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How to Hack Slot Machines: 7 Sneaky Cheats
They say the house always wins. And sure enough, casinos make over $70 billion every year, more revenue than Facebook, Hollywood and the music industry. Although some casinos close down every once in a while, most casinos make consistent profits.
For that reason, some people see no harm scamming casinos some of their money. Scammers often target slots because they can sit in front of a machine alone and do their scams without attracting a lot of attention.
Statistically, most scammers get caught. All the same, below is a list of seven ways people have been hacking slot machines over the years.
#1: Fake and Foreign Coins
One of the most common tricks used to cheat slots is to use fake or foreign coins. In the ‘80s, fake coins were mainly washers—the disc-shaped pieces of metal used to for spacing, load distribution, liquid protection and vibration absorption in bikes, beds and small machines.
Washers were ideal cheating tools because they held the same weight as U.S. coins. They also looked like coins and would fit inside slot machines seamlessly. As a result, using washers to play slots became so rampant that most casinos began to frisk players before allowing them at slot machines.
Another common trick for cheaters is Las Vegas is to use foreign coins. For example, there was a time the Mexican peso looked and weighed the same as U.S. coins. Yet, it was only worth half one American cent. The result: cheaters would flock to Vegas with Mexican pesos and use them to play slots for cheap.
#2: Magnetic Powers
This trick used to work on classic slots in the ‘60s and ‘70s. It no longer works because modern machines have anti-magnet tracking technology. Also, you can’t use magnets to cheat online casinos. That said, in the early days of technology, you could walk into a casino with a magnet in your pocket.
Then you would target old slots and place maximum bets. While the reels were spinning, you could use your magnet to manipulate paying symbols only to remove the magnet after ensuring winning symbols align on the reels. By protocol, a casino employee would check the reels and pay you after confirming the symbols were correct.
Today, slots use Random Number Generator software to produce winners and losers. Unlike magnetic reels, software can’t be breached by a magnet. And even if you manipulated reels on the video screen, casinos can always check software verify whether you won fairly or not.
#3: Hacking RNG Software
As mentioned, you can’t hack RNG software using magnets. But who said you can’t beat software? A few hackers have successfully hacked slots’ RNG software and won big. The most publicized case involved a ring of Russian hackers that would reverse engineer machines to determine when they would payout.
The main hacker was located in Russia but he had operatives throughout the world. His main job was to research on Aristocrat-made slots that could be reverse-engineered. Then he would hack their data to instruct his operatives on when to time wins. The hackers made millions of dollars hacking slots in Russia, Europe and the US for over a decade before they were nabbed in 2017.
#4: Attaching Coins to a String
Classic slots used fairly simple technology. You would insert a coin and the machine would start to spin its reels. This got people into thinking—what if you insert a coin inside the machine and get it out to gamble free of charge?
Unsurprisingly, someone though of the idea of attaching a coin to a string to trigger reels to spin while also saving the coin. It was not a perfect trick. In the 1988 book about video poker by Louise and Dwight Crevelt, the authors featured an encounter they had where a coin attached to a string had jammed inside the machine, prompting the cheater to escape but also alerting casinos of the trick.
When this trick worked, though, it helped players save a lot of money since they were losing nothing and winning money occasionally. The trick still works on old slots but it can’t work on modern games because of improved technology.
#5: Getting inside Big Bertha Slots
In the ‘90s, casinos in Las Vegas had giant slots placed at key entry points to grab the attention of new customers. Big Bertha slots were fun to look at and play. But some people had other things in mind. In one infamous case, a group of friends would crowd around a Big Bertha slot and one person would open the machine’s doors to rig its reels.
For clarity, Big Bertha slots were the size of an average adult. They also had doors through which employees would enter to collect bags of wagered cash. As mentioned, you could also manipulate the games’ reels while in there.
#6: Tripping Electronic Sensors
This trick came after using magnets began to fail. Casinos were now using RNG software on electronic slots and magnets wouldn’t work. As an alternative, some people devised gadgets that would trigger the electronic sensors that alerted RNG software when to produce winners.
Interestingly, this trick was created by Tommy Carmichael, the same guy that invented most tricks used to cheat slots in the ‘60s to ‘90s. He was eventually caught and jailed and later partnered with the Nevada Gaming Enforcement Board to help catch cheats.
The Takeaway: Cheating Slots is not Worth it
Although there have been multiple systems used to cheat at slots over the years, most of them were made obsolete by technology. Worse, most people involved in the scams were eventually arrested. Today, slot technology is so advanced that it’s just not worth it to try cheating. You would need massive resources to beat slot technology. And even if you did, you’re most likely to get caught.
If you want to enjoy slots, check these websites offering high-quality online slots. Their games use fair RNG software. They’re exciting to play and can payout up to 99% of wagered money.
