This is a pretty clever poker machine scam, and Australia was probably the right place to do it as poker and casino cheating penalties there are pretty lenient when you get caught. Unfortunately for these two guys, they got caught cheating the poker machines a little quicker than they would have liked!
An Oak Flats man who stole more than $5000 in a statewide poker machine scam narrowly avoided jail during his sentencing in Wollongong Local Court yesterday.
Stevce Gorgijovski, 29, and co-accused Nick Petrovski, 25, of Lake Heights, managed to accumulate $5690 by tilting poker machines in such a way that they paid out cash without losing the credits accumulated on the screen. The pair carried out their supposed foolproof plan at several clubs in regional NSW over a three-month period last year.
On September 11, they were given a $950 payout at Macksville Ex-Services Club. An audit at the club revealed the discrepancy and the pair was identified from CCTV footage. On November 28, Petrovski and Gorgijovski pulled the same scam at Catalina Country Club, in Batemans Bay. Petrovski pushed the machine to an angle and an object was placed under it. During the course of the evening, the pair received four payouts from the club totalling $2181.90.
Petrovski was also charged over a similar scam netting $2550 at Cooma Ex-Services Club on November 28 and at Merimbula-Imlay Bowling Club on December 11, where he accumulated $869 before a staff member noticed him acting suspiciously and he fled the club empty-handed. Gorgijovski was charged over a separate incident at Grafton District Services Club on October 4, where he stole $2200.
Both men pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining money in connection with a gaming machine and interfering with a machine's operation. Magistrate Ian Guy suspended Gorgijovski's sentence of nine months' jail on a good behaviour condition. Petrovski was ordered to serve 100 hours' community service.
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