Slots Shills – Do They Exist?

A shill is somebody who promotes a product or service with a selfish intention. And casinos have sometimes been accused of hiring slot shills to promote specific games.

This sounds a little crazy to me. But then again, people often think the worst of casinos.

Do gambling establishments really use plants to get customers to play certain slot machines? Let’s discuss the matter further by giving an example, and come to a conclusion.

What Raises Suspicions of Slots Shills?

What does a slots shill look like? Let me paint an example for you of what some customers may deem suspicious:

You’re looking at a row of slot machines trying to figure out what to play. Another customer comes up to you and says that they won two jackpots on the Dog Power slot machine in front of you.

They then give you the excuse that they have to leave because they’ve been playing slots for a long time.

Is It Legal for Casinos to Do This?

Some gambling jurisdictions implicitly ban slot shills. Others allow shilling to a degree.

Truth be told, though, you’re more likely to run into a table game shill than somebody hawking the slot machines. But you may see the occasional setup, where it looks like a slot machine player is raking in tons of money.

This has happened in downtown Las Vegas, where they set up a player in a roped-off area. They’ll also have a security guard or two watching over them on the way out.

After these players are finished, the slot machine is shut down so that the public can’t play them. The point is to plant a seed that the casino slot machines are paying lots of money.

Should You Worry about Slots Shills?

Odds are that you’re not going to run into many slot machine shills. But if you see some suspicious behavior, don’t discount the idea that a casino may be trying to lure you to certain games.

This isn’t as nefarious as it may seem. After all, the casino may be just trying to push specific machines.

But you certainly don’t have to listen to anybody in the casino who tries goading you onto a certain slots game.