First of two parts
LAS VEGAS -- Dennis Nikrasch has been tried, convicted, and sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in Nevada state prison. Still, no one really knows how he stole that US$6 million.
What is generally agreed on, though, is that Nikrasch, 57, is one of the greatest slot-machine cheats in history -- and the most technologically adept.
See part two, Casinos Fight Back with Tech- - - - - -
"Nikrasch," said Keith Copher, chief of enforcement for Nevada's Gaming Control Board, "is the most sophisticated cheat we've seen."
Nikrasch started out in the 1970s, rigging mechanical-reel slots. His skills, however, have kept pace with the times. Last fall, a months-long FBI investigation nailed him and several confederates for scamming millions in cars and cash by cracking the silicon chips that control today's computer-based slot machines.
Nikrasch is only one of a growing number of hustlers using advanced technology to rip off casinos. In belated response, the gambling industry is just beginning to deploy state-of-the-art security technology.
The stakes of this technological race are mounting rapidly, as the multibillion-dollar gambling industry spreads across the country. Slot cheating alone is estimated to cost casinos some $40 million a year.
The equipment is easy to come by. You can buy an astonishing array of devices to help you cheat at slots or cards at the Hackers Home Page, for instance.
Counting cards is not illegal; using a device to help you do it, however, is a felony. That hasn't deterred a generation of grifters from putting the ultimate counting devices -- computers -- to work for them.
