When a player hits the progressive jackpot, a few things happen. First, the machine locks up, lights flash on and off, and the player is instructed to call an attendant. The machine then sends an electronic signal to the control to notify the casino about the win. Most of the progressive jackpot winnings are huge. They range from $10,000 to $1,000,000. There really is no definitive way to know when a slot machine will deliver a jackpot or handpay win. Slot machines operate according to a random number generator that determines if a spin is a winner and thus, require no tactical skill; you put your money in and spin.
Most slots players have dreamed about using slot machine hacks and cheats to bring down the house. I’ll walk you through some of the most successful slot machine cheats, as well as some outdated techniques that will fail every time.
Some of these video slot machine hacks and cheats used to work, but they don’t any longer. Before I begin, let me start with a disclaimer. Hacking slot machines is against the law in most countries. I do not advise it, and LegitGamblingSites.com does not endorse it.
Let’s see how slot machines work and whether you can cheat slots today.
Casino Slot Machine Hacks
There are some slot machine hacks that worked on old-school slots. I don’t recommend trying these today. They won’t work on modern slot machines which have evolved to deal with them. If you try these and get caught, you’ll likely get banned from the casino for life. Nonetheless, they did work once upon a time, and if you happen to find a classic slot machine in a bar, you might be able to try some of these.
The Yo-Yo Slot Hack
I have a confession to make before I tell you about this slot hack. I have used this successfully, but not on slot machines. I pulled it off once or twice on the vending machines in my high school and scored a free bottle of Coca Cola or two.
The idea is to tie a thin string around a coin and deposit it. When a deposit is registered, you yank the string and pull it out. If you know anything about modern slot machines, you probably just laughed out loud. Out of all the slot machine hacks and cheats, this most definitely would not work today.
The Counterfeit Coin Trick
Before scanning technology became widespread, slot machines used to accept bets based on the weight of the coin. The question of how to hack slot machines had a real answer: Use fake coins which were the same weight as real ones. They used similar metals or hard material, and they got away with it for a long time.
Again, technology has caught up and rendered this slot machine cheat impotent. Ask any experienced player, and they’ll tell you that it’s difficult enough to get a slot to accept some real coins, never mind counterfeit ones!
Tampering With Payout Switches
Throughout gaming history, slot machine hacks and cheats have brought on some hilarious inventions. A number of them involve guitar strings and metal wires. At one point, players would attach hooks and metal claws to the end of metal wire or strings and feed it through the cooling system of the slot machine. They’d rattle around for a while, and eventually, they’d hit the payout switch.
This hack would never work on an electronic slot machine. To understand why, you should read our report on Random Number Generators (RNG). There are no physical switches which activate payouts in modern slot machines. The only thing tampering with slot machines will get you these days is a place on the sidewalk when the casino security team catches you.
Slot Machine Cheat Codes
As slot machines evolved past basic mechanical parts and made use of technology like RNGs and electronic sensors, computer programmers became a key part of keeping them honest.
What happens when the computer programmer who’s supposed to do his job lets temptation get the better of him? Just ask Ronald Dale Harris. He was in charge of finding and fixing software flaws. He was a high-level programmer and worked for the Nevada Gaming Control Board in the 1990s. One day, for whatever reason, he decided to modify some slots so it would pay out when he entered a certain sequence of coins.
Harris got away with this for a long time, but his accomplice got busted when they tried the same thing on keno. Harris was locked up for seven years, but he got out in two for good behavior. I doubt he has ever tried to hack casino slot machines again, especially since all Vegas casinos have banned him.
A Mobile Slot Machine Hack Which Really Worked
What happens when you take cash-rich American casinos, Russian mobsters, high-tech equipment, and a team of jet-setting slot players and put them together? No, this isn’t the plot of a bad B movie, this slot machine hack really happened. In fact, it may still be happening today.
In the summer of 2014, a casino in St. Louis noticed some of its machines had paid out much more than they should have according to their payback averages. After watching the security footage of the casino, they found the same man winning again and again, and they knew he was a slot machine hacker right away. They just had to figure out how he was doing it. They noticed three things:
- He was holding his iPhone close to the screen when playing
- He was winning on Aristocrat slots
- And he was “jabbing” the spin button suddenly after long pauses
It soon became apparent that lots of other casinos had been the victims of slot machine hacking, and the same man was involved in most of the slot machine hacks and cheats. Authorities tracked down Murat Bilev and discovered he was part of a Russian team which had successfully hacked slots from the United States to Macau, bilking the casinos for millions.
After arresting him on a return trip to the US, Bilev spilled the beans. He was part of a Russian slot machine hacking team which figured out the exact timing of how the PRNGs work in Aristocrat slots. His phone was equipped was a slot machine hacking app which told him exactly when to press the spin button, hence the sudden hand movements after long pauses.
Bilev was sentenced to two years in prison and deported from the USA. However, authorities worry that the scam has evolved and there are still teams out there using slot machine hacks and cheats today.
Are slot machine hacking apps available online? Yes, but if you get caught using them, you’ll end up in the slammer like Murat Bilev. I’d strongly advise against it.
What If You Do Discover a Slot Machine Hack?
If you do figure out how to hack casino slot machines, you’ll face a moral and legal choice: to steal or not to steal.
I’d advise you not to. You see, there’s an alternative option, and it could be just as lucrative. Contact the casino slot machine company, tell them you’ve found a bug, and make a contract for a reward if you show them and are proven correct.
Some slots companies will dismiss you as a quack, but believe it or not, lots of them will give you an audience, especially if they suspect there’s a bug in their slot machine software.
How To Hit A Slot Machine Jackpot
Heck, you could even get a job as a consultant. After all, you’ve figured out a slot machine flaw that their coders didn’t recognize.
Can You Really Hack Slot Machines?
If you read the full article on slot machine hacks and cheats above, then you’ll know the answer is yes. But it takes some serious skills and connections. Both of the successful slot machine hackers mentioned here ended up in prison. And you have to ask yourself, is it really worth it?
I personally don’t think so. For me, slot machines are about the thrill of potentially winning a life-changing jackpot. I don’t even particularly want to win by cheating. I’d worry about being found out and having to look over my shoulder for the rest of my days.
Instead, I advise you to relax, have fun, learn all you can about how slots work, and forget slot machine hacks and cheats. If there’s such a thing as karma, you might even get rewarded for deciding not to try slot machine hacks!
Areyou looking for booming jackpots from slots? Progressive slots arewhat you are looking for. Progressive machines are some of the mostpopular slots in casinos, as they offer very impressive prizesrunning to millions of dollars. Players flock these machines incasinos as no other games offer such lavish pay-outs.
Weare going to learn what casinos mean when they say progressivemachines, their benefits, and how they work. Read on.
What are Progressive Jackpots?
Progressive jackpots are pay-outs ongambling machines, such as video poker machines and slot machines, incasinos. They are usually marked as progressive machines, so playersmay be aware of that before they sit down to play.
Eachtime the machine is played, the combined jackpot winnings increase bysmall supplements. The casino sets the small chunks by which thejackpots are increased. On numerous occasions, these machines arelinked so that the total increases faster as multiple players playingat different machines concurrently.
Eachof the slots has a meter that displays the amount of the jackpot andthe winning combinations that are needed. On a slot machine, forexample, you might need five cherries showing to win. Once you havewon the jackpot, the meter resets to the lowest level, and theprocess starts again.
Gamblersusually have to wager the maximum bet per play to qualify for thejackpot winnings. When the maximum is not wagered, the bet will stillcontribute to the jackpot, but the player is not allowed to keep thejackpot winnings should it hit on that play.
The Benefits of Progressive Machines
Thoughcasinos have progressive slot machines to lure players to play, thenumber of machines in the casino are not many. The casino is usuallywilling to make a small contribution to the progressive jackpotwinnings, but the odds always give the casino an edge over theplayers.
Gamblerslove progressive jackpots because if they win, they win big. The sizeof the jackpot can quickly escalate from hundreds to thousands.Players risk their losses by feeding the slot for a chance to hit theprogressive jackpot.
Progressivejackpot machines usually don’t pay out jackpot winnings frequently,because the casino presets the increments. The machine needs to beplayed for a while. The odds of winning faster pay-outs are onprogressive machines are not as good as on regular slot machines.
How Progressive Machines Work
Asalready mentioned, progressive machines are distinct from other slotsbecause their jackpots increase with every bet. The idea behind isquite simple: a small percentage of every bet feeds the pool of cashuntil one player hits the winning combination, which sets off thejackpot pay-out. Logically, the highest jackpots are won on gamesthat have the most top wagers and the most players.
Whena player hits the progressive jackpot, a few things happen. First,the machine locks up, lights flash on and off, and the player isinstructed to call an attendant. The machine then sends an electronicsignal to the control to notify the casino about the win.
Mostof the progressive jackpot winnings are huge. They range from $10,000to $1,000,000. Before the winnings are paid, the casino has to sendsomeone to verify that the machine was operating well when the playerhit the jackpot. The casino must confirm that the win is genuine.
Theplayer who hits the jackpot can either be paid in cash or check. Whenthe winnings are more significant, the pay-outs could be split. Anamount could be paid by check on the day of winning, then the playercan set time, say 60-90 days when they can collect the rest of thejackpot or an annual annuity.
Hereare a few interesting things that you might need to consider beforeinvesting in a progressive jackpot;
- Qualifying- this is one of the most important things that a player needs to learn. This is because not every wager on a progressive machine leads to winning an attractive pay-out.
- Jackpot Meter- the jackpot meter is another essential aspect of progressive machines. When the jackpot has been won, the amount of the highest pay-out resets and goes back to the lowest level from which it started.
- Odds and Expected Return- the odds of hitting the jackpot on a progressive slot are usually very thin, sometimes smaller than winning the lottery. If you remove the jackpot from the calculation, the house edge becomes different.
Who Pays Out the Jackpots?
Smallerpay-outs are paid by the casinos or I-casinos (online casinos). Theseinclude the lower level jackpots.
Inbigger prize pay-outs, the software company is involved, primarilywhen the linked progressives are hosted in multiple locations.
The Biggest Progressive Jackpots in History
Thehighest progressive jackpot ever recoded is $39.7 million. It was wonin the Excalibur Casino, Las Vegas, on one of the most famous slotgames, IGT’s Megabucks. For a very long time, Megabucks was onlyavailable on physical slot machines across many gambling facilitiesaround the globe. This was until recently when IGT added it to aportfolio of online games. Online slots are however, yet to hit suchhigh pay-outs, but they are rapidly gaining popularity and makingpay-outs to more and more players.
Forexample, Mega Moolah is known for the big pay-outs it regularly givesto players across the world. The game is commonly referred to as “TheMillionaire Maker.” In 2015, a British army soldier, J. Heywood,won £13,213,838.68, by placing £0.25 bets on Betway. CanadianMarcus Goodwin won CA$11,633,898 in 2016. A Maori man in New Zealandtook home NZ$10,144,395.82 a few months before that.
Anotherremarkable pay-out was of €17,861,813 unexpectedly won by ananonymous Finnish man in January 2013 at Paf Casino. The man got theright combination while playing NetEnt’s Mega Fortune. In 2011, aNorwegian student who was trying his luck with free spins won€11,736,228, while playing the same game.
Inmobile jackpots, the highest pay-outs have been at Microgaming’sMega Moolah. On August 28, 2016, a woman hit a jackpot of€7,968,311.26. She was playing the game on her mobile phone. It wasthe most prominent mobile win ever recorded until less than a yearlater in April 2017. A mobile player at Tipico Casino won€8,012,153.35
Conclusion
What Happens If You Hit A Slot Machine Jackpots
Progressivejackpots are very popular as they provide stunning pay-outs. They arepay-outs on gambling machines, like slots and poker machines. Theyare usually marked out in casinos so that players are aware.
Thenumber of progressive machines in casinos are not many. The jackpotswinnings also don’t happen as often because the house sets theincrements. The odds of scooping the progressive jackpot are minimalcompared to other games such as lotteries.
Thecasino pays smaller progressive jackpots while the software companypays larger ones.