Video games, movies, and television shows tend to feature extremely intense casino heist scenes to get your blood pumping. While most of them are completely fiction, there have been a handful of absurd casino heists that happened in real life. Casinos have been targeted on numerous occasions due to the nature of their business. Some might feel wronged by these land-based establishments, while others believe that an unfathomable amount of cash will change their lives for the better.
Below, we'll take a closer look at 10 of the most absurd casino heists in history and whether these individuals for away with it or landed themselves in prison.
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Bellagio in Las Vegas, 2000 - A High-Speed Crash
The Bellagio is probably the most famous casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip. It has 3,933 rooms and is known for its high end restaurants, luxury stores, and huge selection of slots. It's also one of the world's largest hotels coming in 16th place. Given it's popularity it should come as no surprise that it has been involved in several casino heists.
In 2002 Jose Vigoa and his associates Luis Suarex and Oscar Sanchez Cisneros targeted the Bellagio. After having successfully stolen from the Mandalay Bay and MGM Grand on the Strip, they thought the Bellagio would be a good place to hit next. Unfortunately for them, it proved to be their last heist.
The group forced their way into the casino's cashier and stole around $160,000. The authorities caught up with Viago four days later and in a high speed chase he ended up crashing into a tree. He was arrested and is now serviing four life sentences for killing two drivers in a previous heist attempt.
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Stardust in Las Vegas, 1992 - The Disappearing Employee
Stardust was open from 1958 to 2006 and was located on the northen end of the Las Vegas Strip. It offered all the usual casino games like slots, blackjack and roulette. Back in 1992, it was the scene of a rather unusual heist. What makes it such a remarkable robbery is that the perpetrator has never been caught. There's also the fact that it wasn't a typical robbery; it was a lot more low-key.
Here's what happened. On a typical day in September, Bill Brennan, who worked as a sportsbook cashier, left the casino after completing a shift. There was nothing out of the ordinary about this except that he had half a million dollars worth of cash and casino chips with him.
Brennan was able to pull off this incredible heist thanks to his knowledge of the casino's security cameras. He knew where they were and was able to leave with the stolen money and chips without anyone realising he'd gone. What makes the heist even more farfetched is that Brennan was never seen again; he pretty much disappeared into thin air half a million dollars richer.
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Circus Circus in Las Vegas, 1993 - A Daring Act
Heather Tallchief was persuaded by her boyfriend, Roberto Solis, to take a job with Loomis Armored, a company that offered armoured car services and had deals with various casinos in and around Las Vegas. Tallchief's role was to visit certain casinos throughout Vegas and replenish their ATMs with cash.
She was at Circus Circus when she took off with the over $3 million in cash and the armoured vehicle she was responsible for. While she made her getaway, colleagues of hers were in the hotel refilling the ATMs. Tallchief then met up with her boyfriend and went on the run. Around a dozen years later, she turned herself in, admitting that her boyfriend had coerced her into carrying out the heist. She's since served a prison sentence, though Solis remains a fugitive to this day.
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Crown Casino in Melbourne, 2013 - Successful Blackjack Game
Unlike most of the other crazy casino heists on our list, this one didn't take place in Las Vegas. Instead, it happened in Melbourne, Australia. It's also worth pointing out that the people attempting the heist didn't manage to steal all the money.
A VIP manager hosted a blackjack game with a millionaire businessman from New Zealand in a private room. Nothing too suspicious there, but when the player ended up winning eight consecutive hands in a row, the casino's security staff were alerted. The player had won $33 million at this stage and when the security team investigated they found that the cameras had been tampered with.
The VIP manager had been working with the high roller player and they both saught to rob the casino of millions. The VIP manager had been signaling the player with secret hand movements. By the time the ploy was discovered by security only a small percentage of winnings had been paid out. Crown casino stil lost some money but it could have lost $33 million if the security team hadn't spotted the heist in time.
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Bellagio in Las Vegas, 2017 - A Quiet Heist
Going back to Las Vegas, Bellagio played host to another rather crazy casino heist in 2017. An armed man, whose identity still remains unknown, approached the casino's poker room cage and demanded money. The cashier quietly complied so as not to cause panic and provided the robber with an unknown amount of money. It's said that other people in the room at the time didn't know there was a robbery taking place.
The suspect managed to escape without the police catching him. Although the police were provided with clear footage of both the incident and the suspect's getaway car, they've never been able to find and arrest him.
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Niagara Casino in Niagara Falls, 2017 - Targeting Players?
The amount of money stolen in this incident is negligible compared with the other heists we've described, but what happened is still pretty crazy. A couple, said to be in their 60s, were both playing slot machines at Seneca Niagara Casino in Niagara Falls. They claim to have fallen unconscious and when they woke up, the man had lost $260. Of this, $200 was cash and the remaining $60 was two lots of $30 slot payouts.
While the casino itself wasn't the target, the fact that people were chosen to be robbed just goes to show that you always have to be careful. People often carry large amounts of cash with them at casinos, especially high rollers. This makes them valuable targets for thieves looking to make a quick profit.
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Soboba Casino in San Jacinto, 2007 - Workers Back for More
This casino heist is particularly crazy because the people who attempted the robbery had actually worked there; one was a current employee, and one was a former worker. It happened at Soboba Casino in San Jacinto, California, in 2007. Rolando Ramos, who had installed security cameras, used his know-how and held 10 members of staff hostage using a BB gun. He managed to steal a total of $1.5 million.
Driving the getaway car was his accomplice Eric Aguilera, who had previously worked at Soboba Casino. Thankfully, the police chase that followed was successful and both Ramos and Aguilera were arrested. It turned out that Ramos's BB gun was a fake; he claimed to have no recollections of the incident due to cocaine consumption, though he and Aguilera received several charges. Their bail was set at $250,000.
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Stardust in Las Vegas, 1991 - A Family Affair
Going back to Stardust in Las Vegas, another rather crazy casino heist took place here in 1991. What makes it shocking is that it was carried out by people from the same family. Royal Hopper used both of his sons - Jake and Bobby - to help him steal money from Stardust where he worked as a security guard.
First, he had his son Bobby pretend to be an armed robber. Bobby approached his father and a coworker as they were walking through the casino carrying cash. He made off with $150,000 and was even reported to the authorities by his father so as to make it seem like a genuine robbery.
Later on, buoyed by the success of the heist, Royal enlisted both his sons for a more ambitious plot. The three used smoke bombs to intercept an armoured van and stole around $1 million from it. Nonetheless, all three of them were soon caught and apprehended.
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Ritz Casino in London, 2004 - Lasers and Roulette
Another non-Vegas casino that's been the site of a crazy casino heist is Ritz Casino in London, considered one of the best casinos in the industry. This one didn't involve guns or use traditional robbery tactics but technology that would allow huge amounts of money to be stolen.
Laser scanning technology that was able to calculate the speed of the roulette wheel was used by a group in their early 30s. The technology which was in their phones could accurately predcit what the next winning number was going to be.
On their first night using the technology, they managed to win £100,000. They returned the following night and in the space of three hours, they won £1.2 million. Their success alerted the casino staff who began looking at camera footage of the three people playing roulette and with their suspicions on high the police were called in and the three were arrested.
You would think that using something like mobile-embedded tech to predict a game's outcome would be enough to earn a serious punishment. However, the three roulette players ended up walking away without having to serve time. The judge ruled that when they cheated the casino, they weren't actually breaking any laws. The trio did end up with a lifetime ban from London casinos, which is to be expected.
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Park Lane Club in London, 2017 - A Fake But Effective Weapon
The final entry on our Top 10 list of crazy casino heists is another London-based one. It took place at Park Lane Club and what makes it extraordinary is that someone managed to steal money with a fake weapon.
An armed and masked robber made his way into Park Lane Club in Mayfair. This is a members only club and the culprit was wearing a boiler suit to protect himself. The weapon was a fake but the casino staff didn't know that and they handed the robber £35,000 in cash out of fear.
The police were called but by the time they arrived, he was long gone. The robber fled the scene as soon as he had hold of the money and was never caught. Both his boiler suit and fake gun were later found in a bin close to Hyde Park.
Conclusion
These Top 10 casino heists will undoubtedly go down in history as terrible events. While some of these criminals got away scot-free, most of them were caught and the stolen money was returned. It's difficult to imagine trying something as crazy as robbing a casino but it has been entertaining finding out abou the different ways that people have attempted to do it over the years.
