I wouldn’t actually do this, but for some reason I’m just fascinated with these unbelievably simple methods of circumventing the system. Just like the How to Pick a Padlock, this method of using a coin operated washing machine for free is so simple it makes you wonder how they would ever collect any money in these machines!
A plain metal washer, if of the correct size and weight, may be accepted as a coin by a vending machine
- Jun 11, 2019 Just an editorial on slot machines. I was in Las Vegas about a year ago and was disappointed that they took paper money and paid out by printing a slip of paper to take to the cashier to cash. About 10 years ago I remember feeding coins into the slot machine and having it dump out coins for the winning pulls.
- Most machines no longer spit out coins. If you're looking for a coin tray, you may be looking for a while. New machines use the TITO system ticket in, ticket out. Some casinos have reverted back to coin usage in the high limit areas, as it takes less time to play coins that it does to insert paper.
A slug is a counterfeit coin that is used to make illegal purchases from a coin-operated device, such as a vending machine, payphone, parking meter, transit farebox, copy machine, coin laundry, gaming machine, or arcade game.[1] By resembling various features of a genuine coin, including the weight, size, and shape, a slug is designed to trick the machine into accepting it as a real coin.
Though slug usage is a violation of the law,[2] prosecution for slug usage is rare due to the low value of the theft and the difficulty in identifying the offender. Offenders in casinos are most likely to be prosecuted,[example needed] as casinos have high levels of video surveillance and other security measures, and are more proactive in enforcement.[citation needed]
Losses caused to vendors by slug usage may be the result of the loss of sales, the absence of revenue following the distribution of merchandise that was obtained at the vendor's expense, or the loss of cash that is distributed by the machine for overpayment with slugs. Honest customers may also suffer losses when change returned for overpayment is in the form of a slug rather than a genuine coin.
Use of other currencies[edit]
The 1000 Indonesian Rupiah coin, minted between 1993 and 2000, is very similar to the 2 Euro coin, while having approximately 1/30th the value.
Free Coin Slots
In some cases, a slug can be a genuine coin used in another country, with or without knowledge of the user. One example was the interchangeable use of Australian and New Zealand 5c, 10c and 20c pieces in both countries, from 1967 until 2006 (when New Zealand coins were redesigned). These coins were of the same material and size with near identical obverses, so could circulate outside their home country for some time, although the New Zealand coins were worth about 20% less, potentially resulting in a small gain (to those passing them) in Australia and a similar loss in New Zealand.
The Canadian quarter was also accepted by at least some US vending machines interchangeably with the US quarter until at least 2001. The usefulness of this to offenders varied greatly over time; during the 1970s and 1980s, the Canadian and US quarters were very similar in value.
The 10 Syrian pound coin is often used as a slug in Norway, as the shape and weight of this coin strongly resembles the 20 Norwegian krone coin. As of February 1, 2014, ten Syrian pounds converts to 44 øre (0.44 kroner). 20 kroner is over 45.4 times the value of the Syrian coin. While not easy to find in Norway, the Syrian coins are still used in automated machines there with such frequency that Posten Norge, the Norwegian postal service, decided to close many of their coins-to-cash machines on February 18, 2006, with plans to develop a system able to differentiate between the two coins. In the summer of 2005, a Norwegian man was sentenced to 30 days, suspended, for having used Syrian coins in arcade machines in the municipality of Bærum.[3]
In the UK, during the late 1990s some coin-operated slot machines would accept two Austrian schillings glued together as if they were a £1 coin. The two original coins had a net value of under 10p at the then-current exchange rate. Coin detectors were soon reprogrammed to detect and reject the Austrian Schilling. Not long after it was possible to buy on the Internet a bag of 100 washers for under £20 that had been deliberately made to fool the machines into accepting them as £1 coins. Coin detectors were again reprogrammed to reject those slugs as well.
Coin Slot Machines
The Irish pound coin in use from 1990 to 2002 was the same size as the old pre-decimal penny, so vending machines had to be modified to differentiate them. Many machines simply had the pound slot disabled with a riveted plate.
Many coin-operated machines in Germany would accept the 1992, 1993 and 1995 stampings of the cupronickel Estonian 1 kroon coin as a German 1 mark coin. This was profitable for users of the Estonian coins as the kroon was pegged to the mark at a fixed rate of 8:1. All cupronickel 1 kroon coins were demonetized in May 1998 and the replacement aluminium-bronze Estonian 1 kroon coin was not interchangeable with the German mark in coin-operated machines.
The use of 100-won coins for the slug of 100-yen coins and cupronickel 20-sen (RM 0.20) pieces still commonly occurs, contributing to the continued conflict between Japanese and Korean citizens.[4] Similarly, until 2000, the Korean 500-won coin could be modified to match the weight of the original 500-yen coin which was otherwise identical in diameter and composition, and thereby used to fool weight-sensitive vending machines.[5][6]
From the fall of the Soviet Union to the monetary reform in 1998, the Russian Federation often issued a commemorative one-ruble coin that was identical in size and weight to a 5 Swiss franc coin. For this reason, there have been several instances of these (now worthless) ruble coins being used on a large scale to defraud automated vending machines in Switzerland.[7]
In the US, Connecticut Turnpike tokens had a value of 17.5 cents in the early 1980s, but due to having a similar design as New York City subway tokens worth 75 cents it became common for commuters to use the Turnpike tokens on the subway. The matter went unresolved for three years; users were not prosecuted, but when Connecticut discontinued tolls on the Turnpike, they agreed to redeem the roughly two million tokens from the MTA at face value.
In 1988, Thailand started minting a bimetallicten baht coin that is quite similar to the 2 Euro coin (first issue in 2002) in weight, size and appearance. Because it is worth substantially less, it has been used to fool cashiers and automated vending machines since the very first days of the 2 Euro coin circulation.[8][9]
Composition comparison[edit]
Slugs are usually made from metals differing from those of real coins. While genuine coins in the United States currency are made from various alloys of copper, nickel, and zinc, Canadian coins are made mostly from steel with some copper and nickel, and euro coins are made from steel, nickel, and brass, slugs are frequently made from differing metals and alloys that are cheaper to obtain and mold, such as aluminum, tin, and lead.
Slugs may or may not have the face details of real coins. Some slugs that are made to match the face details may not be immediately recognizable as such to handlers, and may enter circulation.
Older, cheaper, and other low-tech machines that have fewer security measures are more likely to be defrauded by slug users. As an example, the full-mechanical mechanisms still used today in candy machines can be fooled by a cardboard coin. Many newer machines, especially those found in casinos, have additional detection that can identify more details of coins and detect those that do not resemble real coins.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^'Indiana Code Title 35. Criminal Law and Procedure §IC 35-43-5'(PDF). in.gov. Indiana General Assembly. Archived from the original(PDF) on July 21, 2008.
- ^'8 U.S.C. § 486 – Uttering Coins of Gold, Silver or Other Metal: 'Whoever, except as authorized by law, makes or utters or passes, or attempts to utter or pass, any coins of gold or silver or other metal, or alloys of metals, intended for use as current money, whether in the resemblance of coins of the United States or of foreign countries, or of original design, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.' Note that 18 U.S.C. § 491 also addresses the creation of coins, but this particular code section prohibits the creation of coins or the use of similar metal objects for the purpose of inserting into parking meters, vending machines, and similar venues'. communitycurencies.org. U.S.C. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
- ^Andersen, Øystein (February 18, 2006). 'Myntsvindlere herjer i Oslo'. Dagbladet (in Norwegian). DB Medialab AS. Retrieved March 8, 2008.
- ^박상은 기자 [Park Sang Eun] (August 11, 2015). ''100엔 대신 100원 넣는 한국인 조심해요' 日 트윗 확산' ['Watch out for Koreans putting 100 won instead of 100 yen']. 국민일보 [Kukmin Ilbo] (in Korean). Retrieved July 13, 2017.
- ^The Contemporary 'Won' Coins of the Republic of Korea (1966 - Present) Dokdo Research (dokdo-research.com). Retrieved on 2017-05-05.
- ^Metropolis [Tokyo] Money Talks: Short Changed
- ^'Mit alten Rubelmünzen Automaten am Zürcher HB geplündert' (in German). Swissinfo. 15 November 2006. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007.
- ^admin. 'Europe has been talking about the 10 baht/2 Euro problem for some time | 2Bangkok.com'. 2bangkok.com. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
- ^'Euro-Bargeld: Thai-Münzen überlisten Automaten'. Spiegel Online. 2001-11-26. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Slug_(coin)&oldid=925338952'
Remember the movie National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation, when gambling fever consumes Chevy Chase’s character, Clark W. Griswold? He goes on a losing streak to beat all losing streaks while his son, Rusty, wins four cars by playing the slot machines. Maybe Clark would have done better if he had read Probability For Dummies! In this article, you discover the basic ideas behind slot machines and how they work, so that you can get past the myths and develop a strategy based on sound probability.
Understanding average payout
When casinos advertise that their slot machines pay out an average of 90 percent, the fine print they don’t want you to read says that you lose 10 cents from each dollar you put into the machines in the long term. (In probability terms, this advertisement means that your expected winnings are minus 10 cents on every dollar you spend every time the money goes through the machines.)
Suppose you start with $100 and bet a dollar at a time, for example. After inserting all $100 into the slot, 100 pulls later you’ll end up on average with $90, because you lose 10 percent of your money. If you run the $90 back through the machine, you’ll end up with 90 percent of it back, which is 0.90 x 90 = $81. If you run that amount through in 81 pulls, you’ll have $72.90 afterward (0.90 x 81 = 72.90). If you keep going for 44 rounds, on average, the money will be gone, unless you have the luck of Rusty Griswold!
How many pulls on the machine does your $100 give you at this rate? Each time you have less money to run through the machine, so you have fewer pulls left. If you insert $1 at a time, you can expect 972 total pulls in the long term with these average payouts (that’s the total pulls in 44 rounds). But keep in mind that casinos are designing slot machines to go faster and faster between spins. Some are even doing away with the handles and tokens by using digital readouts on gaming cards that you put into the machines. The faster machines can play up to 25 spins per hour, and 972 spins divided by 25 spins per minute is 38.88 minutes. You don’t have a very long time to enjoy your $100 before it’s gone!
The worst part? Casinos often advertise that their “average payouts” are even as high as 95 percent. But beware: That number applies only to certain machines, and the casinos don’t rush to tell you which ones. You really need to read or ask about the fine print before playing. You can also try to check the information on the machine to see if it lists its payouts. (Don’t expect this information to be front and center.)
Implementing a simple strategy for slots
Advice varies regarding whether you should play nickel, quarter, or dollar slot machines and whether you should max out the number of coins you bet or not (you usually get to choose between one and five coins to bet on a standard slot machine). In this section, you’ll find a few tips for getting the most bang for your buck (or nickel) when playing slot machines.
Basically, when it comes to slot machines, strategy boils down to this: Know the rules, your probability of winning, and the expected payouts; dispel any myths; and quit while you’re ahead. If you win $100, cash out $50 and play with the rest, for example. After you lose a certain amount (determined by you in advance), don’t hesitate to quit. Go to the all-you-can-eat buffet and try your luck with the casino food; odds are it’s pretty good!
Choosing among nickel, quarter, and dollar machines
The machines that have the higher denominations usually give the best payouts. So, between the nickel and quarter slots, for example, the quarter slots generally give better payouts. However, you run the risk of getting in way over your head in a hurry, so don’t bet more than you can afford to lose. The bottom line: Always choose a level that you have fun playing at and that allows you to play for your full set time limit.
Deciding how many coins to play at a time
When deciding on the number of coins you should play per spin, keep in mind that more is sometimes better. If the slot machine gives you more than two times the payout when you put in two times the number of coins, for example, you should max it out instead of playing single coins because you increase your chances of winning a bigger pot, and the expected value is higher. If the machine just gives you k times the payout for k coins, it doesn’t matter if you use the maximum number of coins. You may as well play one at a time until you can make some money and leave so your money lasts a little longer.
For example, say a quarter machine pays 10 credits for the outcome 777 when you play only a single quarter, but if you play two quarters, it gives you 25 credits for the same outcome. And if you play the maximum number of quarters (say, four), a 777 results in 1,000 credits. You can see that playing four quarters at a time gives you a better chance of winning a bigger pot in the long run (if you win, that is) compared to playing a single quarter at a time for four consecutive tries.
The latest slot machine sweeping the nation is the so-called “penny slot machine.” Although it professes to require only a penny for a spin, you get this rate only if you want to bet one penny at a time. The machines entice you to bet way more than one penny at a time; in fact, on some machines, you can bet more than 1,000 coins (called lines) on each spin — $10 a shot here, folks. Because these machines take any denomination of paper bill, as well as credit cards, your money can go faster on penny machines than on dollar machines because you can quickly lose track of your spendings. Pinching pennies may not be worth it after all!