- Dennis Nick Rash
- Dennis Nikrasch Chicago
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- Dennis Nikrasch Obituary
- Dennis Nick Rash
- Dennis Nicrash
- Masterminds tells real crime stories about amazing deceptions that brilliant criminals use to pull off seemingly impossible crimes. This new half-hour series.
- I covered the federal trial of Dennis Nikrasch when he was convicted in 1986 of scamming $10 million by rigging slot machines so his comrades could win jackpots and give him the lion's share.
When Dennis Nikrasch was born in 1941 his name was Dennis McAndrew, but rumor has it that he took his mother's maiden name of Nikrasch after his parents got divorced. Little is known about his childhood, but many people speculate that he dropped out of school before he hit high school.
What is a reverse tricast bet. Enter the intimidating building on 300 Stewart Avenue and Third, turn left and you'll see displayed a 'Black Book.' Next to the volume is a page on former Nevada mobster Tony 'The Ant' Spilotro. Tony's name was removed from the book only after he died.
For every conman and mobster who dies and is removed from the book, two more are added.
Nevada law says a person can be placed in the book if their presence ina casino presents a 'menace to the concerns of the state, to authorized gaming, or both.'
To determine a person's eligibility for the list, the state's board and gaming commission look at several things including felony sentences, crimes involving moral turpitude and breaches of state gaming regulations.
Most of the entries in Nevada's famous 'Black Book' are run-of-the-mill cons, cheats, and schemers.
A few are worth nothing for their ingenuity if nothing else.
The Tran Group
When the group was finally brought down, the swindlers had swindled over $15 million from casinos across America and Canada.
The California-based group sought the assistance of insiders such as casino dealers and supervisors. In exchange for bribes, the casino workers would perform false shuffles during baccarat games. Before the false shuffles, the swindlers would record the cards' order. With this information, the cons would win numerous hands.
The shysters also made use of computer programs, hidden microphones and transmitters according to the FBI's report filed.
In Vegas, the Tran Organization hit Palace Station and Monte Carlo. By early 2011, over 40 defendants pleaded guilty to cheating casinos.
The 'Cutters.'
A hidden video camera was used along the Pacific Rim by this Malaysian group. The outfit, known as the 'cutters,' would hide a video camera in a jacket sleeve to capture the cards' order. The recording happened during the deck-cutting process and before the cards were shuffled.
The cheat would pull a plastic cut card across the top of the deck, exposing the index corners of the cards permitting the recording.
The group scammed Las Vegas casinos out of over $1 million in January alone.
Dennis Nikrasch
Nikrasch, who has been called the 'mastermind' of the largest slot-cheating scheme in Nevada's history used a simple slot machine key to defeat security.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Nikrasch, and his buddies would make an imprint of a slot machine cabinet key while distracting the machine's repairman. Then would later use the key to open the machine and rig the machine by setting the reels on a winning jackpot combination.
Nikrasch was caught and spent time in prison before using more sophisticated methods to cheat the same machine. All together, Nikrasch garnered over $16 million from his scams and got him entry into Nevada's ‘black book,' a list of people banned for life from the state's casinos.
Card Switching
Robert Ailse and John Dixon used card switching starting in the 1980s. They would sit next to each other and take one card from their hand while placing the other card under the table. They exchanged the cards and slipped the received card under their wager. The obvious goal was to make a hand stronger.
The scheme involved others to act as lookouts or barriers. Both jobs were often filled by cocktail-dress-wearing waitresses too happy to pick up a few extra dollars.
Tommy Carmichael
Carmichael is another con-man who earned a coveted spot in Nevada's black book. The ‘Thomas Edison' of Vegas invented numerous devices to use in cheating slot machines.
One was a light want which would trick slot machines into handing out more points. The 7-inch wand held a battery, magnet, and tiny light and would steal a couple of hundred dollars at a time.
Carmichael was caught and convicted of cheating — twice. Once in Nevada and again in New Jersey.
Dice Sliding in Craps
Here's how the scam works. A shooter tosses the dice in such a way that one die slides down the table without rolling over. The other bounces and shimmies down the table. Since the one dies slides but never turns, the possible dice combinations are trimmed from 36 to 6.
Bettors place bets on those six possible outcomes and go home with the cash. In October Wynn Las Vegas filed a lawsuit in Clark County's District Courtfrom a pair of Argentine gamblers who got used dice sliding to steal almost a million dollars.
Just in case you're wondering. Death is the only way to get your page-of-honor removed from The Black Book.
Best and worst craps bets. About Author
Nick Wooldridge, Esq is a criminal defense attorney practicing in Las Vegas, NV. He has a vast portfolio of successful criminal trials across the U.S. Nick is also a member of the LawGuru Attorney Network.
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Dennis Nikrasch is infamous for creating some of the most
elaborate cheating strategies which he evolved to match the
advancements in slot machine technology. Nikrasch personally won
over fifteen million dollars by orchestrating a group of elite
professional cheats to win various jackpots from slot machines
of which he was able to rig.
The operation seemed to work flawlessly, as his team was able
to move to various casinos across Las Vegas without ever being
detected. However, controversies amongst team members led to the
team's ultimate defeat.
A Broken Past
When Nikrasch used to live in the windy city of Chicago, he
would take advantage of his position as a locksmith to break
into various mansions and storefronts in the area. He was so
skilled at what he did that he could simply look into a keyhole
and replicate the perfect key from memory.
He certainly earned a name for himself and soon the Genovese
crime family recruited his help. They asked him to break into a
plethora of cars, homes, and jewelry stores, which Nikrasch did
successfully for quite some time before ever getting caught.
However, in 1961, he was caught and arrested for attempted
burglary and several accounts of burglary from the past.
Building a Reputation in Las Vegas
When Nikrasch was released after serving ten years in prison,
he moved to Las Vegas and spent his days at the casinos,
realizing quickly he had the necessary tools and skills to
manipulate the slot machines. Nikrasch just had to use his
locksmith keys and magnets to manually make the machines produce
a winning jackpot combination.
He managed to score a couple million dollars before being
exposed in the early 1980s, having to serve another five years
in prison on those accounts. In 1991, he returned to Las Vegas,
taking a job at a local jewelry store. He eventually returned to
the casinos to find that their systems were much more
sophisticated than before.
Back to the Drawing Board
The machines were now controlled by computer chips that
Nikrasch had never seen before, but he was up for the challenge.
Determined to break their systems and realizing he couldn't
accomplish this task on his own, he recruited his old friend
from the mafia, Eugene Bulgarino, an expert when it came to
computer software programs.
Dennis Nick Rash
Bulgarino purchased two slot machines for them to experiment
on and Nikrasch spent many weeks studying the owner's manual and
the blueprint of the machine, hoping to find some loop hole that
could help him beat the system.
He knew where every latch was, what triggers the alarms, and
all the weakest points of the machine. Nikrasch also discovered
that the jackpot payouts are controlled by a computer chip that
was located in the heart of the machine, which was the key to
overcoming the machine.
Nikrasch learned how to overwrite jackpot codes within the
chips and download his own, which he would have to install into
the machine. He had to be very careful during this process, as
the machines were thoroughly checked after jackpot winnings and
if there was any evidence of tampering, the jackpot would be
considered invalid.
After he learned to manipulate the machine, he had to focus
on avoiding security surveillance cameras to make sure he was
out of their direct view, but he got discouraged when he
realized that was ultimately impossible to do on his own.
He needed people to block the camera's view of him while he
tampered with the machine and he needed people on lookout to
make sure security guards weren't nearby. In the end, Nikrasch
had recruited around ten men and women that would help him
orchestrate one of the biggest slot machine scandals yet. 'He
had the most sophisticated system we've ever seen,' said Keith
Copher, head of the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
The Ultimate Slot Cheaters
On July 4th, 1997, Nikrasch's team was ready to try out their
skills at The Harrah's Hotel and Casino. It was very important
that they all walked in at different times, as to not raise
suspicion. When his team members were all in their assigned
positions, Nikrasch casually walked in with the tools he needed
being strategically placed underneath his shirt.
Nikrasch successfully shut the machine down, put it into
standby mode, hacked into the chip, and then entered the winning
jackpot code. Once these steps were complete, another team
member played the machine, instantly winning the jackpot on the
next spin. Their scheme had worked and the team successfully was
able to bring home $3.7 million dollars that night!
They were ecstatic, but unfortunately there was a lot of
controversy around how the funds were distributed. Seventy
percent of the final winnings automatically went to Nikrasch and
the other thirty percent was evenly distributed among the other
nine team members.
Dennis Nikrasch Chicago
Despite the disagreements, the team stuck together and
traveled to several other casinos to execute the same plan.
After months of cheating the system, the team won seven cars in
total and millions more in revenue, but unfortunately jealousy
Wrestlemania 35 main event odds. still was an over-riding factor that couldn't be ignored.
Getting Caught
One woman on the team in particular was so fed up with
Nikrasch that she actually reported him to the police. When the
FBI followed up on the report, everything she had told them
added up to be true. The police wire tapped into Nikrasch's
calls to Bulgarino, but he was careful not to relay any vital
info discerning the scam over the phone.
Dennis Vegas
The FBI eventually put a wire tap in the Bulgarino household
after they discovered that Nikrasch had regular meetings there.
At their next meeting Nikrasch proceeded to tell Bulgarino of
the $17 million jackpot that he was planning to hit, completely
unaware that others were listening.
Dennis Nikrasch Obituary
Later that evening they came to Nikrasch's home and took him
into custody. In his garage, they found two slot machines and a
myriad of other devices he had used to break into the machines,
further helping them build a strong case against him.
Dennis Nick Rash
Nikrasch pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy, interstate
travel in aid of racketeering, money laundering, and interstate
transportation of stolen property. Due to his confession, he
only received an eight year sentence.
Dennis Nicrash
He was finally released in 2004, after serving his entire
term. Sometime during his time in prison, his name had been
added to the Nevada's Gaming Control Board's Blackbook, which
banned him from all casinos for life. Although we don't know
what Nikrasch is up to today, we do know that he isn't up to his
old schemes of cheating slot machines.
