How to Cheat Pokies: Tricks To Try in 2025

Cheating in online pokies may appear tempting, with the chance to win large jackpots in pursuit of easy money. Even a single spin can bring significant financial rewards. But modern digital systems leave nothing to chance when it comes to providing a fair and secure online pokies playing experience. In this article, I’ll explain why old online pokies hacks no longer work and share new pokies cheating techniques I’ve gathered.

Legal Implications

It’s a serious criminal offence to cheat in real money online pokies in Australia. In fact, according to the Casino Control Act 2006, you can receive a punishment of up to five years in prison. The maximum penalty is only handed down for cheating violations when significant sums of money are involved.

The Unlawful Gambling Act 1998, which can lead to two years’ worth of prison time. Again, the sentence length varies based on whether the person has repeatedly offended, the methods used for the pokies hack, and the amount of money stolen.

Each part of Australia has its own legislation that determines what penalties and fines you’ll face. I think it’s a good idea to read up on the local laws of the location where you are playing pokies.

Common Mechanical Cheating Methods

Let’s consider the most common cheating methods used on physical machines. These strategies are ineffective today, but provide fascinating context:

• Shaved coins: This method of pokie hack involves filing down the edge of coins to reduce the width. It means that cheaters were able to evade optical sensors on outdated pokie machines. The shaved coins were returned in the payout, thereby giving the player free credits.
• Fake Coins: Some cheaters created imitations of Australian coins by matching the weight and dimensions. Players were able to play for free without putting in real money. Counterfeiting coins or creating imitations is illegal in the first place, so I feel that this is one of the more serious offences on this list.
• Yo-Yo Strings: As the name suggests, the cheaters with this method would yank the coin out of the machine after it’s registered by the laser. It’s possible because the cheater will attach a string to an authentic coin. Overall, it was one of the more common strategies in the 90s. That’s because no special equipment was required. All you needed was a string and a coin to get the job done.
• Piano Wire: Cheaters could jam the reel-clutch mechanisms with a piano wire. The idea was to stop the rotation of the reels on winning combinations. In my opinion, this is one of the more effective strategies, since it bypasses the time taken to get a lucky combination.
• Top-Bommo Joint: Popularised in the United States, the Top-Bommo Joint is a pokies cheating method that caught on fast in Australia. It worked by using a thin metal tool to jam the upper and lower mechanism junctures to the internal levers. This meant that jackpots were triggered with relative ease. The Australian regulatory bodies quickly caught on to the pokies cheat and made sure casinos were protected.
• Monkey Paw: This device is crafted from guitar wire or steel spring, and can snake its way down the coin chute. It means that it was possible to dupe coins as “winnings” without crediting bets. Modern surveillance and opaque trays were able to outlaw the Monkey Paw cheating method.

Electronic Device Hacks

Now let’s turn our attention to the various hacks used on pokie machines in Australia. These often involved specialised tools and precise timing. Here are the most popular methods:

• Light Wand: Tommy Glenn Carmicheal developed the Light Wand technique back in the 90s. The trick includes exploiting optical sensors in the coin-counting chute itself. The machines don’t count the payouts correctly. In practice, you’ll need to shine an intense bulb into the payout pokies. It leads to an unlimited number of free credits. Modern security methods fixed pokies tricks like these, so don’t bother trying them yourself.
• Magnet Use: At the height of pokies cheating scandals, it was possible to use magnet hacks on exploited mechanical reel stops. That’s because you could apply a strong magnetic field from the outside to slow down the reels. Hence, you could control the outcome of the reels. Consequently, manufacturers phased out magnets and began to use plastic or digital reels. The method is ineffective against modern Australian pokies machines that use software-based systems.
• Bill Validator Devices: Pokies hack in Australia used this method to bypass security features like UV marks and magnetic ink. They used counterfeit or manipulated bills with bill validator devices. These would read and retransmit validator signals to fool validation routines. It meant that machines were tricked into registering banknotes at a higher denomination than their actual value. Most pokie machines in Australia now use multi-factor detection, so this method doesn’t work.

Digital Hacking Techniques

There’s a higher level of sophistication with digital hacking techniques. Here are some of the more popular ones:

• Computer Chip Replacement: It was possible to swap or reprogram the computer chips within pokies machines. The idea was to change the payout tables, elevate odds, and trigger jackpots. The hardware hack involves opening sealed cabinets and tinkering with the hardware. Nowadays, this practice is not possible because of tamper-evident seals and encrypted firmware.
• Software glitches: Exploiting undocumented software bugs triggers repeated wins. Cheaters are used to perform specific sequences of button presses or state changes. A top example is when John Kane’s Game King bug recalled previous winning hands to release bigger payouts.
• Cheat codes: It was possible to enter a cheat code for pokies, thereby granting the ability to change payout percentages. The cheat codes were meant for developers. Unfortunately, they got into the wrong hands and were used to extract money from machines unfairly.

Can You Cheat at Online Pokies?

Online pokies run on server-based RNG systems, which is the key difference from physical casinos. The connection between the server and the player’s local machine is encrypted. Hence, you can’t alter the payout tables, use free credits, or run other tricks to win pokies games.

Server-Side Security and RNG Systems

Online casinos make use of cryptographically secure RNGs. Hence, every spin is unpredictable and unalterable after you hit the “spin” button. Additionally, third-party regulatory agencies make sure online pokies adhere to the return-to-player percentages. I have read the fine print myself and am impressed by the regular security checks.

Can Scripts or Bots Work?

Yes, scripts and bots can perform actions when they are run locally on your machine. However, they do not access the server’s RNG or game logic. It means you can’t use this method to win.

Myths vs. Reality of Online Cheating

There are several myths floating around the internet regarding pokies tips and tricks. Some of the more popular ones are manipulating the audio/video, VPNs, and adjusting the system time. I have also found people talking about cheat codes and hidden developer back doors.

Famous Pokie Hackers and Real Cases

There are a few infamous cases of pokie machine hacks. I’ll share some of the more interesting ones below:

• Tommy Glenn Carmichael: The top-bottom joint-to-jam coin mechanics was popularised by Tommy Glenn Carmichael. It allowed him to win over $2 million from United States and Caribbean casinos. His run ended when he was arrested three times and convicted of pokie machine fraud.
• Louis “The Coin” Colavecchio: The fake coin operation used hardened steel dies to fabricate thousands of undetectable tokens. Until Louis was arrested. He was involved in casino fraud from the 1980s until 1996 in Atlantic City and Connecticut.
• Billy-Joe and Uncle Fuzz: the note validator device used by this pair yielded substantial winnings by tricking pokies machines into crediting higher denominations. Consequently, their scams spurred casinos into action by adopting advanced optical and infrared bill validation.

Pokies Cheating is a Thing of the Past

Cheating in pokies was big business when the detection systems were not so advanced. Now, you can’t get away with offline and online pokie hacks, cheat codes, and scams. You will get caught as those loopholes no longer exist.

Instead, you can take advantage of the massive welcome bonuses that online pokies websites provide. These give you free spins, bonus money, and more, especially when you choose high paying pokies with above-average RTP.