Slots : The biggest slot machine cheater ... ever

The biggest slot machine cheater in the history is Tommy Glenn Carmichael. He is an inventor and he is currently working on an anti-cheating device. He claims that when it will be completed, his invention will neutralize every cheat machine method.

Many years he was on the other side, as for 20 years he created slot machine devices that allowed him to steal from numerous casinos. In 1980 Carmichael was visited at his Tulsa, Oklahoma Television repair shop by Ray Ming, a friend of his.

Ming brought him a Bally’s slot machine. Carmichael then went to test the efficiency of his devices: he started at a casino located near the Vegas Strip and he made $35. The older machines were changed, so he decided to try his luck into the casinos that still had these machines.

He wasn't lucky because he got caught and he was arrested for several years. During his imprisonment he had time to think about other illegal activities. He got released in 1987 and he realized that the slot machines have been replaced.

The new machines used a RNG (Random Number Generator) and microprocessors. He then bought an IGT Fortune One video poker machine and he invented the monkey paw, which was inserted into the machine through the payout chute.

The invention operated a switch that caused the machine to release coins. In 1991 the machines were once again changed and once again he bought a "new generation" machine to see the inside of it.

He then invented the “light wand”, which caused the machine to release coins, by sending a small light to blind a sensor. He was caught in 1996 but he wasn't charged. Two years later he was caught again and then his downfall started.

The police gathered evidence against him and they arrested him with six other conspirators. He pleaded guilty and was ordered to stay 326 days in jail. He was banned from the casinos and he lost his home. He was also inducted into the Nevada Gaming Commission’s Black Book.