Risk-takers love gambling activities, and they have been interested in them for decades. Sweepstakes machines give those risk-takers a chance to test their luck, which is the main reason they are excited to play. Do you think that luck is always the factor that determines the results? Some of the deceitful betters did not think so, and they tried to change the outcome of slot machines. There were many occasions that gambling scandals shocked the whole world. So, in this post, we will cover some of the memorable gambling scandals and give you some insight into their history.
The Story of Tommy G. Carmichael Who Rigged Sweepstakes Machines
Turn the machine power switch (located halfway up inside of machine on left side) to the ON position. The machine will go through a series of test procedures. When the INSERT MEDAL light flashes, the machine is ready for play. 1.5 Setting the Credit/Collect Mode If the CREDIT display is lit (0), the machine is in the CREDIT mode. The device is called a light wand, which helped Tommy to block the machine's sensor. After doing that, he tricked the slot machine and made it to spit out free coins. Just like any story, this one has an end too. Although Tommy managed to take millions of dollars by cheating in sweepstakes slots, it ended in 2001 when the F.B.I caught him.
Over twenty years, Tommy had improved a tactic that helped him to earn millions of dollars by playing sweepstakes machines. He created various tools which indeed helped him to complete those acts. One of his primary inventions is a monkey's paw or slider. By using this wire, he inserted the tool into sweepstakes machine's payout chute and changed the system. He tripped the microswitch of the slot machine, which made it hit the jackpot. He was using monkey's paw during the times when sweepstakes slot machines were not so complex. Video poker slots.
As the technology helped gambling platforms to improve, Tommy saw this as an opportunity for improvement too. He created new tactics for coping with new slot machines. What were that tactic and the tool that Tommy utilized? The device is called a light wand, which helped Tommy to block the machine's sensor. After doing that, he tricked the slot machine and made it to spit out free coins. Just like any story, this one has an end too. Although Tommy managed to take millions of dollars by cheating in sweepstakes slots, it ended in 2001 when the F.B.I caught him. Carmichael spent his 326 days in jail and, after that, had three years of probation. Not only that, but also officials claimed that Tommy is banned from all types of gambling activities, and he cannot enter casinos or sweepstakes parlors ever.
How Ron Harris Cheated in Sweepstakes Machines?
In the early 1990s, there was an online casino software designer who worked for Nevada Gaming. That person was Ron Harris, who shocked the world after taking thousands of dollars from slot machines through his tactics. Ron was a sweepstakes software designer who has more capabilities for coding the sweepstakes machines again and again while adding new features to the game. He used his skills and position for changing the codes of slot machines and enabled his friends and coworkers to earn huge jackpots through those modified slot machines.
The main trick that Ron used was about the sequence of coins. He re-coded the software and made a machine to pay out the jackpot whenever the coin sequence was happening as Ron planned. According to CNN reports, Ron managed to cheat on at least 30 custom slot machines that helped him to get thousands of dollars. Eventually, police caught him in 1996 after one of his accomplices was found while trying to rig a keno game in Atlantic City Casino. So, Ron went to jail for slot cheating and illegal gambling and stayed there for seven years.
Fake Slot Machine Coins
The man who became popular for his iconic nickname-'the Coin' was Louis Colavecchio. He utilized fabricated coins in sweepstakes machines and earned over thousands of dollars without spending a dime in real money. Police arrested Louis in Atlantic City in 1997, and they found around 700 pounds of fake coins in his car. Province Journal reports that after completing his two years sentence in prison, Louis returned to jail again in 2018. Even at 76 years old, the main was able to create fake hundred dollar bills and rig slot machines in Rhode Island.
Is it possible to cheat on every casino game?
It is one of the main questions that come up to mind while we are talking about the most popular gambling scandals till now. There are some examples of the people who were able to rig online casino games and get away with millions of dollars. So, what are those casino games, and who were those people?
John Kane and Andre Nestor's Journey
John Kane was a fanatic video poker player who got 500.000 dollars by using the simple trick that he discovered while playing. He was mainly playing on the same video poker machine at that time. One day, John noticed that there is a glitch in punters, and they can give out the same handout after every jackpot win. John used a tactic that was based on the wagering amount. Kane wagered only one cent on each round, and as soon as the jackpot came out, he bet the maximum.
Casino bosses noticed the success of the man and his friend Andre Nelson. So, they thought that those customers are cheating and rigging the games. Though, federal prosecutors did not feel like that. Both men got away with thousands of dollars after the lawsuit resulted in their favor. The attorney said that both John and Andre did the same thing, which was pushing the button in a sequence, and that was perfectly legal.
Infamous Blackjack Team
We know that our main topic is about slot machine scandals. However, due to the scope and influence of the case, we had to put this one on the list. The main actors of this gambling scandal are the students who called themselves the M.I.T. Blackjack Team. For over two decades, the team members earned millions of dollars by the card counting technique that they created—the background story of the M.I.T. The Blackjack Team was started in the 1970s by ex-students of prestigious universities such as Harvard and M.I.T. The importance of the case was not only about the massive scope, popularity, or anything. Those students wrote history by beating the gambling machines in their own game. It was the first-ever organized act that involved scientific tactics in beating the casino.
The leader of that team was Bill Kaplan, who was the former M.I.T. student. Over the years, Bill shared his knowledge and tactics while training young card specialists. He had roughly 100 students at a time. As the Blackjack Team revealed, casinos started to follow the members and used legal actions against them. The leading members of the team broke their relationships in 1993. However, in the early 2000s, there were former students of Bill who still used that tactic and continue to exploit the casinos. The story of young students who became millionaires through their card counting techniques inspired Hollywood too. In fact, the famous movie '21' is dedicated to the M.I.T. team.
From Card Dealer to Millionaire-Interesting story of Richard Marcus
A homeless man who just arrived at Las Vegas applied for a job as a baccarat and blackjack card dealer. During his tenure, he acquired enough skills and learned a lot about the games. The knowledge helped Richard to create a cheating mechanism that would make him a millionaire. `He used the sleight of hand method as a magician, and that helped Richard to succeed. The actual trick that made him famous around the online gambling world is called past posting. With this trick, Richard used his quickness and sleight of hand skills to replace lower denominations with higher coins. He did that whenever he won. So, if he was betting a smaller amount and winning the bet, he was immediately changing the coins and earning massive jackpots.
Final Thoughts
These were the most memorable gambling scandals that ever happened. For those of you who wonder if it is possible to rig the sweepstakes machines and overall casino games, the answer is yes. However, with today's hi-tech machines, it is harder than you think. Even if it is possible, it is not advisable to do that because you may face severe consequences at the end.
12:5117 Oct
Slot machines have been providing thrills to the punters for many decades. From penny slots right up to the big ones. As well as paying out some eye-watering jackpots over the years there have also been a few scandals of note.
Tommy Glenn Carmichael
Tommy Glenn Carmichael isn't a name that rolls off your tongue. It is, however, a name that will send shivers down the spine of any casino exec who knows their industry history. Carmichael spent nearly 20 years using all kinds of technical wizardry to cheat casinos by interfering with their slot machines.
One invention was called the slider or monkey's paw and used to fit up the machine's payout chute. Inside was a microswitch that would trigger the jackpot payout.
Eventually, technology improved, but so did Carmichael's ingenuity. The next ‘James Bond' style invention was known as the light wand. Made from a camera battery and a small light bulb, the wand was able to ‘blind' the slot machine's sensor and coins would be spat out.
After thousands of dollars were being won every day Carmichael eventually fell foul of an FBI investigation and spent almost a year behind bars. It is not clear how much of his millions he had to pay back if anything.
Elmer Sherwin
In this crazy story Elmer Sherwin proved that lightning can strike twice in the same spot. At the Mirage Casino, Las Vegas, Sherwin hit the jackpot on a Megabucks slot machine for a massive $4.6 million in 1989.
Enough to retire on wouldn't you say.
Amazingly, 16 years later, Sherwin was playing slots again at the Cannery Casino in Las Vegas and won a record breaking sum of $21.1 million. Not only that, but at the age of 90 he was almost certainly breaking a record there too as one of the biggest winners of all-time.
Ron Harris
Music hall casino. Nearly 30 years ago, a software engineer called Ron Harris was tasked with writing anti-cheating code for the slot machines of Las Vegas - what could go wrong there, you might ask yourself…
The temptation to construct almost the perfect crime was too much to bear and Harris secretly coded a payout switch in some machines. Igt slots online. When coins were inserted in a specific order it would trigger a huge jackpot.
In the end more than 30 machines were rigged and hundreds of thousands of dollars went missing through the actions of Harris's accomplices.
The game was up when one of the accomplices was caught trying to rig a game of Keno and owned up to the whole scam. Four counts of slot cheating led to a seven year prison sentence, which probably put Tommy Glenn Carmichael off from trying any more of his shenanigans.
Louis 'The Coin' Colavecchio
The most obvious cheating method for slot machines is, of course, fake coins. Without knowing the exact metallic mix of legal tender it's almost impossible to produce the identical size and weight.
Lucky rose app.
In the early 1990s, there was an online casino software designer who worked for Nevada Gaming. That person was Ron Harris, who shocked the world after taking thousands of dollars from slot machines through his tactics. Ron was a sweepstakes software designer who has more capabilities for coding the sweepstakes machines again and again while adding new features to the game. He used his skills and position for changing the codes of slot machines and enabled his friends and coworkers to earn huge jackpots through those modified slot machines.
The main trick that Ron used was about the sequence of coins. He re-coded the software and made a machine to pay out the jackpot whenever the coin sequence was happening as Ron planned. According to CNN reports, Ron managed to cheat on at least 30 custom slot machines that helped him to get thousands of dollars. Eventually, police caught him in 1996 after one of his accomplices was found while trying to rig a keno game in Atlantic City Casino. So, Ron went to jail for slot cheating and illegal gambling and stayed there for seven years.
Fake Slot Machine Coins
The man who became popular for his iconic nickname-'the Coin' was Louis Colavecchio. He utilized fabricated coins in sweepstakes machines and earned over thousands of dollars without spending a dime in real money. Police arrested Louis in Atlantic City in 1997, and they found around 700 pounds of fake coins in his car. Province Journal reports that after completing his two years sentence in prison, Louis returned to jail again in 2018. Even at 76 years old, the main was able to create fake hundred dollar bills and rig slot machines in Rhode Island.
Is it possible to cheat on every casino game?
It is one of the main questions that come up to mind while we are talking about the most popular gambling scandals till now. There are some examples of the people who were able to rig online casino games and get away with millions of dollars. So, what are those casino games, and who were those people?
John Kane and Andre Nestor's Journey
John Kane was a fanatic video poker player who got 500.000 dollars by using the simple trick that he discovered while playing. He was mainly playing on the same video poker machine at that time. One day, John noticed that there is a glitch in punters, and they can give out the same handout after every jackpot win. John used a tactic that was based on the wagering amount. Kane wagered only one cent on each round, and as soon as the jackpot came out, he bet the maximum.
Casino bosses noticed the success of the man and his friend Andre Nelson. So, they thought that those customers are cheating and rigging the games. Though, federal prosecutors did not feel like that. Both men got away with thousands of dollars after the lawsuit resulted in their favor. The attorney said that both John and Andre did the same thing, which was pushing the button in a sequence, and that was perfectly legal.
Infamous Blackjack Team
We know that our main topic is about slot machine scandals. However, due to the scope and influence of the case, we had to put this one on the list. The main actors of this gambling scandal are the students who called themselves the M.I.T. Blackjack Team. For over two decades, the team members earned millions of dollars by the card counting technique that they created—the background story of the M.I.T. The Blackjack Team was started in the 1970s by ex-students of prestigious universities such as Harvard and M.I.T. The importance of the case was not only about the massive scope, popularity, or anything. Those students wrote history by beating the gambling machines in their own game. It was the first-ever organized act that involved scientific tactics in beating the casino.
The leader of that team was Bill Kaplan, who was the former M.I.T. student. Over the years, Bill shared his knowledge and tactics while training young card specialists. He had roughly 100 students at a time. As the Blackjack Team revealed, casinos started to follow the members and used legal actions against them. The leading members of the team broke their relationships in 1993. However, in the early 2000s, there were former students of Bill who still used that tactic and continue to exploit the casinos. The story of young students who became millionaires through their card counting techniques inspired Hollywood too. In fact, the famous movie '21' is dedicated to the M.I.T. team.
From Card Dealer to Millionaire-Interesting story of Richard Marcus
A homeless man who just arrived at Las Vegas applied for a job as a baccarat and blackjack card dealer. During his tenure, he acquired enough skills and learned a lot about the games. The knowledge helped Richard to create a cheating mechanism that would make him a millionaire. `He used the sleight of hand method as a magician, and that helped Richard to succeed. The actual trick that made him famous around the online gambling world is called past posting. With this trick, Richard used his quickness and sleight of hand skills to replace lower denominations with higher coins. He did that whenever he won. So, if he was betting a smaller amount and winning the bet, he was immediately changing the coins and earning massive jackpots.
Final Thoughts
These were the most memorable gambling scandals that ever happened. For those of you who wonder if it is possible to rig the sweepstakes machines and overall casino games, the answer is yes. However, with today's hi-tech machines, it is harder than you think. Even if it is possible, it is not advisable to do that because you may face severe consequences at the end.
12:5117 Oct
Slot machines have been providing thrills to the punters for many decades. From penny slots right up to the big ones. As well as paying out some eye-watering jackpots over the years there have also been a few scandals of note.
Tommy Glenn Carmichael
Tommy Glenn Carmichael isn't a name that rolls off your tongue. It is, however, a name that will send shivers down the spine of any casino exec who knows their industry history. Carmichael spent nearly 20 years using all kinds of technical wizardry to cheat casinos by interfering with their slot machines.
One invention was called the slider or monkey's paw and used to fit up the machine's payout chute. Inside was a microswitch that would trigger the jackpot payout.
Eventually, technology improved, but so did Carmichael's ingenuity. The next ‘James Bond' style invention was known as the light wand. Made from a camera battery and a small light bulb, the wand was able to ‘blind' the slot machine's sensor and coins would be spat out.
After thousands of dollars were being won every day Carmichael eventually fell foul of an FBI investigation and spent almost a year behind bars. It is not clear how much of his millions he had to pay back if anything.
Elmer Sherwin
In this crazy story Elmer Sherwin proved that lightning can strike twice in the same spot. At the Mirage Casino, Las Vegas, Sherwin hit the jackpot on a Megabucks slot machine for a massive $4.6 million in 1989.
Enough to retire on wouldn't you say.
Amazingly, 16 years later, Sherwin was playing slots again at the Cannery Casino in Las Vegas and won a record breaking sum of $21.1 million. Not only that, but at the age of 90 he was almost certainly breaking a record there too as one of the biggest winners of all-time.
Ron Harris
Music hall casino. Nearly 30 years ago, a software engineer called Ron Harris was tasked with writing anti-cheating code for the slot machines of Las Vegas - what could go wrong there, you might ask yourself…
The temptation to construct almost the perfect crime was too much to bear and Harris secretly coded a payout switch in some machines. Igt slots online. When coins were inserted in a specific order it would trigger a huge jackpot.
In the end more than 30 machines were rigged and hundreds of thousands of dollars went missing through the actions of Harris's accomplices.
The game was up when one of the accomplices was caught trying to rig a game of Keno and owned up to the whole scam. Four counts of slot cheating led to a seven year prison sentence, which probably put Tommy Glenn Carmichael off from trying any more of his shenanigans.
Louis 'The Coin' Colavecchio
The most obvious cheating method for slot machines is, of course, fake coins. Without knowing the exact metallic mix of legal tender it's almost impossible to produce the identical size and weight.
Lucky rose app.
That said, ‘The Coin' clearly knew that he didn't need to be so precise and fabricated enough slots coins to leave over 750lbs worth sat in his car when he was eventually caught.
Winners bank 200.
Colavecchio won thousands of dollars in the casinos of Las Vegas without ever putting his hand into his own pocket. Finally the law caught up with him in the gambling Mecca of Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Bally's Free Slots
In 1997 the scammer was sentenced to 27 months in a federal prison, which apparently didn't teach him enough of a lesson. Just before Christmas 2018 the 77-year-old was picked up by the secret service for producing 2400 fake $100 bills and sentenced to another 15 months behind bars.
John Kane
John Kane is the one who got away. The American video poker fan walked away with more than half a million dollars after discovering a software glitch in a popular model used across the US.
After playing the same machine type for a long time, Kane noticed a glitch whereby punters could replay the exact same hand runout that was just played. All he had to do was wait until he hit the jackpot and then repeatedly cash in.
The clever trick in all this was that different wager sizes can be used on these machines. So all Kane did was to blast away betting just a single cent each time. When the jackpot came up he could immediately switch to the maximum bet size of $10 with a $10,000 prize.
Light Wand Slot Machines
As you would imagine, the casino bosses didn't take too long to realise that something was amiss. Kane along with Andre Nestor, a friend he let into his little scheme, were arrested and sent to trial.
Gambling with dice. Incredibly, the federal prosecutors were unable to convince a jury that the pair had broken any laws. The charges of hacking and conspiracy were thrown out and they were set free.
Light Wand Slot Machine Play
Their attorney said:
'All these guys did is simply push a sequence of buttons that they were legally entitled to push.'
