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To paraphrase Albert Einstein’s well known quote about roulette tables, “You cannot beat a slot machine unless you steal money from it.” That could easily have been the personal motto of Tommy Glenn Carmichael, one of the world’s most infamous slot cheats. As a technician, his cleverness was unmatched, but like so many who turn to crime as a get-rich-quick scheme, he was eventually caught and made to pay for his lawless behavior.
Tommy Glenn Carmichael is one of the most notorious slot cheats in gambling history. He is responsible for the light wand. Magicians such as David Copperfield, Dynamo and David Blaine might have. Read all about Tommy Glenn Carmichael, one of the most famous casino cheats in history, and one of only a handful of people be banned from all Nevada casinos! Read all about Tommy Glenn Carmichael, one of the most famous casino cheats in history, and one of only a handful of people be banned from all Nevada casinos!
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Off to a Slow Start
Carmichael was born in 1950, when American technology was under-going a renaissance in the wake of World War II inventiveness. He would grow up with an interest in mechanical and electrical devices, which led to his chosen profession as a television repairman. By 1980, he had his own shop in Tulsa called Ace TV Sales and Service.
But life was far from idyllic for the four-time married and three-time divorced Carmichael. Recreational drug use had led to his arrest and a couple of small-time convictions for possession. The repair business was a dead end. He longed for more adventure than a straight-laced prairie town could provide.
Tommy Glenn Carmichael Wikipedia
History has it that an old friend of Carmichael’s named Ray Ming was living in Las Vegas at the time, and he pulled up to the Tulsa shop one day with a big surprise—a Bally’s slot machine. Ming also brought along a “top-bottom joint,” which was the state-of-the-art slot cheating tool in those days. The two played around a bit and Carmichael discovered how easy it was to use the tool to relieve the slot of its coins.
That was all it took. Carmichael knew what he had to do. He shut down the shop, grabbed his wife and headed off for Nevada. Baccarat how to play. No sooner had he arrived in Sin City then he jimmied a 5-cent machine at a casino near the Las Vegas Strip for $35 in nickels. In his mind, he saw visions of yachts and cars. But five years later, he got caught with his top-bottom joint while drinking coffee and playing a slot machine at a Denny’s Restaurant west of the Strip. The Tulsa-native was sentenced to five years in the state penitentiary.
From Amateur to Pro
Decades later, Carmichael would tell USA Today how prison time had changed him. “You think about what you did,” he said, “and the mistakes and how to correct them. You either get straight or get better.” The former repairman decided on the latter course of action. He began devising new slot cheating inventions of his own design that he could put to immediate use after his release.
One of Carmichael’s first successful gadgets was the “slider and monkey paw,” which he could use to hack into slot machine coin hoppers. He reportedly banked over $1,000 an hour using the tool. Then, when slot makers began switching from mechanical to electrical apparatus in the 1990s, the ex-con invented the “light wand” to trick a machine’s optical scanner into releasing cash. He became so successful that he could afford to buy two houses, a motor home and a Jaguar JX6. He also invested in a pawn shop.
![Cheaters in history Cheaters in history](https://audio-mobile.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Tommy-glen-carmichael.jpg)
And Carmichael’s scams were not limited to bilking Las Vegas slot machines, either. Soon he was “winning” at casinos in Atlantic City, Colorado, Connecticut, Louisiana and beyond. He began going on Caribbean cruises, where he could cheat shipboard casinos out of their money, too. He also started selling copies of his light wand to other slot cheats, who were happy to pay top dollar for proven technology. Without going near a machine, the device started bringing in $10,000 a day in sales.
In 1996, police apprehended Carmichael for the manufacture and possession of a cheating device, but the charges were subsequently dropped. Then in 1998, and again in 1999 as the FBI became involved, the inventor was arrested under the same allegations. This time, the charges stuck. In 2001, Carmichael was sentenced to time served—326 days—and three years’ probation. He lost his two homes, and the judge ordered him to stay out of casinos.
Casino Cheaters Caught
Turning a New Leaf?
Barred from going near slot machines, Carmichael moved back to Tulsa. That’s where he hit upon an even better way to use his formidable inventive skills and knowledge of how slot cheats operate. He would begin producing anti-cheating devices for the use of casino security. The poacher would become the game warden.
By 2003, Carmichael had designed and patented a device he called “The Protector.” He claimed that it could stop all known cheating devices—even those of his own invention. But the industry was wary of claims made by its old foe. The Nevada Gaming Commission debated whether to allow Carmichael access to casino personnel and decided it was too risky.
Carmichael told USA Today, “They cannot stand the thought of me righting a wrong and possibly making a little money off it.” He swore he had gone straight. He would never cheat a slot machine again, even though he said if he wanted to “I could beat them in a heartbeat.” And that explains why the “reformed” inventor was banned from Nevada casinos for life. The master was just too good for his own good.
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HomeGamblingWhy Rely on Luck: 3 Tools from Famous Casino Cheats’ Arsenals
Every player wishes to get away with more money than they brought to the casino. Better still, a lot of us dream of hitting the jackpot someday. However, the casino advantage has the odds stacked against players. Unless your luck and skill hold up, the house always wins. However, some bettors choose to take matters into their own hands and turn the tide in their favor.
For a moment, just forget the daring and dramatic casino heists that are shown in films like Hollow Triumph and Ocean’s 11. Granted, these fictitious masterminds pulled off some well-oiled robberies on film. However, some real-life casino cheats have used a variety of tools and techniques to rob casinos around the world of millions of dollars.
1. The Starter Advice
The proverb, not rocket science, applies in this instance. However, knowing what to do when the odds are stacked up against you, requires a strategic mind. Every gambler knows that casinos have some of the most airtight security systems and protocols in the world. But you don’t necessarily have to be a genius to take on the house and come out on top. However, while the possibilities are there, patience, time, and emotional control are essential. Most importantly is finding a casino on which to flex your iGaming strategy muscles.
Applying various strategies requires a platform. Comparison sites like ukcasino.xyz aren’t short on casino lists. Reviews are ample and so are some tips on how to bring your A-game, even if Lady Luck has turned the other way. It all depends on whether you prefer attempts on demo mode or low and high stakes tables. Most players tend to gravitate toward the live games, so as to have a real-time application as opposed to RGN.
While heroic deeds were ample and the impossible become possible, the road was not always easy. Of course, things took a downward trend when they were caught, but we can still learn a thing or two from how they did it. In this article, we’ll look at some of the tools and strategies that the most famous casino cheats used to con the system.
2. The Light Wand
Tommy Glenn Carmichael was perhaps one of the most famous casino cheats who managed to move undetected for several years. As a television repairman, tinkering with electronics came naturally to him. Whenever he could pop up a slot machine’s hood, it didn’t take Carmichael long to develop the Light Wand, a tool that duped a slot machine to think that it’d hit a winning combination.
As technology and slot manufacturers improved the security features on new models, it didn’t take Tommy too long to get a hold of the new model and come up with a way to rig the system. Of course, his tools would have been no match for today’s online slot machines. As harsh as it may seem, these have been created with fairness in mind, but are also security conscious. They are also hacker-proof, as they employ a variety of cybersecurity tools that make them harder to rig, even with strategy-based software.
When Carmichael decided to sell his tool and collaborate with other cheats, one was caught and soon the jig was up. Tommy was arrested and released several times, before finally being jailed in 1996. The Light Wand is still one of the most iconic slot machine rigging tools of all time.
3. Sleight of Hand
Tommy Carmichael may have been a master with electronics, but Richard Marcus used a simple illusion to dupe casinos for over two decades. He came up with an idea that he could place a roulette bet with potential winnings of up to $500,000 but limit his losses up to $10. How? Well, you can’t lose if you quickly move your betting chips away from sight, can you? It’s the artistry of magic hands.
If a croupier caught on to his antics, Marcus would pretend to be drunk and apologize while putting back the chip. But the ingenuity of his strategy was that, even then, he would replace the higher-valued chip with a $5 or $10 one that he’d have hidden in his hand all along. He was arrested several times, but no one ever had enough evidence to charge him. Las Vegas casinos just ended up resorting to blacklisting this master of sleight of hand. But, these days, casinos employ high-security cameras at each table, which is likely to counter this. With profits on the line, nobody can blame them, but experience inspires improvements.
4. Card Counting
The iconic movie 21 may be synonymous with card-counting, but the strategy was originally developed by a maths professor, Edward O. Thorp. The professor was determined to crunch up the numbers and come up with a system to transfer the blackjack winning advantage to himself. Thorp didn’t leave his methods in the books or peer review his findings with fellow math sages. Instead, he put them to the test in a real-life casino.
On a regular weekend, he and his wife would rake in over half a million dollars in today’s money. A couple that plays together, stays together. Not only did Thorp garner the title of casino beater, but he also applied his mind to the stock market through hedge funds.
Casinos were at sixes and sevens about how the professor kept on winning, so they would ask him to leave. Edward Thorp published a book in 1962 to finally let the cat out of the bag on how he’d pulled his exploits off. The MIT blackjack team, on the other hand, made card counting immortal in casino players’ memories. By the time these students and their professor were caught counting cards, they’d won over $5 million.
While these individuals prove that nothing is impossible, it all boils down to each person’s gusto. What drives you to succeed, is not following in other’s footsteps, but creating your own path by finding inspiration in their achievements.