Tommy Glenn Carmichael was a slots supremo, but not in any legitimate sense of the word. He was in fact quite the pro at figuring out ways to rig slot machines to the players advantage. He did this over a period of decades. His first major slots con was known as the Monkey’s Paw and involved tripping the microswitch using a wire, in order to automatically pay out the jackpot.
Casinos got wise to his ways but he didn’t let this spot him, instead he found new ways to win. He advanced to using a light wand (a camera battery and a small light bulb) to blind the slots sensor and to once again pay out coins. This wasn’t a part time hobby. It’s thought that Carmichael was cashing in to the tune of thousands of dollars per day.
All good things of course must come to an end and in 2001 he was caught in the act by the FBI, serving almost a year in prison as result and banned from visiting casinos.