The United Arab Emirate of Sharjah, one of the seven emirates that make up the country, has banned crane machines.
Sharjah, which makes its own local regulations, wants to see any form of direct-vend machine give 100 per cent payout, which effectively means a prize every play, but this has not been happening in the emirate’s shopping mall FECs.
The same rule applies generally throughout the UAE, but is enforced to varying degrees in other emirates.
The payment of mercy tickets in the event of a win failure is usually enough to satisfy the authorities, but Sharjah’s cranes have apparently not adhered to this strictly enough.
Indeed, according to local specialists, most Sharjah cranes have been operating with a 30 per cent payout.
