{"id":6780,"date":"2014-01-06T16:09:29","date_gmt":"2014-01-06T16:09:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/2014\/01\/06\/how-2-video-poker-players-hit-casinos-for-500000-plus\/"},"modified":"2014-01-06T16:09:29","modified_gmt":"2014-01-06T16:09:29","slug":"how-2-video-poker-players-hit-casinos-for-500000-plus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/2014\/01\/06\/how-2-video-poker-players-hit-casinos-for-500000-plus\/","title":{"rendered":"How 2 video-poker players hit casinos for $500,000-plus"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n\tAndre Nestor, formerly of Swissvale, was charged in federal court with computer fraud and wire fraud after winning more than $400,000 playing video poker at The Meadows and in Las Vegas in 2009.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\tBy Mark Gruetze
\n\tPittsburgh Tribune-Review <\/p>\n

\tPublished: Sunday, Jan. 5, 2014, 9:00 p.m.<\/p>\n

\tFederal prosecutors have dropped the last charges against two video-poker players accused of pirating more than a half-million dollars from casinos in Washington County and Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

\tAndre Nestor, 42, formerly of Swissvale, and John Kane of Las Vegas had been accused of wire fraud and computer fraud for using a series of maneuvers to collect payouts on select video-poker machines in 2009. The wire-fraud counts were dismissed Nov. 25 in Nevada; the computer-fraud counts were dismissed in July.<\/p>\n

\tThe case, which officials on both sides called the first of its kind, attracted attention because of the amount of money involved and because the two apparently were able to fool a machine developed by one of the world’s foremost slot makers. Some people said the case tested the bounds of what is considered cheating, saying the two defendants merely took advantage of a programming weakness.<\/p>\n

\tKane and Nestor apparently found a way to fool the machine into making inflated payoffs for hands they previously won.<\/p>\n

\tThe dismissal of charges is \u201cdisappointing,\u201d says Sean Sullivan, president and general manager of the Meadows Casino in Washington County, where Nestor was accused of taking almost $480,000 in May and June 2009. \u201cMy opinion is that there was wrongdoing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tNestor and Kane couldn’t be reached for comment. Assistant Federal Public Defender Shari Kaufman, who represented Nestor, noted that they were not accused of cheating a casino.<\/p>\n

\tDetails of what the two did have not been reported. However, a defense motion in U.S. District Court in Nevada spells out how they allegedly took advantage of a \u201cglitch\u201d in the machines. An investigator in Pennsylvania told Player’s Advantage the description is accurate.<\/p>\n

\tHere’s how it worked:<\/p>\n

\tThe two would seek a specific model of IGT machine that offered several types of video poker. They’d ask a slot attendant to enable the \u201cdouble up\u201d feature, which gives a player an option of trying to double the payout after a winning hand.<\/p>\n

\tAlthough the double-up feature was activated, they wouldn’t use it as intended. They would play video poker until winning a hand, then switch to a different poker game on the machine. They would play the second game until winning another hand.<\/p>\n

\tThen, the motion says, they would put more money or a cash voucher into the machine, exit the game they were playing and raise the value of their bets \u2014 for example, going from $1 to $20.<\/p>\n

\tThey would return to the first game. The motion says the machine \u201cre-evaluated\u201d the winning hand at the higher denomination, and the pair would cash out.<\/p>\n

\tVideo-poker players usually bet five credits per hand and get paid according to the strength of their final hand. A flush, a better-than-average holding but far from a jackpot, might pay 25 credits, or $25 for someone playing five $1 credits. If Nestor and Kane fooled the machine into thinking they had bet five $20 credits per hand, the payout would rocket to $500 for a $5 bet.<\/p>\n

\tSullivan says the Meadows was \u201cmade whole\u201d and recovered all of the almost $480,000 he said Nestor got from the casino’s machines. More than 600 local charges against Nestor were dropped in 2011.<\/p>\n

\tMichael Cruz, director of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Lab, says IGT has updated its video-poker line since the Nestor-Kane episode. IGT did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

\tNo one interviewed by Player’s Advantage could say how Nestor and Kane learned the button-pushing sequence.<\/p>\n

\tCruz says his lab, which verifies that each slot machine used in Pennsylvania functions as it should, says it’s impossible for inspectors to anticipate everything that might happen in a casino.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cJust like with any computer system, some flaws or bugs are not evident until they’re out in the public,\u201d he says. \u201cThink of your Windows operating system. How many times do you get updates on that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\tDespite the dismissal of charges, Nestor is unlikely to play video poker in Pennsylvania again. In January 2010, state regulators barred him from Pennsylvania casinos because of the charges.<\/p>\n

\tMark Gruetze is administrative editor for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7838 or players@tribweb.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Replies:<\/h3>\n
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Posted by:<\/strong> TommyC on January 8, 2014, 1:44 am<\/p>\n

There last time I played the double up feature there was only 1 game on the machine. \ud83d\ude42<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Posted by:<\/strong> Finisher on January 10, 2014, 1:38 am<\/p>\n

Is it normal for players to ask for the machine to be enabled like they did ? That should have been a RED flag.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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