They then had operatives in casinos that had these older-model games to use their phones to record and transmit video of spins back to St. Petersburg. When the St. Petersburg team had enough information - about two dozen spins would do - they would use the algorithm to calculate when a big winning spin would come.

The operative then would receive a message to play. The phone would buzz and the player would hit the button. A quarter-second delay was built into the timing of the message because tests had shown it would take that long after feeling the buzz for the player to hit the button.

Four operatives who worked the scam in Missouri and Illinois were arrested on federal charges of conspiracy to commit fraud.

Slot manufacturers are extremely security conscious in designing their games. No doubt steps will be taken to make it even more difficult to crack the code, but in the absence of pure randomness, a team of clever engineers who have access to the machines can be tough to stop.

A. The above is an excerpt from a much longer email in which the player also describes a payout error on an electronic baccarat game. It came in response to a column I wrote several weeks ago in which a player thought there was a payoff mistake on a fully automated blackjack table.

Payoff mistakes at such games are rare, just as they are on slots or video poker games, but that doesn't mean there can't be glitches. If you think a game has taken your money on a hand, roll or spin you've won, hit the call button to signal an attendant immediately before making another bet.

On a multiplayer electronic game, the others aren't going to stop to wait for an attendant to settle your dispute. The game is going to move on. Make a note - whether with pen or paper or on your phone - of the exact time you made the bet, the size of the bet and the outcome of the play, whether that consists of your hand and the dealer's, the roll of the dice or the spin of the wheel.

You may never encounter a payoff mistake. I never have. But if you do and want to raise the dispute, take the necessary steps to make it easier to track down and verify the outcome.

A. You might have a couple of different things at work here. One is that the specific suggestion you made, 2-1 pays on blackjacks, gives basic strategy players an edge without counting cards. In the 1990s, the Alton Belle casino in Illinois publicized 2-1 blackjacks and found its tables filled with advantage players making max bets. They ended the promotion quickly, but a few years later tried it again with the same result.

In some circles, casino managers learn that story as a cautionary tale.

The other factor is that, yes, blackjack players are pretty low on the totem pole. Attracting slot play is always a casino priority. Tougher table rules with even six-deck games having dealers hit soft 17 - not to mention the abomination of 6-5 pays on blackjacks - tell me casinos aren't much interested in attracting educated blackjack players.