As soon as the first land-based casino opened its doors, numerous audacious players began to think about how they could outsmart the system and leave these venues with winnings every time. They came up with multi-step schemes, invented incredible gadgets, and found collaborators among the casino employees. And although most of these gamblers failed to deceive gambling establishments, some of them achieved quite impressive results in this regard. So, in this article, we are going to honor 5 of them by telling you their fascinating cheating stories.
Tommy Glenn Carmichael
This talented swindler specialized in slot machines and did everything he could to beat casinos from a technological perspective. When land-based venues relied on old game tokens, Carmichael invented the so-called “Monkey Paw”. This cheat device allowed him to trigger the micro switch that controlled the coin payout in the slot machines. As casinos transitioned to more computerized one-armed bandits, Tommy discovered that the sensors inside the machines were sensitive to light. Therefore, he came up with a gadget called “The Light Wand” and used it to “confuse” the sensors responsible for the payouts.
Dennis Sean McAndrew
Dennis was another slot machine fan who surely knew a thing or two about inventions. In fact, thanks to his innovative devices, he was able to sneak inside the machines and turn the winning odds in his favor. McAndrew has achieved impressive results in his craft and has allegedly accumulated over $16 million in winnings with his gadgets. In 1998, the FBI got on his trail and arrested the swindler. However, since Dennis knew numerous secrets to trick the casinos, he exchanged them for a reduced prison sentence.
Monique Laurent
This amazing woman impressed everyone around not only with her charisma and beauty but also with her fantastic ingenuity. In 1973, she became the mastermind of a scam that would eventually become known as the “French Cigarette Pack Scam”. To implement her plan, Monique found a roulette dealer who could place a special radio receiver in the ball. She placed a device that sent a signal to the ball into a cigarette pack and could guess several of the most likely winning segments in each round. This kind of creativity has led the fraud duo to over $1 million in winnings. And considering the inflation, this amount is absolutely shocking.
Ron Harris
Unlike previous cheaters, Ron did not use any crafty inventions for his crimes. Instead, he became an employee of the Nevada Gaming Control Board and used his programming skills to generate winnings on keno machines. Harris created a software algorithm that allowed him to win jackpots by pressing a specific combination of buttons. And this approach helped him become $100 000 richer.
Steve Forte
Steve is a living icon in the gambling world, especially when it comes to card games. He is a stunning and manipulative sleight of hand artist who has used his unique skills in blackjack and poker sessions numerous times. One of the most famous cases of his cheating occurred in the early 1990s when he and an abettor targeted the Trump Castle Hotel and Casino. Their duo managed to exit the establishment with $225 000 in blackjack winnings. Aside from that, an interesting fact is that Steve no longer uses his skills and is a world-famous casino security consultant.
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