Part III: Slot Machine Cheating · Physical Cheating Methods · #5.15
The Tongue
How it works
A device Tommy Carmichael and a partner were developing when the 1999 federal investigation closed in on them. Coin mechanisms of the period counted inserted coins with three light sensors in a row. When a coin dropped in, it passed by three light sensors that tracked how many coins were being inserted. Carmichael discovered that by inserting the tongue device into the coin slot and moving it back and forth in front of the middle light sensor, he could trick the machine into thinking hundreds of coins were passing through. The device could rack up approximately 35 credits per second on a quarter machine. One person could load credits, leave, and an accomplice could later collect them, making detection extremely difficult.
Where it appears
TITO-era slot machines that still accepted coins for credit, using multi-sensor coin counting systems.
On the record
The tongue was the device Carmichael was developing when he was arrested in Atlantic City in 1999. FBI wiretaps recorded Carmichael and his crew discussing the device. He dreamed of making $1 million in six months and retiring. They planned to perfect it on $5 slots. On 7 September 2001 Carmichael was sentenced to time served (326 days) and three years’ probation; in February 2003 the Nevada Gaming Commission added him to the Black Book.
Detection & preventionADVISORY
The paid halfHow a monitoring room catches the tongue, and what stops it recurring, written for the desk, not the reader.
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Published as a detection reference for surveillance, compliance and gaming-operations professionals. Thresholds and tuning are set by the property. Nothing here is instruction: the method is described so it can be recognised.