Indeed, it is possible and there are several examples of it in the past. The media -mainly news outlets- have repeatedly reported attempts (some successfully) to cheat slot machines with tricks, although the details are not reported. Firstly, because its understanding requires deep technical knowledge on the subject and secondly, to prevent readers from being inspired on the spot and end up copying it.
The myths about slots and the history of manipulation with tricks for slot machines spans the last five or six decades. In fact, the machines have been around for 130 years, although at first the prizes consisted of low-value items such as cigarettes, candy, coupons and the like. The game for money expanded from the second half of the 20th century, when the machines stopped being purely mechanical and began to use reliable electromechanical systems.
At first, a possible fraud or the security levels on a machine were not important issues, since this type of situation occurred rarely. But it didn’t last long until the first players came to the conclusion that there must be at least one way to get the prize money without risk. The simple technique used in those times allowed the corruption of the systems, to manipulate them and benefit from them.
Bar Slots Cheats: The Coin Trick
A method used by many “swindlers” is to fool the sensor of the coins when they are entered into the slot, so that the machine registers a credit despite not having inserted any token. The way to do this is to attach a coin to a sturdy piece of string, thread, or cord and pull it out of the machine, immediately after the entry is registered.
In this category of tricks for bar slots, traps with buttons are also located, since the first slots recorded the weight of a coin to assess its weight, so it was possible to replace it with other objects and obtain high credits in the system, practically free of charge.
Therefore, slot manufacturers were forced to implement methods that prevent this type of operation. The result was a mechanical system that does not allow the reversible movement of the tokens and the introduction of electronic readers for the correct valuation of money.
The device was also used to move continuously until the contents of the vault fell by gravity or were expelled from it. For these reasons, many companies began to increase the security measures present in the different machines, today achieving products that are extremely difficult to trick or manipulate, without the process going unnoticed.