How to ‘Cheat’ at Pokies!

If you get enough practice, and have enough skill, there are ways that you can almost ‘cheat’ at some table games. Past posting , hand mucking, collusion with other players or with the dealer … if a real-life casino catches you, your winnings will be forfeit. However, not many people consider cheating at pokies! All the real ways to cheat at pokies involve quite a lot of organisation and the very real risk of jail time. But, just as with card counting, is there a way to use skills you’ve developed at online pokies, and a good memory, to turn the house advantage in your favour? We investigate!

Pub Pokies Thieves

One of the most famous slot machine defrauders was Tommy Glen Carmichael, who used tools called ‘top-bottom joints’, ‘kick stands’ ‘monkey paws’ and ‘light wands’ to cheat slot machines during the 1960s, 70s and 80s. However, in Tommy Glen Carmichael’s first real ‘win’ in cheating at slot machines, he got $35 in nickels from a machine … the police chased him up not long after, and he was sentenced to 5 years in prison. For $35! He made a slew of other tools after this win, but was essentially stealing from the machine, not playing to win. So, we definitely don’t recommend these tactics.

Hacking Online Slot Machines

Of course, in this computer age, if a 12 year old can hack into the CIA database, there are certainly people who could hack online casinos. However in Australia, where our legal system is incredibly cooperative with those of other countries, you may be looking at even more devastating sentences for hacking online pokies than for stealing from physical slot machines.

Legally Getting the Advantage with Online Pokies

So, while there is no legally and morally acceptable way to cheat at the pokies, there are plenty of little tricks and techniques you’ll develop as you go. If you want a shortcut to expertise in online pokies, though, make sure that you:

Play a wide variety of games: Every online pokies game has one thing in common - they are governed by random number generators. However, each takes a slightly different approach to play. Some may pay out smaller prizes more often, to encourage people to keep playing. This works to the advantage of people who like 50/50 gambles on their online pokies. Others may preferentially pay out the winnings in jackpots, or with bonus features, which suits the play style of different people.

Read the payout schedule: This will help you make the best decision about how many coins to bet at once, whether it will be cost effective to play fewer than the maximum numbers of paylines, etc.

Use your bankroll effectively: Don’t get sucked into playing a machine for longer than you planned to! Decide at the beginning whether you’re going to check out several new online pokie games (and allocate a set amount of cash to each), or to play your favourites, or to play a set number of $1 games and a set number of 10c games. Then stick to the plan, and remain in control of what happens at your online casino.

Are Pay and Take Cycles Real?

In a sense, online pokies and pub pokies do have ‘pay’ and ‘take’ cycles. They occur because pokies have a particular payout percentage. So, if a particular machine spends all of one day taking money, it is likely that the next day it will pay out a little more. HOWEVER! It is critical to remember that every spin is completely random … so those ‘pay’ and ‘take’ cycles may be far longer than you can sit there for! Can you put dollar after dollar into your online pokies game for 24 hours? If not, there is no sense trying to ‘pick cycles’.