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Tools of the Take
Cheaters are turning to some inventive devices in their quest to steal from casinos

By Andy Holtmann

Every day, casinos across the world fall victim to the cheat. From the simplest of tricks to the most unique of inventions, cheaters hustle millions of dollars from slot machines and table games each year.

            Take Dennis Andrew Nickrash for instance. Nickrash, now 65, was able to swindle nearly $6.2 million from casinos and was getting ready to hit the progressive Megabucks slot machines before finally being caught two years ago after an investigation by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies.

            Nickrash’s tool—a handheld computer system, which he used to quickly program winning combinations into slot machines after opening them. And he did it all while nonchalantly strolling along the casino floor.

            “It was a very sophisticated device,” says Keith Copher of the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s Gaming Enforcement Division. “I certainly hope there’s nothing else like this out there.”

            But while authorities have yet to discover anything quite like Nickrash’s invention, there are literally hundreds of different devices that are currently being used by cheaters.

            Andy Anderson, a retired security and surveillance operator who is helping run Biometrica, a company that develops facial recognition software and digital recording devices, has seen it all. He keeps a running log of known cheaters and the devices they use, and has been helping authorities crack down on their handiwork.

            “There are quite a few tricks these guys can pull,” Anderson says. “And they keep on developing things to try and stay one step ahead of the law. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”

            Anderson says one of the most frequently used devices is what is called a “mini-lamp.” What amounts to basically a light bulb on a stick, cheaters use to insert into a slot machine and use flickers to trick the machine into registering a payout.

            While Anderson isn’t sure exactly who invented the mini-lamp, he says it was Jerry Dell Criner who made it popular. Anderson says Criner was able to swindle millions from slot machines by using the lamp.

            Copher says Criner even ran a cheating school near Tulsa, Okla. His lamp apparently became so popular that fellow cheaters were paying between $10,000 and $15,000 for similar versions.

            “The Gaming Control Board has arrested him on numerous occasions,” Copher says of Criner.

            The mini-lamp trend spawned a host of similar devices, such as light wands, “stingers,” “monkey paws” and “kickstands.” The light wands involved battery powered bulbs that could be maneuvered into the slot machine to trigger its sensors. Stingers were gas grill igniters that sparked, also triggering payouts. Monkey paws and kickstands were both sticks with clamps on one end that could be inserted into the machines and positioned to hold the roller arms up, so that coins would be counted when going in, but would fall back out.

            Copher says there were even remote control systems confiscated from cheaters that would allow one person to do the work from a distance, while another person played the machine to hide the evidence from detection.

            Shaved tokens are another common trick of the trade. Like the monkey paw or kickstand, shaved tokens would count going in, but would be too small to trigger the roller arm, and would fall directly out, allowing the cheater to register false credits. Copher says that because shaved tokens eliminate the need for larger equipment, it is often hard to tell that cheating is taking place, even to trained surveillance operators.

            Table games are not immune to cheating devices either. Anderson has videotapes showing card game cheaters using a sticky substance to mark cards. The substance is kept in what’s called a “daub cup,” or a hollowed out chip.

            Authorities have also confiscated dozens of elaborate devices used to count cards. From high-tech computers and calculators hidden in fanny packs to simple clickers in shoes, Anderson says cheaters are finding new ways to rip off the table games each day.

            “There’s probably a lot more devices out there we don’t know about yet,” Anderson says. “Right now, computers seem to be the method of choice, and as they get smaller, the harder they are to detect. Right now, there seems to be a lot of new technology coming out of Asia and Australia, so we’re watching that closely.”

            There are steps being taken to throw up roadblocks in the cheaters’ paths. Slot manufacturers are retrofitting their games to prevent cheating, adding devices like bill validators. Table game dealers and surveillance operators are also constantly updated as to what to look for.

             Copher says about 600 arrests are made by the control board in Nevada alone each year, ranging from complicated cheating rings to simple customer cons and employee theft, but there are countless cases of cheating that go undiscovered.

            “We’re always alert, manufacturers are always alert,” Copher says. “There are a number of new designs for table games and slots that could help prevent cheating and we are finding more and more ways to catch them, from enhanced surveillance to intensive investigations.”

            But as Anderson points out, the crooks are alert as well, constantly adding new levels in the cat-and-mouse game that is cheating in casinos.

            “No matter what you do to safeguard the casinos’ games, there’s someone out there who will figure out how to get around it,” Anderson says.

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