Ask The Slot Expert

I saw a videotape on which a slot expert said there was a laser beam that reads zits in the chips in a slot machine. Is this true?

I think I know the videotape you saw.

This is completely untrue. There is no laser beam in a slot machine to read anything on any of the chips. The data in the chips is read electrically, not mechanically or optically.

A slot machine might have a light beam in it as part of an optical sensor mechanism, however. Optical sensors have two parts: a light source, which projects the beam of light, and the sensor itself. A slot machine might use optical sensors to count the coins coming out of the hopper or the coins you put into the machine. A slot might also use an optical sensor to detect when a door is open. Newer slots use optical sensors because they are more difficult to cheat than mechanical sensors.

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