Little Suzie could legally blow all her lunch money on such a machine-but, even if she didn't win any cash, she would at least walk away with a fistful of candy. The Utah machines differ from actual gambling machines in that they offer a guarantee: You might not win with every quarter, but you will always get a bubble-gum ball for every two bits deposited.įor some, this innovation could be construed as sidestepping the law-in a way that not only allows gambling, but essentially opens it up to anyone, regardless of age. A new company began marketing these diversions here despite the Beehive State's strict anti-gambling laws. If you haven't seen coin-pusher machines in Nevada or Atlantic City, N.J., you might soon be seeing more of these machines in Utah gas stations. Coin-pusher machines, located in Pleasant Grove and Layton, pay off every time: Always in gum, sometimes in cashĪnyone who's waltzed through a casino has likely seen the game where a player drops a quarter in, and, with a little luck, it gets pushed onto a metal shelf full of quarters, perhaps spilling a handful of lucre off the shelf, out of the machine and into the player's waiting hands.
