[Zeke]

Depends. I worked in LV for a short year and met some guys that had day jobs but gambled for profit at night and on weekends. First thing they would do is find one of those slot machine carousels with a change girl in the ring. They'd hand her a 20 when they first got there and she'd direct them from that point on as long as they 'tithed' the winnings at about 10%.

These guys were not inexperienced. They told me of regular trips to Reno when they were in their 20's (that would put the date in the 70's) where they stopped at every little corner business that had slots. While one distracted a clerk or employee within viewing distance the other would use a "dangler," a quarter tied to a thin wire to continuously trip the machine for another pull. As soon as they made a payout they would quietly book out of there. Some pots were pretty good and some were a few bucks. But they never lost so it adds up.

The machines got smarter and game over. These out-of-the-way businesses usually had older slots. The casino slots went digital at the same time games like Atari cane out. And the coin receivers were much improved.

One way to get your ass kicked real good is to try some siht in a casino. So they just 'bought' the info on hot slots. They're out there.

I believe NV gaming laws prevent slots to be linked in a network which is easily possible. But manual adjustments are legal. I was once in a casino in the morning just before a "slot tournament" and they began to rope off a section of slots. Next in was a tech who opened each machine and changed out the EPROM. This was in '94.