Money and toys up for grabs: Is it legit?

Claw or crane machines in arcades are usually brimming with soft toys that players try to pick up with a mechanical claw.

One machine at Bic Mac Centre in Ang Mo Kio offers something more - money tied to the plush toys.

A photo of the machine has gone viral and generated some debate. Some questioned if this is gambling, Lianhe Wanbao reported yesterday.

The soft toys in the machine come with $2 or $10 notes bound to them with rubber bands.

Located in a snooker and gaming centre, it is understood that the claw machine made its debut two months ago.

A Wanbao reporter counted more than 20 toys in the machine, five tied with $10 bills and four with $2 notes.

An employee told Wanbao that the machine is quite popular, with players who win toys and money spreading the word among their friends.

But experts warned that it is not that easy to pick up a soft toy from these machines.

Like all machines where prizes are given out, the number of wins each day is limited, or there is a stipulation that prizes are given out only when a certain amount of tokens has been collected.

Netizen Dennis remarked that one may have to spend more than $10 to pick up a toy with a $10 note.

While it is unclear if this centre had broken any rules by offering monetary rewards with its toys, those in the industry told Wanbao that one centre in an arcade was warned by the authorities last year after it attached shopping vouchers to its soft toys.

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