MultiGaminator — Slot Machine Control System
Control system for slot machines in casinos. Reverse engineering of US protocols, universal compatibility. First serious commercial experience — with ethical dilemmas.
Table of Contents
In Short
One system for many slot machine vendors. Closed protocols, zero documentation, just wires and patience. Like a quest — because it was.
Context of the Era
2008: casino boom in Russia, heterogeneous fleets, closed protocols. Operators needed unified accounting and control — not four incompatible systems.
Business Insights
- Infrastructure unification lowers network scale costs.
- Real‑time control reduces losses and fraud.
What I Built
- Reverse engineered the control protocols (no official specs) and shipped drivers compatible with IGT, Bally, Novomatic and others.
- Stitched it into a unified accounting/monitoring system: payouts, cash in/out, anomaly detection.
Ethics note: this was casino industry work. I was a student — I needed money, and I got a lot of experience. I took a conscious compromise and learned valuable lessons.
Results
Lessons
- Protocols are a language. Listen long enough and you’ll understand.
- Universal drivers require crisp abstractions and a lot of on‑hardware tests.
- Where to invest time is a skill — just like writing code.
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