for coin pushers, which began in the setting of seaside
arcades. However, once he began earning his own wage, this ‘snow-
balled into regularly using fruit machines in bars and adult-only ‘ar-
cades. It was acknowledged that this subsequent form of gambling was
Fig. 2. Summary of main themes.
J. Torrance et al.
Psychiatry Research Case Reports 4 (2025) 100246
3
harmful, and increasingly consumed more of the participants ‘time and
money. The participant recalled a particular instance in his late teens
where, reminiscent of these earlier experiences with coin pushers, he
lost money gifted by his grandparents on fruit machines (UK EGMs).
I couldnt wait to go there. That £100 my Nan and Grandad gave me
was in the building society for about a year, and one day I thought ‘oh
know what Ill do? Ill have some fun. Ill go into the arcade for the fruit
machines, and I came out empty handed.
The participant expressed how his gambling ‘escalatedand became
‘insidious‘from this point. He recalled being ‘grippedwhereby he was
always ‘drawn back to the fruit machines. Subsequently, the participant
began to engage with machines that had an increased jackpot. Over the
following two decades, this behaviour continued and resulted in sig-
nicant debts, driven by credit cards and loans. However, after meeting
his current partner, the participant embraced abstinence and recovery.
He emphasized the signicance of this decision and discussed the po-
tential consequences had it not been made.
The only other two ways that were going to stop me gambling, were if I
was banged up in prison or if I was no longer on this planet.
Reecting on his history of gambling harm, the participant recog-
nized that playing coin pushers during adolescence was the initial
catalyst for him.
If youre turning the clock back, I can safely say I wouldnt have become
addicted to fruit machines if it wasnt for coin pushers.
He mentioned that if he could offer advice to his younger self, he
would suggest ‘playing with my friendsinstead of playing coin pushers
alone. The occasional use of coin pushers was recognized as being ‘un-
likely to turn the average child into a gambling addict. However, the
participant highlighted that the potential ‘risk of children following a
similar trajectory as his.
Theme three: The need for harm reduction measures
The participantsunderstanding of the potential risks linked to coin
pushers inuenced his desire for practical and effective harm reduction
strategies. He suggested that educating parents could be benecial, as
many parents do not anticipate that an activity considered an ‘innocuous
pastime might negatively affect their children. Therefore, the partici-
pant felt that more efforts should be made to inform parents about the
potential harms associated with coin pushers.
Furthermore, the participant stated that for young children, coin
pushers were stimulating in the wrong wayand thus shouldnt exist
in environments aimed primarily at children. He perceived coin pushers
as a form of gambling and emphasized the importance of keeping them
‘completely separate from more ‘positive games. This separation was
deemed necessary to reduce ‘any temptationassociated with gambling
activities.
Put them somewhere else, it could be in the same building, but segregate
them, put the coin pushers in a different place. Dont mix them up with
other games, because thats what they do, you know, you might have
driving simulators there and six feet away, youve got a coin pusher or a
one-armed bandit
Ultimately, the participant recognised that much more could be done
in relation to the effective regulation of coin pushers. He noted the
absence of laws mandating age restriction for coin pushers, despite them
requiring money and being chance-based. It was expressed that coin
pushers and other similar games should only be available to those ‘of 16
years old and onwards at a minimum. The participant expressed his
reasoning for this particular age restriction:
You know, these coin pushers are placed in an area of the arcade that is
surrounded by other gambling machines.and I cant see any place for it
for kids. All of it involves spending money to try and gain more money
Discussion
While most adolescent gambling research focuses on the illegal use of
age-restricted products, the more widespread use of legal gambling and
gambling-like products might have been relatively overlooked, given
their much broader uptake (Gambling Commission. Young People and
Gambling 2024: Ofcial statistics 2024). While video game loot boxes
are relatively recent and so an understanding of their potential harms
may take some time to become clear, coin pusher machines have been in
use for longer, therefore allowing for a methodological-triangulation of
various evidence sources. While the UK government has highlighted the
limitations in the existing retrospective self-report evidence base on coin
pusher machines (DCMS 2024), the present work added to this evidence
base via a case report of a gambler who experienced signicant lifetime
harms, which began with very early use of coin pusher machines. The
studys ndings indicated various structural similarities between coin
pushers and EGMs, described how physical proximity and normalization
eased the participants transition toward harder gambling formats, and
highlighted his own perspectives on how these harms could be pre-
vented via various population-level interventions. These ndings
therefore present a unique perspective on coin pusher machines.
These ndings have various implications for future research and
policy. First, they highlight that even if severe harms from adolescent
coin pusher machine use are rare, these should still be considered in a
public-health sense, given the high rates of current GB adolescent ma-
chine use (Gambling Commission. Young People and Gambling 2024:
Ofcial statistics 2024), as well as the high levels of recollected use in
other jurisdictions (Bastiani et al., 2023; Newall et al., 2021). While the
GB regulator does now include questions about coin pusher machines in
its annual cross-sectional youth survey (Gambling Commission. Young
People and Gambling 2024: Ofcial statistics 2024), funders might want
to consider funding longitudinal studies to better understand the po-
tential lifetime impacts. Further experimental work should be done to
better understand their structural characteristics, as well as work on
potential harm-prevention measures. Furthermore, other related
gambling opportunities that are legal for people of any age to use should
also be considered. For example, ‘crane grab (aka ‘claw crane) ma-
chines are also located in British seaside arcades and in other
youth-oriented locations, and similarly involve the risking of money for
a chance at winning a prize of greater value. The existing retrospective
cross-sectional evidence also links adolescent use of crane grab ma-
chines with levels of adult gambling-related harm (Bastiani et al., 2023;
Newall et al., 2020; Newall et al., 2021; Parrado-Gonz´
alez and Newall,
2023), and vivid descriptions of these machinesappeal have also been
reported in for example Canada, Taiwan, and South Korea (Choi, 2023;
Karhulahti et al., 2022; Thum and Chai, 2021). As crane grab machines
involve the potential of winning prizes, and unlike coin pusher machines
not money itself, a better understanding of the relative potential risks of
these two classes of machines may help researchers to better understand
the potential risks of various adolescent gambling-like activities. How-
ever, educational materials within arcades that highlight the potential
harms associated with these gambling-like activities would be benecial
for young people. Relatedly, youth gambling campaigns may also wish
to include this information given the popularity of these machines
among this demographic.
With respect to limitations, this case report details only a single
persons lived experience, and so there is no potential to generalize to
the experiences of others, or to those in other jurisdictions. Changing
social trends over time may also limit this case reports relevance even to
the experiences of British children today and in the future, where other
activities may gain increased salience.
J. Torrance et al.
Psychiatry Research Case Reports 4 (2025) 100246
4
Conclusion
In conclusion, this novel case report details how one persons life-
time of severe gambling-related harms begun with childhood use of coin
pusher machines. Wider understanding of this case could for example
motivate more gamblers to come forward with similar stories (Lose,
2017), or otherwise educate parents or policy stakeholders about their
potential impacts.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Jamie Torrance: Writing review & editing, Writing original
draft, Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis, Data curation. Jes-
sica Smith: Writing review & editing, Writing original draft,
Methodology, Investigation. Philip Newall: Writing review & editing,
Writing original draft, Supervision, Project administration, Method-
ology, Investigation, Formal analysis, Data curation, Conceptualization.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing nancial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to inuence
the work reported in this paper.
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