{"id":382365,"date":"2025-02-18T09:09:59","date_gmt":"2025-02-18T09:09:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/?post_type=how-to&p=382365"},"modified":"2025-02-18T09:09:59","modified_gmt":"2025-02-18T09:09:59","slug":"how-to-play-pachinko","status":"publish","type":"how-to","link":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/how-to\/how-to-play-pachinko","title":{"rendered":"How to Play Pachinko – Beginner\u2019s Guide to How Pachinko Works"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you’re not from Japan and have never lived in the country, chances are that you’re unfamiliar with Pachinko, one of the nation’s most popular pastimes.<\/p>\n

A Pachinko game essentially mixes the elements of slot machines, arcade games, and pinball. We explain how to play Pachinko, how the game works, and how to play online.<\/p>\n

\"Pachinko
 <\/span>Image: Marco Verch\/Flickr<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What is Pachinko?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Pachinko games were invented in the 1920s and marketed originally as children’s games. The original Pachinko games were modeled after early 20th-century Chicago-based Corinthian Bagatelle pinball games.<\/p>\n

Pachinko was an immediate hit in Japan and Pachinko games were originally stationed in candy shops as a way to get children and their parents (and their money) to stick around. Nowadays, Pachinko brings in $200 billion(!!!) a year, which is over 30 times more than what is wagered in Las Vegas and Macau combined.<\/p>\n

How Pachinko Works<\/span><\/h2>\n

So how does Pachinko work? Well, it’s both quite simple and difficult to explain at the same time but we will do our best.<\/p>\n

Modern Pachinko is a hybrid between pinball, an arcade game, and a slot machine. In the simplest form, players load up these very bright and loud machines with metal ball bearings, which you purchase at the Pachinko parlor.<\/p>\n

After the balls enter the machine, players are then in control of the amount of speed the balls will have as they enter the gaming space, just as you would with pinball.<\/p>\n

The steel balls are thrust into this vertical gaming space, where they drop down and bounce off hundreds of brass pins before reaching their final destination. While most of the balls will end up harmlessly going to the bottom and into the depths of the machine, some of them will find their way into these special pockets.<\/p>\n

Depending on the Pachinko game, these pockets can activate a bonus game or they will trigger a payout. Whereas most games you’re used to will either have a digital or a cash payout, instead a ton of ball bearings will drop from the machine into your basket.<\/p>\n

When you are finished playing, you will exchange these ball bearings (usually a crate that can carry a small child) for a cash prize. But it’s not that simple in Japan, as players have to skirt the anti-gambling laws.<\/p>\n

Players have to go through a third party window, curiously owned by the same people who own the gaming parlor. Players will exchange their metal balls for a ticket or some equivalent and then have to go next door to a separate location in order to exchange their ticket for cash.<\/p>\n

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Pachinko Parlor Rules<\/h3>\n

If you’re heading to Japan and want to play some real-life Pachinko for yourself, you’re going to have to know some pretty basic Pachinko rules.<\/p>\n