Cleopatra And The Las Vegas Video Game Glitch
The following is pure speculation, but please humor me before you write off what I have to say.
In the Video Game industry (Nintendo type), there are teams of marketeers, game designers, programmers, graphics artists, all working together to create the next video gaming craze. They work hard at designing and testing a product and finally Quality Control (or whatever it is called) will perform final Beta testing before it is released to the general public.
Immediately on the release of a new game, the gamers out there are hacking and playing the game over and over, tying to find short cuts and tricks and glitches that will speed up reaching the final level of play or "winning", whatever that means. They share this information freely on the Internet forums. Some of these tricks are purposely built into the game and are known to the programmers & designers. Other design deviations are really bugs or glitches that the testers never found and the designers never intended to release. These glitches were not intended to be released with the final game, but were left in the final product, and the knowledge of some of these glitches can actually improve a gamer's play. ( BTW, as anybody in the software industry can tell you, no complicated software is ever 100% fault free! )
My question is this: video games --- the gambling type --- are very similar to these Nintendo type games -- just as complicated -- some of them may have built-in glitches that allow knowledgeable players to improve their odds of winning. Can a knowledgeable player use these glitches to improve his or her chances of winning?
For example, maybe some disgruntled programmer, knowing he is about to be canned, programmed the video poker machine to spit out royal flushes when some combination of buttons are pressed. I think this has actually happened.
There is one game that I will not reveal here, that seems to give the player an edge under certain circumstances. If I have knowledge of this advantage, can the casinos arrest me for cheating? Or like a known blackjack ( 21 ) card counter, ban me from the casino? Are the gaming machines constantly monitored for payouts above the norm? ( Answer: YES! ) Because, I repeat, no complicated software program ( including computer operating systems, ABM systems and your car's computer chips) is 100% fault free.
There is one casino video game that I play ( not the one referred to above ) that seems to have a following of believers in "mind over matter", and that game is "Cleopatra Keno". If the ability of players to control outcomes ( random numbers chosen ) were suspected, would gifted psychics with psychokinesis abilities like Uri Geller be banned from video game play?
It is strange, but I have noticed that "Cleopatra Keno" video games are quietly being removed from many casinos. Why?
The following found in the Las Vegas Trip Reports Forum is typical of the Cleopatra Keno fan(atic) - the game can be very hypnotic and addicting. And this trance like mental state players succumb to would be perfect for controlling the outcomes ( If one really believes that this is possible, and even modern quantum physics is beginning to show that it really is possible!)
"I found a new keno machine I had never played before, Cleopatra Keno. This game is a blast. If the last number hits on a winning hand you get 12 free bonus spins. I must have hit it about 15-20 times in the 2 hours we were there..."
The "Not So Legal" Way To Get An "Advantage" Over The Casino
From The Art Of Intrusion:
( Chapter One: "Hacking The Casinos For A Million Bucks" )
"There were people who had beaten the slot machines by 'replacing the firmware' — getting to the computer chip inside a machine and substituting the programming for a version that would provide much more attractive payoffs than the casino intended. Other teams had done that, but it seemed to require conspiring with a casino employee, and not just any employee but one of the slot machine techies. To Alex and his buddies, 'swapping ROMs would have been like hitting an old lady over the head and taking her purse.' They figured if they were going to try this, it would be as a challenge to their programming skills and their intellects. And besides, they had no advanced talents in social engineering; they were computer guys, lacking any knowledge of how you sidle up to a casino employee and propose that he join you in a little scheme to take some money that doesn’t belong to you..."
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