T he names of the devices are as colorful as the people who used them.

Monkey paw. Kickstand. Yo-yo.

These are some of the cheating devices criminals brought to Nevada casinos to trick slot machines into producing unwarranted payouts.

And those who used them were often arrested and convicted, but when they were released from incarceration, they became prime candidates for nomination to Nevada’s List of Excluded Persons, known as the “Black Book.”

James Taylor, a retired Nevada Gaming Control Board Enforcement Division chief, spent much of his career confiscating the devices and learning how they worked so he could advise casinos on what they could do to prevent being bilked out of millions of dollars. Some of the most notorious cheats scored millions in illegal jackpots before they wer

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