Try as you might, many people have attempted to cheat against the most famous gaming machine of all – the Slot. Not just in casinos off course, you can find these machines of fun, risk and reward, in pubs, clubs, chip shops and bars up and down the country, still a firm favourite in such establishments despite the formidable rise of their online predecessor, the online video slot machine.
And, as always with games, competitions and sport, there are always people who try and bend the rules, apply some good old fashioned gamesmanship or even, try to cheat. The slot machine is far immune to cheaters, even if the format is pretty foolproof.
In this article we have provided some famous ways in people have tried to cheat the slot machine, some of which are clever, some of them less so. All of these should be appreciated though, even if all they have done in the end is raise a smile.
The string and coin technique
Not just something out of a cartoon or film, people have actually been reported to have tried this rather ambitious, slightly unrealistic technique.
As the name we have given such a method suggests, all you need is a coin, a string and to be honest, a sense of slightly misplaced mischief. By wrapping the string around a coin used to play an online slot, or even drilling a hole through it, players have attempted to put in their stake, play a few spins, win or lose, then take that stake out. Simple, but unlikely to work if you are playing a slot game produced within the last 60 or 70 years, since most slot machines are wise to this technique.
Strong magnets to spin the reels
Again, this is a fairly self explanatory but very ambitious way of trying to cheat a slot machine, that would only work on a very old slot.
Strong magnets were able to shift the metal, magnetic reels of older slot games and make them align not though the luck of the reels, but through the force created. Again, as mentioned earlier, this would almost certainly not work on a modern slot game, but is a funny anecdote of slot game history.
Hacking the system
As older slot games, mechanic in their nature, gradually turned into digital games, they opened themselves up to a whole world of opportunity.
With electronic slot machines came more titles, better graphics and more themes – not to mention a more free flowing experience. However, in those early days when levers were swapped for buttons and reels were swapped for screens, those able to code their own electronics were able to hack into the system.
Not a technique for technophobes, this was only for the nerds and computer geniuses trying to get a cash injection behind the casino’s back. In all honesty, this would be even more difficult to pull off now, thanks to some of the best minds in technology helping to code online slots.