![]() ![]() Finally the law caught up with him in the gambling Mecca of Atlantic City, New Jersey. 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.Ĭolavecchio won thousands of dollars in the casinos of Las Vegas without ever putting his hand into his own pocket. Without knowing the exact metallic mix of legal tender it’s almost impossible to produce the identical size and weight. The most obvious cheating method for slot machines is, of course, fake coins. 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. 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. In the end more than 30 machines were rigged and hundreds of thousands of dollars went missing through the actions of Harris’s accomplices. ![]() When coins were inserted in a specific order it would trigger a huge jackpot. The temptation to construct almost the perfect crime was too much to bear and Harris secretly coded a payout switch in some machines. 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… 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. At the Mirage Casino, Las Vegas, Sherwin hit the jackpot on a Megabucks slot machine for a massive $4.6 million in 1989.Īmazingly, 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. In this crazy story Elmer Sherwin proved that lightning can strike twice in the same spot. It is not clear how much of his millions he had to pay back if anything. 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.Īfter thousands of dollars were being won every day Carmichael eventually fell foul of an FBI investigation and spent almost a year behind bars. The next ‘James Bond’ style invention was known as the light wand. Inside was a microswitch that would trigger the jackpot payout.Įventually, technology improved, but so did Carmichael’s ingenuity. One invention was called the slider or monkey’s paw and used to fit up the machine’s payout chute. Carmichael spent nearly 20 years using all kinds of technical wizardry to cheat casinos by interfering with their slot machines. It is, however, a name that will send shivers down the spine of any casino exec who knows their industry history. Tommy Glenn Carmichael isn’t a name that rolls off your tongue. As well as paying out some eye-watering jackpots over the years there have also been a few scandals of note. From penny slots right up to the big ones. ![]() Slot machines have been providing thrills to the punters for many decades. ![]()
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