Everybody has their own favorite casino game, be it roulette, blackjack or online slots. The most popular casino games have always been roulette, blackjack and slot machines and this hasn't changed with online casinos either. Players also love some of the newer How To Cheat Video Slots. So, there is no way you can cheat a video slot machine these days. Online slot games rely on the RNG software to keep the information protected from hackers and cheaters. Cheating players get arrested instantly; they are instantly removed or banned from the gambling organization. Winning a video slot machine game is nothing but luck.
By now, everyone knows about the laundry list of ways you can cheat at traditional poker. A few of the ways include sliding an ace from your sleeve or marking the best cards so you'll always know what opponents are holding. Even cooperation between players to ensure a desirable outcome constitutes cheating in a live poker game.
But video poker doesn't seem all that susceptible to cheaters at first glance. With no cards to manipulate, chips to steal, or human dealers to corrupt, the sterilized gameplay offered by a video poker machine suggests a clean, cheat-free experience for players and casinos alike.
American roulette free play. On the other hand, video poker is a game, one in which players put real money on the line, hoping to beat odds that are inherently stacked against them. Unscrupulous gamblers in any gambling arena, whether it be blackjack, roulette, craps, or slot machines, have always devised inventive ways to cheat.
Video poker variants like Jacks or Better and Deuces Wild aren't immune to the threat of cheating by any means, even with a machine-based structure and random number generator (RNG). Sure enough, video poker cheats and con artists have to work a little harder to 'crack' the machine, so confirmed cases on the casino floor are rare.
Nonetheless, if a gambler can play the game, a cheater can cheat it, and video poker is no exception.
As you'll learn in this list of four ways to cheat at video poker, finding the inside track toward guaranteed winnings is more difficult with a machine in the way. Plenty of cheats have succeeded up until their luck ran out. With each method to cheat at video poker, you'll discover a good reason why you shouldn't bother to try.
1 – Hacking the Machine to Create Winners at Will
When the famed gambling device manufacturer International Game Technology (IGT) released the latest model of its ubiquitous Game King video poker machine in 2002, here's how the company described the cutting-edge 5.0 model:
'Full of new enhancements, including state-of-the-art video graphics and enhanced stereo sound, the Game King 5.0 Multi-Game suite is sure to rule over your entire casino floor with unprecedented magnificence!'
Unfortunately for IGT, and the hundreds of casinos worldwide that spread Game King machines on their floor, those 'new enhancements' included computer coding that contained a crucial error.
This glitch in the system remained undetected for seven years, until video poker player John Kane stumbled upon the bug. During a low-stakes session in Downtown Las Vegas, Kane went to cash out and change machines when Game King unexpectedly lit up with a $1,000 jackpot. Kane tried to inform the casino about the error, but they wound up paying it off anyway.
Instead of letting it go, he set to work alongside friend Andre Nestor to figure out how a fake jackpot had been produced. You can read more about Kane and Nestor's 'rags to riches' tale in this deep dive by Wired magazine in 2014. But here's the gist of it.
The bug in Game King 5.0's software code could be enabled by activating the machine's 'Double Up' feature, which allows players to take a second gamble at doubling their initial payout. With the Double Up in play, Kane and Nestor deduced an exact sequence of buttons to push that would essentially confuse the machine's coin denomination input.
For Example:While playing Double Double Bonus for the lowest $0.01 coin denomination, Kane and Nestor would wait until they hit a premium hand like four aces with a kicker. From there, they kept the winning hand onscreen without pressing 'CASH OUT,' then input the magic button sequence to change variants. This allowed them to change the coin denomination, turning a penny ante hand into a $5 play (or whatever that particular machine's maximum bet was).
With the max-bet now in place, they toggled back to the original four aces and a kicker hand, pressed 'CASH OUT,' and scored massive multiples on their original bet.
Shadow diamond slot machine. Nestor described the cheating scheme in reverential tones while speaking to Wired:
'You had complete control over how much you could win. If you wanted to go to a casino and win $500,000 in one day, you could win $500,000 in one day.'
And that they did, touring casinos all over Sin City and hunting for Game King 5.0 machines that had Double Up enabled and bagging six-figure sums without a second thought.
Eventually, the scam became even easier to pull off, as Kane and Nestor realized they didn't even need to bet in order to win. By simply searching for machines that still flashed the last jackpot hand played, they could sit down, use the magic button sequence, and activate the same cards to claim a second hand pay. https://to-in-blackjack-how-qhmv-alien-slots-split.peatix.com.
Why You Shouldn't Try Hacking the Machine
Casinos maintain detailed records on each machine's performance. In time, the security teams began to suspect something was amiss. After heading back to the east coast to skim the video poker games in Pennsylvania, Nestor received a warning from Kane to stay out of the casinos because he had been caught and arrested in Las Vegas.
Nestor didn't take the advice, and he was eventually taken down by authorities as well. At the time, an indignant Nestor told local news outlets that what he and Kane accomplished wasn't cheating at all, as the pair simply took advantage of a design flaw:
'I'm being arrested federally now – for winning at a slot machine! This is what they do to people! They put a machine on the floor, and if it has programming that doesn't take your money and you win on their machine, they will throw you in jail!'
Michael Chu, Assistant US Attorney for the District of Nevada, argued in his court case against Kane that the cheaters' use of other players' jackpot hands represented a textbook definition of cheating:
'To allow customers to access previously played hands of cards at will, would remove the element of chance and obviate the whole purpose of gambling. It would certainly be contrary to the rules of poker.'
Interestingly enough, prosecutors were unable to convince a judge that charges of 'computer hacking' were appropriate, as Kane and Nestor never really intruded into the Game King machine's inner workings. With a questionable case, Kane and Nestor were set free.
That's not to say they escaped punishment though, which brings us to why one should avoid cheating schemes like this. State gaming regulators forced Kane and Nestor to surrender their ill-gotten gains to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars in asset forfeitures.
And predictably, both players received lifetime bans from casinos in their home states, putting a definitive end to two of the most meteoric rises in gambling history.
2 – Tricking the Machine Into 'Thinking' You Paid for a Hand to Play for Free
One of the oldest cheating tricks in machine-based gambling involved fishing line tied to a nickel.
Old-time con artists would insert their coin into a slot machine, let it fall just far enough to trigger the game's play function, then pull the lever as they slyly withdrew the coin. Once the spin was over, they simply repeated the process over and over again, playing for free until a jackpot inevitably delivered its payload.
Coin operated slots and video poker machines are relics of a bygone era at this point, having been replaced by cash and voucher models to prevent that sort of manipulation. But just because nickels and quarters have been swapped out for $100 bills and paper vouchers doesn't mean machines are immune to being fooled in similar fashion.
In 2013, several video poker players in Wisconsin were caught using specially-designed tools to 'fish' their bills back out from the machine. Here's how local news outlet Journal Times described this method of cheating:
'The men reportedly put money into the machine and took it back out again using some sort of tool, and never went into their pockets to take out more money. It was obvious they were not playing the poker game, but were accumulating credits using the same dollar. They ended up collecting $235 from the bar and tried to collect another $175 when the bartender called police. Later, when police opened the machine, they only found $41 inside.'
In this case, the scammers weren't even shooting for a jackpot payout. Instead, they simply fed the same bill into the machine many times over, accumulating credits to redeem for cash.
Another variation of the fishing hustle involves using the same bill to continue playing as many hands as it takes until triggering a topline hand pay jackpot. Every casino player enjoys receiving 'free-play' coupons, and this gambit takes that concept to the next level by allowing cheats to play for hours on end without ever paying a penny.
Why You Shouldn't Try Tricking the Machine
In the Wisconsin case, the fact that bars and taverns were running video poker games illegally actually meant the cheaters got off scot-free.
But if you try to fish your bills back in any jurisdiction where gambling on video poker is actually legal, you can bet your bottom dollar that the cameras overhead will catch you red-handed.
3 – Using a Device to Provide Perfect Strategy Advice as You Play
Video poker experts pride themselves on memorizing and mastering the basic strategy guidelines for their favorite game.
By learning how to play every possible starting hand and drawing scenario perfectly, based on a mathematical expected value over the long run, top players can whittle the house's edge down to infinitesimal levels.
Utilizing basic strategy requires a tremendous amount of mental energy, as the guidelines for more complex variants can stretch out over dozens of rules and variables.
To make things easier, some players attempt to cut corners by bringing a 'cheat sheet' along for the ride. Color-coded basic strategy charts for blackjack are sold in every casino gift shop nationwide and, because they're nothing more than laminated cards, they're perfectly legal in the casino setting.
Why You Shouldn't Use a Device for Perfect Strategy
Video poker players who attempt to use their smartphones, or any other device aside from a basic card, to play the game perfectly can be found guilty of cheating under most state gaming regulations.
Whenever a player relies on an electronic device (a category your smartphone falls under) to aid themselves while gambling, the activity is technically classified as cheating.
The best reason to avoid this technique is that it's entirely unnecessary.
When printing out the exact same basic strategy tips on paper and carrying them in your pocket is perfectly legal, why would anybody in their right mind risk arrest, fines, and property bans by using an electronic device?
4 – Using Another Player's Credits After They Leave a Machine Unattended
This one's a little questionable as to whether or not it should be considered cheating, but in the eyes of the law, using another player's credits as your own is forbidden.
Imagine yourself grinding along and enjoying a fun game of Jacks or Better. Your neighbor isn't having as good of a time, however. After losing yet another $100 in short order, they stomp off in a huff, never to return. As you get up to go a little while later, you realize the frustrated loser left a few bucks in their machine, so you slide over and get a few hands in on the house.
And therein lies the problem…
Why You Shouldn't Use Another Player's Credits
In almost every state where casino gambling is legal, regulations are on the books stating that lost or forgotten player funds become the house's property by default. In other words, when you play another player's credits because they didn't care enough to spend them, you're actually stealing from the casino.
This might seem like a minor infraction initially, but as hundreds of cases in Colorado prove every year, taking just a dollar or two from a machine that you didn't pay to play is considered theft and fraud.
Conclusion
As one of the truly skill-based gambling games out there, video poker doesn't appear to be prone to cheating like alternatives such as roulette that rely on pure luck alone. A sharp player willing to put in the work needed to excel can easily realize razor thin house edge rates of under 0.5%, or even a player edge in a few cases.
Nonetheless, a few bad apples out there will inevitably remain unwilling to put in that work, so they resort to cheating instead. Trying to rig the game and get one over on the house might seem tempting from time to time, but the lifelong repercussions derived from one day spent cheating just aren't worth the trouble.
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.Cheating at Slots 2021
Cheating at slots is often frowned upon but it is certainly an interesting subject. There are many stories of people who have successfully attempted cheating at slots.
Reading about various methods used by these people to cheat slot machines may be exciting, but you should definitely be cautious when you give it a try in real life. Modern slot machines are highly advanced and very difficult to take advantage of.
There are as many as 3 million slot machines in brick and mortar casinos across the world. Slots are often one of the biggest contributors to a casino's revenue. As much as 80% of a casino's income may come from its slot machines. So slot cheats can do some serious damage to a casino's business.
According to estimates, gaming establishments in Nevada alone have had to bear a loss of millions of dollars every year as a result of slot machine cheating. This is one of the reasons why modern casinos have surveillance cameras covering every inch of the place.
Various Slots Cheat Methods
A big casino can have around 5,000 slot machines or more and continuously monitoring all the machines may not be possible. This provides an opening for slot cheats to try their luck. Slot machine cheaters have tried a number of different techniques in an effort to make big money, these include:
Cheating with coin and string or yo-yo method
This was one of the oldest methods used by cheaters to trick slot machines. The concept was simple. Cheaters used to attach a string to a coin before inserting it into the slot machine. After the machine registered that a coin has been inserted, the person used to simply pull out the coin using the string taped to it.
This enabled the person to use the same coin over and over again to add to his/her credit without investing a single penny. Because of the yo-yo like action of dropping the coin and pulling it back up, this method is also called yo-yo method.
Some cheats have tried using this same trick with bills as well. They would attach a string to a bill instead of a coin before dropping it into the slot machine and pull it out once the money was registered.
The problem with this method was that it involved a visible string coming out of the coin slot, which would be difficult to justify for the fraudster. Since the discovery of yo-yo method, the slot machines have been modified to ensure that the coins once dropped into the machine can not be pulled out.
Cheating with devices like the monkey's paw
Devices like the monkey's paw, which was a foot long flexible steel rod bent into the shape of a claw, were also a popular method of cheating at slots. The device was inserted into a slot machine through the payout outlet and used to tamper with the coin counter to cause overpayment.
The monkey's paw was one of the early devices used by slot cheats. Since then other devices that can tamper with a slot machine's coin comparator have also been invented and used. Such devices, when inserted into the machine, could generate fake signals so that credit would be registered without any coins being inserted.
God of casino. This enabled the cheater to play without making any payment or make money simply by cashing out. Today most casinos use highly sophisticated machines that cannot be tampered with such devices.
Cheating with shaved coins or tokens
This was another popular method of cheating at slots used by fraudsters in olden days. The cheats realized that if they shaved off a tiny bit of a coin and dropped such coin in a slot machine, the coin would be registered, but it would be rejected and discharged.
This meant that the person could keep using the same coin again and again to add credit just like the coin and string method, but without the disadvantage of a visible string sticking out.
In order to avoid such cheating, many casinos started using tokens instead of coins in their slot machines. But cheaters have tried the same trick with tokens as well i.e. using shaved tokens to cheat slot machines.
With hundreds of cameras surveying every inch of modern casinos, a fraudster is sure to draw attention, if he/she tried this method. Moreover, the sophisticated machines used today ensure that the rejected coin/token is not registered in the credit.
Cheating with foreign coins
Fraudsters have even tried cheating casinos using foreign coins. They used foreign coins having a close resemblance to the US currency, but a very low value. The value of these foreign coins would be as much as ten times lower than the American coin it would be mistaken for.
This resulted in a significant loss for the casinos. But it is almost impossible to fool the advanced slot machines of today with such a trick.
Cheating with fake money or token
The use of counterfeit money is not exactly a slot cheating method, but slot machines are often used to launder fake bills. Good quality fake bills can closely resemble the real ones and the electronic sensors on slot machines may not be able to catch the difference.
This means that there was no way to catch the cheat as he will be long gone by the time the machine is opened and fraud discovered. Some cheats have even tried producing fake tokens that resemble the ones offered by a particular casino.
The disadvantage of these methods is that producing fake bills or tokens is not so easy. Also, producing counterfeit bills is a very serious crime and the cheater can end up spending many years in jail. Counterfeit token are also taken very seriously by casinos and cheaters can expect strong action.
Cheating with mini-lights – Slot machine cheaters have even tried blinding the machines. They made use of mini-lights, which is a small battery operated light emitter, to tamper with the optical sensors of slot machines, which are used to count coins to be paid out. This sometimes resulted in overpayment. But the modern slot machines come with safeguards against such devices.
Cheating by a casino insiderIn the history of slot frauds, there have been a few cheaters who have made ambitious plans of introducing errors in the slot machine program before its installation in a casino, so that it paid out on pressing buttons in a particular pattern. Aol free slots.
Devices To Cheat Slot Machines
The success of such a plot is impossible without the help of a casino insider and a real programmer. Majority of such plots have ended up in failure with the fraudsters serving long jail terms.
Free online penny slot machines. As slots machines become more and more sophisticated, cheaters are also coming up with advanced techniques of cheating. But with the introduction of hi-tech slot machines that accept only cards, not coins, the future of slot cheats is bleak.
One of the most famous fraudsters in the history of slot cheatingTommy Glenn Carmichael is a slot cheating legend. He is probably the most famous person in the field. Although a cheater, Tommy's mechanical genius can't be denied. He started his slot cheating career using a device called a ‘top-bottom joint'. The initial success encouraged him to close his shop and leave for Vegas. But soon he was caught and sentenced to prison.
How To Cheat Video Slot Machines
https://machines-the-have-winning-slot-of-best-free-betgetmy-odds-which.peatix.com. Five years of jail time could not change Tommy. On getting out of the prison, he realized that slot machine technology had changed. He soon educated himself and came up with the famous monkey paw device mentioned earlier. As the slot machine technologies kept changing, Tommy kept coming up with newer devices to cheat them.
Video Slot Machines Odds
When slot machines started using the optical sensor technology, Tommy invented a light wand that could blind these sensors. He managed to overcome the slot machine safety device called the actuator arm with his ‘hanger'. According to records, he took 7 cruises within 6 months in 1995, winning huge amounts of money in casinos at these ships.
The following year Tommy was arrested, but the charges were dropped. He still did not mend his ways. He was arrested once again in 1998-99 and in 2001 he was sentenced to a year in prison, 3 years of probation and prohibition from entering casinos.
He is listed in the Nevada black book, which lists various casino fraudsters and the methods used by them. Slot cheats account for about 27% of the entries in this book.
Tommy has finally changed sides and is now working with casinos to develop an anti-cheating technology to prevent people like him from cheating. He now aims to make a fortune by selling products that prevent cheating, as opposed to earlier days when he was known for his inventions that helped fraudsters to cheat at slot machines. He has also been featured in 'Breaking Vegas' series on the History Channel.
Rather than cheating and ending up on the wrong side of the law, strategic gaming can help you win big legally. If you get rid of the misconception that gambling is all about luck, you will realize that strategies do play a role in winning at any casino games, including slot machines.
