Roulette Machine Cheat
Do casinos cheat?
Slot machines Roulette. The previously described ways to beat slots had something to do with how money was inserted into the machine. The next slot cheat, as well. Roulette Machine Cheats 2018. The popular roulette machine game Key Bet 500 pays odds of 100/1 for a single number, but can also pay up to 500/1 for landing on the special Key Bet positions equally spaced around the roulette wheel. You can learn more about Key Bet 500 here, with basic betting principles and patterns. Picked up a few dollars while testing but the machines seem to run just fine. I would tend to think the casino management has no real reason to 'program' the wheel to cheat as legitimate roulette wheels have been beating the players for a few hundred years now.
Let’s start with a quick sorting of definitions. If you merely say that cheating is being dishonest, then there are both honest and dishonest casinos. The honest casinos comply with regulations, file required reports, and train their employees to abide by the law. Once in a while an honest casino will arrest its own employees for cheating.
Slot Machine Cheats. Cheating the slot machines is the most common way to beat the casino because of the lack of supervision and security around the machines. The crudest method of cheating the slot machines has been through the use of counterfeit money or fake coins (slugs). Even though they’re electronic, slots easily attract as many cheaters as roulette cheats and other classic table games. We often get asked how to cheat a slot machine with a magnet.
The dishonest casinos are intentionally breaking the law. Don’t expect them to file accurate regulatory reports or call the police when their employees do something wrong.
And yet some argue that because casinos only offer games that come with a “house edge”, a theoretical percentage that favors the house, they’re really cheating the players. This subjective point has been debated many times from many angles.
Are you merely paying for entertainment or are you throwing your money away?
Is it the casino’s fault if you have a gambling problem?
That doesn’t really address the question of whether a casino cheats.
Cheating versus Stacking the Odds
Although we usually say “odds” when thinking of probabilities, the gambling industry uses “odds” to refer to the amount of money a casino stakes against your wager. Say you lay down $100 on a single number on a roulette table. The casino offers 35-to-1 odds on European roulette. That’s a high payoff, but gambling math enthusiasts love to use roulette to demonstrate how the odds differ from the probabilities. You have a 1-in-37 chance of the roulette ball landing on that number.
In this game it’s clear that if everyone bets the same amount on a different number, and 36 players pace bets at the same time, then the casino is guaranteed to keep 1/36 of the wagers. 35 of the players will lose their money but 1 player wins back 34 times his original wager (plus the wager itself).
In this unlikely scenario two people win: the house and the lucky player.
So is the casino cheating the players or is it merely taking a statistical “fee” for running a fair game?
The odds are stacked in the casino’s favor, ever so slightly. If you feel that is cheating then the lesson to be learned here is to not play roulette.
But if you are okay with the casino taking enough money to pay its bills and make a profit, then may the odds be ever in your favor.
Cheating versus Bad Gambling
In a completely fair game of chance neither side has an advantage over the other. You’re both staking a wager on the unknown outcome of an event, like a sporting event or the spin of a slot machine. One player’s wager may be proportionately greater than the other. Ideally that higher stake is comparable to the likely outcome of the event.
Here’s an example:
How likely is it that you’ll get five of a kind in draw poker?
On a video poker game the casino pays a really high prize for five of a kind (in games that allow that result). It just doesn’t happen often.
Another tenet of fair gambling is that both players know what they are doing. When it comes to the general gambling population, casinos do often have an advantage. Either players are trying out new games whose rules are unfamiliar to them, or the players may be tired or inebriated
It doesn’t help that casinos create an environment that helps you forget the time or drift into a semi-mesmerized state of mind.
If a gambler is playing with impaired judgment the casino has an unfair advantage.
But the casinos argue they don’t force players to drink. Nor do they require you to gamble continuously.
While critics argue that the casinos create fantasy environments that lull the alert mind into a dull state, the casinos counter that argument by pointing out that players can leave at any time. The casinos also offer entertainment venues, dining and restroom facilities, and shops. Members are welcome to get up, walk around, and do something other than play games.
It’s up to you to decide how you spend your time in the casino.
On the other hand, the casino wants you to you to play games. They create an atmosphere that makes you feel comfortable while playing games. The casinos’ strategy is to remain just on the right side of the line versus cheating and benefiting from a player’s poor judgment.
Cheating versus Declared Theoretical Returns
Gambling writers devote many words to explaining and analyzing “theoretical return to player” and “house edge”. These are two sides of the same coin. When the math is done correctly, both percentages add up to about 100% (allowing for rounding errors).
What the house doesn’t keep is supposed to be reallocated to the players.
Through the years writers have discussed how much the percentages on slot games matter and whether casinos adjust them. On older, mechanical machines there was, in fact, a switch that floor managers could use to change the approximate theoretical return to players.
Modern games now rely on computer software that is burned into special chips. The chips have to be replaced or reprogrammed in order to change the theoretical return to player. All of these changes have to be made according to regulations set by government authorities.
In other words, floor managers no longer just “flip a switch”.
The problem with studying theoretical returns, however, is that they are based on probability distributions. Probability distributions only accurately depict the data against which they are calculated. That data either comes from past games (which do not predict future results) or from simulated games (which do not predict future results). When computed against enough data these probability distributions indicate about how much money the players should retain (altogether, and not allowing for putting wins back into games) and how much money the casinos should keep.
In reality, a probability model could (and probably will ) be wildly wrong over a short number of plays. The fact that a player takes his winnings and gambles them on future games also alters the distribution. A theoretical return to player or house edge assumes that every wager is a new stake. Few players use only fresh wagers; most of us roll our winnings over.
Given all these variables, why should a casino cheat if it already has a statistical edge not once but twice over?
The risk versus potential reward is awful.
Cheating versus House Rules and Terms of Service
Players may not realize it, but legitimate online casinos pay close attention to all the terms they ask players to agree to. When you join an online casino or any casino’s rewards program, you agree to follow certain rules. Players who just assume they know the rules may run afoul of them. These player mistakes sometimes lead to disagreements and complaints, especially when casinos withhold winnings.
It is the player’s responsibility to read the terms of use and all applicable rules. Some online casinos have been known to break up these player agreements, displaying them in different parts of their websites.
Here’s an example:
You may agree to one set of rules when you join a casino.
But when you enter a tournament or take advantage of a special promotion you may be required to agree to another set of rules (explicitly or implicitly) that only apply to that tournament or promotion.
If casinos make it hardfor players to piece together all the rules they agree to abide by, then there’s a fair argument for saying the casinos are giving themselves an unfair advantage. By the same token, some players are caught trying to cheat the casinos and then complain about forfeited winnings.
There may also be honest player mistakes that regrettably lead to forfeited winnings.
Here’s an example of that:
Suppose you use your brother’s credit card to make a deposit in an online casino account. That’s illegal. The practice violates guidelines published by legitimate online casinos. You’re required to make deposits from your own financial accounts. When a casino discovers a player made improper deposits, they will revoke the player’s membership, return the original deposit, and retain all winnings.
Cheating versus Changing the Rules of the Game
Casinos sometimes add their own “house rules” to the games they offer. A blackjack table may restrict the kinds of wagers that can be made, thus diminishing the expected return to player.
A new roulette game may also be brought in. Have you heard about Sands roulette? This variation on the classic game offers 3 green numbers instead of the 2 found in American roulette and the one green number found in European roulette.
How Roulette Machines Work
The odds in Sands roulette are even worse for players than the odds in American roulette.
As long as the casinos display these new rules prominently, such that the players are aware they are participating in non-standard games, then it’s all on the player. If a casino obscures the fact that the rules are different then most, people would argue the casino is not being fair.
That’s a form of cheating. Whether it’s illegal depends on how the house obscures the rule change and what the local laws permit.
Rigged Games Do Exist
Make no mistake, though.
There are indeed some unscrupulous casinos out there.
Illegal casinos can rig their games in various ways. Some online casinos steal the software used by other casinos and offer games without proper authorization from the game makers.
Can you trust these casinos to be fair and honest with you?
Why don’t they just pay for the software and get legitimate online gaming licenses?
Pascal Roulette Machine
Illegal land-based casinos may use rigged roulette wheels, or they may employ dealers who don’t shuffle or deal cards properly. Once a casino operator decides to step outside the bounds of local laws there’s no knowing what they will do to their players. That is why law enforcement agencies in many jurisdictions work hard to crack down on illegal gambling operations. These guys are acting in bad faith from the very start and they most likely prey on people who are addicted to gambling.
In a legitimate land-based casino the dealers are required to stand in certain positions and move their hands in ways that make it apparent to security officers they are following the rules. Customers may think these hand movements are odd at first, but once you understand the language of dealer movements you should feel reassured.
A legitimate online casino must have a gaming license from a government authority. You should be able to find who licensed the casino on their website; you can then verify the casino’s license is valid by checking with that gaming authority.
Also, as you load the games in your web browser, watch the address bar to see where the URLs point to. If you don’t recognize the domain name of the gaming server, you may have reason to suspect the software has been pirated.
You can compare how the same games are served through different online casinos to see if someone is using a different gaming server. Of course, some companies own multiple online gaming casinos so a little due diligence is required.
But this is why it’s important to check with online gambling forums for updates about which casinos may be cheats.
Conclusion
Every gambler eventually stops to wonder if they are being cheated by a casino.Although there are illegal casinos, any properly licensed casino that abides by regulations is generally trustworthy.
But like many other industries, the casinos do everything they can to help their customers spend more money (legally). Since the games are designed to ensure the house keeps at least some money over time, all the casino really needs to do is convince players to keep gambling.
Statistics does the rest.
Casinos are more likely to invest in developing a fun entertainment experience because they know that will pay for itself over time. Whether online or offline everything the casino does is designed to encourage you to play more. As long as the casino is obeying all applicable laws it doesn’t have to lie or intentionally mislead you.
So why do we gamble?
- We get a thrill from the experience of taking a risk.
- Because we enjoy doing things with our friends or even just amid crowds of strangers.
- Because we might win more money than we risk.
The player who pays attention to everything the casino says and does is less likely to feel cheated or be cheated. The bottom line when it comes to gambling against the house is to always be at the top of your game.
So go easy on the alcohol, even if it’s provided to you “on the house”.
For as long as casinos have been around there have been people trying to cheat them. Casinos dedicate a lot of resources to catching cheaters, and they are usually pretty good at doing so.
However, throughout history there have been a few cases of people who have won fortunes by cheating.
Many of these have been caught eventually, but some of them have gotten away with it completely. Of course, the most successful cheaters are those that we have never heard of and never will.
On this page we will look at some of the famous cheaters and the methods they used to cheat, scam, or hustle casinos out of substantial sums of money.
Tommy Glenn Carmichael
Carmichael is one of the most successful slot machine cheats, although he has spent time in prison for his crimes. He began cheating slot machines in 1980 when he used a metal device that was inserted into the coin slot and then triggered a payout.
When the big casinos started updating their slots with newer machines, Carmichael found his device no longer worked with them.
As a result he moved to the smaller gambling establishments in Las Vegas that still used older machines. He was eventually caught and sentenced to five years in prison.
This sentence failed to act as a deterrent though, and Carmichael resumed his cheating upon his release in 1987. Slot machine technology had advanced during his spell in prison and therefore he had to change his methods.
Carmichael bought one of the new machines and set about designing a new device that he could use to cheat. He came up with something that has since been called the monkey paw, or slider.
The principle was the same as his original device; it was inserted into the coin slot and caused the release of coins from the machines. He used it successfully until technology advanced again and he once more had to refine his methods.
He bought one of the new electronic slot games and again developed a way to beat them.
It worked so well that Carmichael made money from selling it to other cheaters, as well as using it himself.
Perhaps inevitably, Carmichael was eventually arrested for using the wand in 1996. Charges were dropped on that occasion, but he was arrested again in 1998 and once more in 1999. He pled guilty to running an illegal gambling enterprise and was sentenced to more prison time.
He is now banned from playing in casinos, but he does work with them producing anti-cheating devices.
Richard Marcus has been labeled as one of the greatest cheaters in the history of gambling. That isn’t unreasonable, given that he made a lot of money and never got caught. The only reason anyone knows about his cheating exploits is because he chose to write a book about his life after he had made enough money and stopped cheating.
Marcus named his method of cheating the “Savannah,” and it was in theory quite simple. It took an awful lot of courage and a fair amount of skill.
It was very similar to the past-posting cheating techniques that had been used, but with one key difference. Traditional past-posters would add chips to a winning bet using sleight of hand, but Marcus did it the other way round. He would remove chips from a losing bet.
Roulette Machine For Sale
He would go up to the roulette table and place a couple of chips down as his bet. The top chip would be a $5 chip, or some other small denomination, but underneath would be a higher value chip.
He placed the top chip in a way that the bottom chip could not be seen. If his bet lost, he would grab his chips (which you are not actually allowed to do, hence the drunken act) and fling them at the dealer. During this move he would swap the higher value chip for another $5 chip.
If, however, his bet won then he would make a big deal of celebrating. Invariably the dealer would be a little confused, assuming he had just staked two $5 chips. At this point Marcus would point out the fact that the chip underneath was more valuable.
Because he had legitimately placed the bet, even if surveillance was checked by casino security they would find nothing wrong. He was effectively cheating on his losing bets rather than his winning ones, and it’s winning bets that tend to be scrutinized.
Using this method he was able to win thousands on his winning bets and lose only a few dollars on his losing bets. Because of the way it worked, he managed to avoid being caught. He now works against the cheaters, consulting for casinos, and teaching them how to avoid being cheated.
In 1995, Reid McNeal hit a Keno jackpot at Bally’s Park Place Casino Resort in Atlantic City, for $100,000. Suspicions were immediately raised when McNeal showed very little emotion following the win and asked to be paid in cash.
As jackpot wins of a certain size have to be verified by state gaming officials under New Jersey law, an investigation occurred as a result.
The investigation led back to Ron Harris, a computer programmer working for the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Harris was responsible for finding bugs and flaws in the software of electronic gaming machines.
It transpired that Harris had been using his position to access and modify software in slot machines to pay out substantial wins if a precise sequence of coins were inserted. With his accomplice he had successfully cheated thousands of dollars and gone undetected.
Using his predictions his accomplice, McNeal, could be guaranteed a jackpot win.
McNeal duly won the jackpot at Atlantic City but, as we have described above, that was the beginning of the end for the two cheats. Harris was sentenced to seven years in prison, and released after serving two.
Throughout the history of gambling scams, women have typically been used to cause diversions while their male accomplices carry out the actual scandal.
Ida Summers was different; she certainly used her beauty and charm to distract pit bosses and dealers, but she also did the cheating herself.
Back in the 1960s she became known as the Vegas Vixen for her ability to cheat Las Vegas casinos.
This involved using sleight of hand to remove and add cards to the table when required. She then progressed to adding whole decks of cards that were prearranged to ensure the house lost. These decks were known as cold decks, or coolers.
Although successful for a while, Summers was eventually caught and arrested. Gaming officials in Vegas had become suspicious here, and together with the FBI, launched an investigation.
Seeing as she only received probation rather than a custodial sentence, it seems her looks and charm may have had an effect in court too.
French woman Monique Laurent, along with her crew consisting of family and friends, managed to win over $1 million from the roulette tables at Deauville Casino. Their winning had nothing to do with luck.
But rather thanks to some sophisticated equipment and the help of a rogue roulette dealer. Considering the scam took place in 1973, it was somewhat advanced for the time.
Laurent had her crew use a roulette ball that had been tampered with to insert a radio receiver.
With 90% accuracy she could make the ball land in a group of six numbers. Other members of the crew would place the necessary bets and collect the winnings.
The casino sensed something was wrong, but they couldn’t work out what the problem was. They had the roulette wheel checked and monitored the table and the dealer, but they found nothing wrong. Laurent and her crew therefore continued to rack up the winnings.
They were only caught eventually as a direct result of Laurent’s beauty.
The owner of the casino took something of a shine to Laurent and made romantic overtures. She rebuffed him and he didn’t take it well. He began to suspect her of wrongdoing when he noticed that she was always at the roulette table costing the casino money.
She was always seemingly alone and only appeared to be placing occasional bets. Working out that the cigarette packet might be involved he asked Laurent for a cigarette and the game was up.
Louis Colavecchio is a counterfeiter who used his skills to manufacture incredibly accurate reproductions of slot machine coins. He then used these coins in many American casinos with initially great success.
His operation was on a grand scale and he was producing thousands upon thousands of coins.
When he was eventually arrested in 1998, following an investigation after casinos had started to notice sizable surpluses of the coins in their inventories.
Law enforcement seized his stash of coins and the tools used to make them. Such was the volume of this equipment they had to rent storage facilities just to house it all.
When Colavecchio was released in 2006 he resumed his activities, but was arrested again after just a few months. He brokered a deal to reveal the secrets of his operation so that casinos could avoid being stung in this way again.
Nikrasch, also known as Dennis McAndrew, is another slot machine cheater. In fact, he is arguably the biggest known slot machine cheater in history. It has been said that he posed a serious risk to the integrity of the whole slot machine industry.
Together with his crew, it’s believed that Nikrasch made over $15 million using his sophisticated methods.
There has been a lot written about Nikrasch, particularly about his downfall, and much of it’s speculation. It’s widely believed that he was set up by someone who knew about his operation, but he himself has admitted that he does not know who or why.
He was arrested in 1998 while trying to cheat his way to a huge jackpot in a Las Vegas casino. Subsequently, he agreed to exchange some of his secrets in return for a reduced sentence.
Nickrasch had served time in prison before, having been convicted in the 1980s for his role in cheating the mechanical slot machines of the time. As a master locksmith with mechanical expertise, he had developed a method for forcing payouts from these machines.
Following his time in prison he returned to Las Vegas and soon began planning a return to his cheating ways.
By this time, though, slot machines were very different. The technology was now computerized rather than mechanical and the machines were vastly more difficult to manipulate.
This didn’t stop Nikrasch however, and he began to work on developing new methods for beating them. He did indeed come up with an advanced system for doing so.
His new system required a crew of people, which Nikrasch recruited using his contacts. He would visit a casino and, with members of his crew covering him from video surveillance and security personnel, he would break into a machine using an untraceable method.
After he left, another member of his crew would then come and win the jackpot: seeming legitimate. It’s not known for sure how many times Nikrasch pulled this off before he was caught. Equally, no-one knows how long he might have been able to get away with it if had he not been set up.
Although Brennan is a thief rather than a cheater, he deserves to be mentioned here for the simplicity and apparent success of his heist. Brennan was a cashier at Stardust Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
In 1992 as he was leaving work, Brennan decided to fill a bag with half a million dollars in cash and chips. He calmly walked out of the casino and has never been seen since.
There have been rumors that he was killed by an accomplice who didn’t want to split the proceeds, but there has never been any evidence to back this up.
The common belief is that he is still alive, somewhere in the world, enjoying his ill-gotten gains.