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Famous Casino Heists: Real-Life Stories of High-Stakes Robberies

Theatrical robbery sequences frequently appear in TV shows, motion pictures, and video games to raise your heart rate. Due to the nature of their business, gambling establishments have been targeted numerous times. While some people enjoy their life and play games in land-based centers or spin online slots for real money for entertainment, others believe that casinos have done them wrong or are hiding an unbelievable sum of money in a sizable security vault, inspiring some insane heists.

Actual Cases of Casino Robberies

The thought of heisting casinos is wild. However, what’s even more astonishing are the different ways this has been attempted, with the vast majority of failing cases. Here are some notable heists:

$3M Circus Circus Heist

Heather Tallchief showed that not all heists require camera hacks, deception, or a convoluted scheme. Tallchief worked with Loomis to move cash into guarded vans for reloading ATMs. She did so at the advice of her partner, Roberto Solis, who was an imprisoned murderer and was released from jail due to his prize-winning poetry.

Tallchief travelled to Circus Circus while carrying about $3 million. Solis did not pay Tallchief more than $1,000 from the heist. Authorities are still unsure of Solis’ whereabouts.

$500K Stardust Robbery 

William Brennan, an employee of the extinct Stardust casino, loaded a garbage bag with money and chips in 1992, flung it around his shoulder, and left the establishment. More than $500K worth of cash and chips were in the bag.

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The FBI added William to their most wanted list after the robbery, and no one has heard from or seen him since. One of the most remarkable and well-known robbery tales from Las Vegas is about William Brennan. As a result, there are numerous security standards in use today. Given that employees are scrutinized even more closely than players in contemporary casinos, it is unlikely that a staff member could pull off something similar.

Crown Casino Theft Worth $32 Million

One of the most recent and successful heists occurred in 2013. James Manning created the ideal ruse from New Zealand by joining the Crown VIP program. This allowed him access to high rollers’ only poker tables. James wagered against the odds in an eight-hand poker game and won a mind-blowing $32 million.

Officials concluded from some investigations that Manning conspired with a coworker to hack the security cameras and allow him to win by giving up essential signals during the game.

Blackjack Masterminds From MIT

Even if we are not explicitly discussing casino heists, we must include the iconic MIT Blackjack team since it served as the model for the famous “21” movie centred on actual events. A Harvard graduate named Bill Kaplan spotted a tremendous chance to make a fortune from the game after becoming an experienced card counter while playing blackjack. MIT students eventually learned the ‘skill’ of card counting.

The crew defrauded various casinos between 1979 and 2000. Their weekly winning could normally equal half a billion dollars. Knowing this fact, even the roughest estimation of the total amount of their earnings will seem to be mindblowing for everyone. Although these can’t technically be regarded as successful robberies, they undoubtedly were, and the gambling establishments must have felt robbed.

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$258M Robbery at Wynn Resorts

Many large casinos employ junket services to transport visitors to the casinos. One such junket worker, Dore, serves as an intermediary for wealthy people travelling to Macau, China, for its casinos. Dore had been escorting gamblers to Macau’s Wynn Resorts.

Since they lend the players the money so they can play, the junket organizers are crucial. Dore defrauded one of these junkets of $258 million in September 2015. As a result, the cash flow took a slight knock, and Wynn Resorts stock was only temporarily affected. Authorities have not yet identified the perpetrator(s) of the crime, and the matter is still being investigated.

$1.5m Bandit Biker From Bellagio

On his motorcycle, Tony Carleo arrived at the Bellagio Resort and Casino and immediately went to the craps booths. He cleaned the surfaces of chips while carrying a rifle and wearing a cycling helmet. He mounted his motorcycle and fled before security could react, or the police were informed. The worst error Carleo made was trying to sell the stolen chips. Unaware of it, he attempted to sell it to a police detective working undercover. 

These are six various notable heist stories. Now that you know them, it is completely up to you to make up your mind if they were successful or unsuccessful.

So, Is Robbing a Casino Impossible?

Stealing from a casino is much more complex than how it is portrayed in Hollywood movies. It is also not as inconceivable as many would believe it to be. However, it poses many risks and can result in fines or prison sentences. So reading the stories and watching films about it can be fun and enjoyable, but following suit of such criminals is never advisable.