Itbox

itbox is a networked gambling games terminal which is found in thousands of pubs, leisure centres and amusement arcades in the United Kingdom. Classified as a "skill with prizes" (SWP) machine, each itbox terminal typically includes 25 different games. Each game costs 50p or £1 to play and lasts between 10 seconds and several minutes. From most of these games it is possible to win modest cash prizes. Although strictly the name 'itbox' refers only to Leisure Link-made terminals, the name is often casually applied as a genericized trademark to other SWP terminals such as Paragon SWP, Gamesnet, ind:e and Fatbox.

The games on itbox are largely question-and-answer based where the player will need to answer a varying number of questions (often from a range of subject categories) correctly before he or she can opt to collect a small prize (normally £1) or gamble for a chance to win a larger prize by answering further questions.

Some games on itbox do not involve questions at all; examples of these are:

The amount of money won is determined by the number of points the player accumulates by successfully answering questions and filling in the missing letters.

Past games that are no longer available, except on older machines, include The Two Towers, and Dungeons and Dragons.

In early 2006 a new style of game was introduced to itbox terminals. These tournament games pit players playing on different terminals around the country against each other for larger cash prizes than the stand-alone games. The national high score tables are reportedly updated in real time.

In accordance with gambling legislation the standard payout percentage of itboxes is 30%, although operators can elect to set this at 40% or 50%. Many of the terminals are fixed minimum payout as with all fruit machines. Each game has a prize structure which varies according to whether that game has recently paid out more than it should have according to the fixed payout percentage. Most games have a nominal jackpot of £20 although attaining this requires considerable skill from the player and cooperation from the software. Occasionally the operator underestimates the dedication of quiz machine players, or the software on a particular game is defective. When this happens, fast-acting players can empty machines of the jackpot with minimum difficulty.

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Wikipedia