The world of casinos is known for its glitz and glamor. However, it is also mired with various forms of crime. Some common crimes associated with the casino industry are heists and robberies. Over time, a whole slew of gambling-related heists and scandals have made the news. This short piece will discuss some of the biggest heists in casino history.
MIT Blackjack Team
One of the most interesting heists in Las Vegas was perpetrated by students, not professionals. Initially, they were a mathematics club under the tutelage of Bill Kaplan, a professor at MIT.
He formed the MIT blackjack team, and the students applied his theories to blackjack tables in several casinos in Las Vegas. For two decades, they operated and won at least $57M. The story became the central plot of the movie 21, starring Kevin Spacey as Kaplan and Jim Sturgess as one of his students.
The Stardust Heist
A motley crew of thieves stole $1 million from the Stardust Resort and Casino in Sin City in 1992. Bill Brennan, a cashier, outwitted the system and walked away with cash and chips worth $500,000.
During that time, Royal Hopper Jr. and his two sons committed another crime by staging a fake robbery and hijacking an armored vehicle holding $1.1 million worth of money. The heist was successfully perpetuated due to insider information that enabled the criminals to bypass the casino’s tight security. The money was never fully recovered.
The Bellagio Heist
The Bellagio Casino Heist is one of the most audacious heists in the history of casino gambling. Also known as the “Biker Bandit,” Anthony Carleo stole at least $1.5 million from the Bellagio Casino in Las Vegas.
He simply grabbed the chips from a craps betting table and rode away with his Suzuki motorcycle. He was captured when he attempted to sell his chips online.
The Roselli Brothers
Anthony and Michael Roselli were brothers who pulled off a series of heists in the slot machines in several Las Vegas casinos in the 1970s. They took advantage of the casino’s computer system’s loopholes and won a large sum of money. However, the brothers failed to escape and were caught.
The Circus Casino Heist
Heather Tallchief, a woman, became notorious for pulling off the most dangerous casino heist in history. She and her partner, Roberto Solis, betrayed Courier Scott Stewart and another accomplice in an elaborate heist.
Tallchief and Solis escaped in an armored van with $3 million in the robbery at the Circus Casino. The duo managed to flee to the Netherlands and hid for 12 years—eventually, Tallchief surrendered to the FBI to redeem herself. However, nobody knows Solis’ fate, and his disappearance remains a mystery.
The Crown Casino Heist
The heist at the Crown Casino in Melbourne is one of the biggest casino scandals in Australia. In 2013, James Manning, with the help of a fraudulent pit boss, pulled off a $33 million heist at the Crown Casino.
They managed to evade several security methods, and Manning won at several blackjack tables. However, James Manning was caught and recovered what they stole. Crown Casino never pressed charges against James Manning and secretly managed the scandal.
The Ritz Casino Scandal
Some thieves use state-of-the-art technologies to pull off elaborate schemes, as seen in heist movies like Ocean’s 11 and Now You See Me. One such technology is laser scanners.
Radoslav Skubnik, a punter from Serbia, went to the Ritz Casino in London in 2004. Using a high-technology laser scanner from his mobile phone, he guessed the results of a roulette game. He pulled off a $1.6 million heist and was never caught.
Casino heists and real-life crimes have captured the imagination of Hollywood film screenwriters for a long time. The results have produced a film genre on its own. While these casino heists were captivating, modern casinos have learned from their mistakes and updated their security measures to prevent them from happening again.
