Claw games, Cyclone, Stacker and all such games can be set to be fair or fraudulent. I worked for several theme parks repairing and maintaining such games. You are always at the mercy of the operators ethics.
Claw games can be set to give you 100% grip strength for the entire game, or set to some lesser grip strength. They can also be set to start at 100% grip strength to make it easy to grab a prize, and then reduce to 0% on the way to the drop chute so the prize falls. They can also be set to drop all prizes on the way to the chute until enough people have played and lost to ensure the operator never loses money. Also, you can always pack the prizes to make it harder or just put prizes in that are too heavy for the claws to actually lift.
Cyclone, Stacker and other prize/ticket machines can be set exactly the same way, to make sure you lose until the machine has made enough money for the greedy operator to allow a single win, then it goes right back into auto-loose mode.
Basically, never play games at small retailers or restaurants or in states where there is no regulation of the skill game industry. Also, don't confuse these skill games with gambling. Gambling has set odds. Games of skill are winable based on the skill of the player and there is no chance involved, otherwise it becomes gambling. Setting a skill games to be unwinable until enough money has been made is FRAUD, IMHO.
The skill games you can safely play are at large theme parks. I worked at a theme park in Los Angeles and we had frequent visits from LAPD vice squad who regulated skill games in the area. I got dinged one time because the prize level of my crane games had gotten too low on a busy day.
All skill game operators are not scum. Good operators like us wanted people to win. We work to adjust the win ratio on the games until we pay out a ratio of prizes similar to what the prize would cost in a retail location. All of our games, ring toss, balloon pop, basketball toss, were all very winable if a player has enough skill.
We want winners. We want folks walking around with that giant teddy bear so more folks come and play. Heck, we used to give folks tips on how to win. The key is that you are playing for a prize we buy in bulk for $2 (and might sell for $10 in a retail shop), and it's $3 to play the game. If one out of every five players win we are doing great. Some games are harder to win and have fewer winners but will have a more expensive prize. That said, if someone is awesome at basketball free throws they can win a prize at that game on just about every shot. That's why we have daily and seasonal prize limits.
It's a business just like any other and you have to know how honest the operator is. Or just play PacMan when you get to the arcade.
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