The Flashlight That Robbed Las Vegas #animation

“A man sits down at a Las Vegas slot machine, slides a tiny light up the payout chute, and the coins just keep coming. The machine never knows it paid him a thing. True story: in the 1990s Tommy Glenn Carmichael beat slot machines in Las Vegas, Atlantic City and riverboat casinos with a homemade “light wand”, a tiny bulb powered by a camera battery. Shined up the payout chute, it blinded the optical sensor that counts the coins leaving the hopper, so the machine kept paying without knowing it had paid. He had learned how the machines worked by posing as a customer and getting a manufacturer’s engineer to open one for him. On October 4, 1996, security cameras at Circus Circus in Las Vegas watched him, and he dropped his device while trying to get away. The lady at the next machine, the two friends standing like curtains, the security monitor operator and the 1992 scene are dramatized. Sources: Las Vegas Sun (2003), The Seattle Times (2003), The Paris Review (2020). Subscribe for a new true story every day. 3D models (CC BY 4.0, via Sketchfab): “Retro bar stool” by jafar200620; “Metal bucket” by kozlovchik; “Pile of coins” by gnarlypotato; “Simple Roulette Table”, “Low Poly Poker Chips & Cards” by designedbyjonathan; “Casino Poker Table” by npowell; “Flower Pot” by topfrank2013; “[FREE] Livistona Chinensis – Fan Palm” by AllQuad; “Reception desk” by abir_sd; “Train Ticket Machine” by Nader.Kaseb; “Fire Extinguisher” by loichuet1; “Soviet first aid kit (free download)” by goodmushroomstudio; “Curtains” by Starven38; “Hand Truck Cart” by louir-muir; “Flash-Lite Flashlight” by AndrewHunt95; “Life Preserver” by FrodoUndead; “Vintage TV Free” by donnichols; “Low Poly Control Console” by anais.fernandez; “1930s style typewriter – w/o branding” by KWojcik; “Office Phone” by maxdragon; “Soviet Enamel Mug” by dustyrusty; “Simple Vintage Headphones (LP)” by marcinc53; “Desk lamp” by 7ASSAN; “Workbench” by jjchalupnik; “Workshop Tools – Hand-Painted Stylized Pack” by victorbaibakov; “Stylized wooden boxes pack” by M_Michalak; “Used Open Red Paint Can with Paint Brush” by glowbox3d; “Old Hammer (free – photobashed – gameready)” by FrenchBaguette; “Old Radio asset” by Whostea; “AA Batteries” by berzerkey #history #lasvegas #casino”