LAS VEGAS -- With slot machine cheats ripping off Nevada casinos for an estimated $40 million a year, gambling regulators hope the master of the game can shed some light on how it's done before he returns to prison.
Dennis Nikrasch, the state's premier slot cheat, has raked in $16 million over the past 22 years. He's headed back to federal prison for the second time. The length of his stay could depend on how much he tells state and federal authorities."He had the most sophisticated system we've ever seen," said Keith Copher, chief of enforcement for the Nevada Gaming Control Board. "We don't know that he's passed it along, and if he has, he'd better tell us."
Nikrasch, 57, and three companions were arrested in June. A federal prosecutor said Nikrasch was working on how to snare a $17 million Megabucks jackpot.
A dozen people from the Phoenix area may also be prosecuted for helping Nikrasch rip off six Las Vegas casinos during the past two years.
Nikrasch was convicted in 1986 of scamming $10 million from Las Vegas casinos by rigging slot machines between 1976 and 1979. He was paroled in 1991, only to return to his lucrative trade five years later.
Nikrasch cut a deal Tuesday to tell his secrets to state and federal authorities in hopes of reduced prison time. He pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy, interstate travel in aid of racketeering, money laundering and interstate transportation of stolen property.
Sentencing is set for March 5.
In the 1970s, Nikrasch and other cheats dealt with slot machines that featured mechanical reels. Nikrasch adopted more sophisticated methods as the machines entered the computer age, meaning he could use a computer-generated device that allowed him to beat the machines in just minutes, court documents said.