Tommy Glenn Carmichael is considered one of the greatest slot cheats of all time. An ingenious inventor, he conspired with an elite group of thieves to bilk millions from casinos. For almost 20 years Carmichael designed slot cheat devices that made it possible for him to steal from slot machines across the Caribbean and the United States.

In 1980, Carmichael was sitting inside his Tulsa, Oklahoma TV repair shop when Ray Ming walks in. He was an old friend living in Las Vegas, and he had something to show Carmichael. Ming had a Bally’s slot machine in his car trunk, and a ” top bottom joint”.

Carmichael began his first “operation” with the device, bilking a 5-cent machine at a casino near the Vegas strip, proudly strolling out with $35 in nickels. But Las Vegas had begun replacing the old machines with newer ones, forcing him to the smaller casinos around him. He was caught at one of them and was sentenced to 5 years in jail.

Inside, Carmichael met Mike Balsamo. They agreed to find each other after their release, but when freedom came in 1987, Carmichael found the machines replaced. Bally and International Game Technology had begun rolling out a new high-tech slot and video poker machines, which used microprocessors and random number generator software. Undaunted, Carmichael purchased an IGT Fortune One video poker machine. He invented the monkey paw (slider) made from a guitar wire and spring steel, which he inserted into the machine through the payout chute to trip a switch. This causes the release of coins from the hopper, the bucket holding in the quarters.
By 1991 the slider was useless, owing to the computerization of the machines. Fooling a manufacturer into thinking he’s a customer, Carmichael was shown the inside of the latest slot machine. From there, he learned how to beat it. He bought one and in a few days invented a new device – the light wand.
The wand is built with a camera battery and a miniature bulb, used to shine into the machine and blind a sensor, causing the hopper to pay out coins. It was nearly undetectable, and Carmichael made thousands selling to other cheats.
October 4, 1996, Carmichael was caught with the light wand while escaping from security. He was charged with possession and manufacture of a cheating device, which were later dropped. In 1998 he was arrested of similar offenses in Laughlin, Nevada. The following year in Atlantic City, his luck ran out.
The authorities had tapped his phone and recorded conversations with other cheats using his device. Carmichael, with six others, was charged and pled guilty to running an illegal gambling enterprise, serving 326 days and 3 years’ probation. He lost his two homes and was ordered to stay out of casinos. He was also listed in the Nevada Gaming Commission’s Black Book.

Carmichael is currently tinkering with a supposedly anti-cheating device, the Protector. He claims that his invention will stop all known cheating devices.