The Most EPIC Casino Heists of All Time: Part II — The Fails

Casinos have attracted crime since the early days in the Old West. From saloon showdowns to high-tech crime rings,  casino heists have enjoyed a romanticised status thanks to their depictions in film and books. In reality, casino heists are rarely successful and while the culprits occasionally manage to get away, they are generally caught later. 

This hasn’t deterred thieves from trying their hand at a heist though, and while everybody loves a good success story, there is something fascinating about the spectacular way criminals fail in their grand schemes. Move over, Ocean’s 11, our lineup of the world’s most outrageous casino heists will have you on the edge of your seat.

1. Cuban Commando Storms The Bellagio, Las Vegas

Regardless of location, it’s safe to say commandos are probably among the best trained soldiers in the military. Often deployed on vital missions, those who serve in these units all have deadly skills beyond the ordinary. But what happens when one of them uses their training to raid a casino? Unfortunately, several Las Vegas casino workers  learned the answer to this question first hand, when Cuban-born Soviet Commando Jose Manuel Vigoa and his accomplices embarked on a series of brazen heists in 2000.

After leaving the military, Vigoa came to America in the 1980s and made his way to Las Vegas, where he became a drug kingpin with a gang of followers at his command. The ex-commando soon became well known to the law, with a long list of crimes to his name including charges relating to cocaine trafficking and assaulting federal officers. However, the offences that he would become most well known for would be a series of daylight casino heists that would make even John Dillinger blush. 

Vigoa's heist crew started their reign of terror by robbing a few stores and armored trucks. They then graduated to casino theft; stealing from the MGM Grand and then the Desert Inn Hotel Casino, where several security guards tried to stop them by firing shots, but the thieves managed to escape every time. After their next heist at the Mandalay Bay Resort Casino, the group were branded public menaces. But, they would still perform one more heist before the law caught up with them. 

T’was a normal day at The Bellagio in Las Vegas. Punters were betting away at the tables and people were enjoying the casino facilities. Then, two men wearing body armor under their casual attire and wielding guns walked into the casino, charging the cashier's cage while a third man acted as a lookout. All their faces were covered. Reports differ but two of the men supposedly wore masks while Vigoa hid his identity behind sunglasses and a baseball cap. 

After threatening the workers, the trio managed to get around $160,000 in cash and chips before they tore out of the building, firing their weapons at security guards like bank robbers from a Wild West film. Amazingly, nobody was injured, and the bandits managed to escape their pursuers free and clear. However, Vigoa lost his disguise in the chaos and CCTV cameras captured an image of his face.

The law caught up with Vigoa soon after when a Las Vegas police officer recognised him as the man on the Bellagio's surveillance tape. Despite the fact Vigoa had his wife and daughter in the car when the police tried to arrest him, he sped away at lighting speed, eventually hitting a tree. He tried to escape on foot, but officers quickly surrounded him and wrestled him to the ground. Three other men were arrested in connection with the robberies. All received jail time and faced a raft of charges. Vigoa received the largest sentence by far, with four life sentences and an additional 306 to 760 years in prison for the prior murder of two security guards.

Not one to go quietly, Vigoa tried a prison break before his sentence was handed down, but it failed miserably. He is still incarcerated to this day and will never be a free man again. Perhaps the most shocking part of the whole affair was how little the robbers actually managed to steal during their many heists. During the investigation, police found that the thieves had only managed to get away with around $600,000 from the casinos. The sum is nothing to sneeze at, but hardly the kingly amounts you'd expect from a series of semi-successful heists.

After the robberies, several casinos around Las Vegas upgraded their security to make it harder for the next group of desperados who wanted to try their hand at a heist. Extra security was added to the entrances; emergency buttons were installed behind counters and bars were erected around cashier areas. Vigoa's reign of terror may have been at an end, but he would not be the last to try and strike it rich through a quick casino heist.

2. The Motorbike Bandit

The most unbelievable part of Tony Carleo's series of casino heists weren’t the acts themselves but what he did with the loot after escaping. In late 2010, Carleo was just your average gambler with poor luck and even worse judgment. After losing all his bankroll in a matter of days, he made a decision that would forever change the course of his life. He couldn't afford to play at the casino anymore, so he decided to do the next best thing and rob it. 

Carleo’s first heist was fairly simple:  He simply wandered into the poker room at the Las Vegas Suncoast Casino in full motorcycle gear with his identity obscured by a helmet.  A few moments later, he strolled out with almost $19,000 in cash. He didn't use a gun, nobody was hurt and he made his escape on a black sports motorcycle earning him the nickname "The Motorcycle Bandit." His first heist went off without a hitch; he was free and clear and the authorities had no idea who he was. But, this only made him bolder with his next robbery. 

Like many gamblers on a roll, Carleo didn't quit while he was ahead. His successful heist had given him confidence, and he soon set his eyes on another, larger, target: the Bellagio Casino. Nervous as anything but still determined, Carleo walked into the Bellagio dressed once again in his motorcycle gear and helmet. In less than three minutes, he was out the door, this time with $1.5 million worth of the Bellagio's chips. Like his previous robbery, he rode away without a shot being fired and well before any law enforcement got to the scene.

Carleo had gone from being broke to technically a millionaire overnight, but the hapless gambler was about to discover a serious flaw with his plan. The stolen chips could only be used at the Bellagio - rendering them essentially worthless — unless he could somehow cash them in without being caught. So, he returned to the crime scene the following day. When nobody recognised him as the "The Motorcycle Bandit", he decided to sit down at one of the poker tables, buying in with the money from the Suncoast Casino robbery. During the game, he tested the waters, cashing in a few chips to buy a couple of drinks.

When nobody noticed the chips were stolen, it prompted him to commit an act probably more daring than the robbery itself. After a heist, savvy criminals will sometimes lay low, stay out of sight, and try not to draw attention to themselves. Carleo didn't bother with any of that and began to cash in thousands of dollars worth of chips at the casino for rooms, food, drinks, gambling and other vices. He lived like a king, and his sudden high roller status prompted a lot of extra attention, which would play a hand in his undoing. 

Only a few weeks later, Carleo was basically back at square one. He had burned through all of the smaller denominations of chips, which were easier to cash in. Out of the $400,000 of easily convertible chips he had taken in the heist, just a single $5,000 chip remained. He still had over a million dollars in $25,000 chips but converting these came with a greater risk of getting noticed because of their high value and limited circulation. If he started using them, it would bring questions and that's the last thing he needed. 

The casino had also announced they were planning to change the color scheme of their chips after the robbery, putting further pressure on him to cash in the loot before it became worthless. While Carleo was wracking his brain for a new plan, elsewhere in Las Vegas, detectives Sam Smith and Jason Nelson were running down several leads during their hunt for "The Motorcycle Bandit". 

After coming up empty yet again, they were approached by a man named Leo, a casino card dealer who claimed to know the bandit. In the days leading up to the Bellagio Casino heist, Leo claimed to have met a poker player who had fallen on hard times and shared a fantasy about striking it rich by robbing a casino. A week later, he noticed that the same poker player was suddenly splurging on drinks, food, rooms, drugs, women and high stakes casino games.

Suspicious, Leo spoke with other casino employees and discovered the player was funding his new lifestyle with chips rather than cash. On its own, this wasn't definitive proof of wrongdoing, but it gave the police a lead to chase down. The wolves had started to circle Tony Carleo and he remained oblivious until it was far too late. 
The detectives investigated Carleo's background and found that since coming to Las Vegas, he had lost a total of $2900 at the casino; however, after the robbery, his losses had exceeded $105,000. So they dug deeper and found he owned a black sports motorcycle, had declared bankruptcy only a year earlier and didn't have any other significant income sources that would explain his sudden influx of cash. 

It became clear that he was indeed "The Motorcycle Bandit", but the police still needed more evidence before they could arrest him, especially when they discovered his father was Judge George Assad. If you intend to accuse a judge's son of a casino heist, you better have a mountain of evidence to back it up.  Ultimately, Carleo would be the one to hand the police that evidence. 

With his money stores fading fast, Carleo decided to throw caution to the wind and cash in his $25,000 chips. He logged into online poker forums looking for a way to offload his stolen chips, eventually finding a thread dedicated to The Motorcycle Bandit heists on TwoPlusTwo.com. Like most forums on the internet, armchair experts were arguing, specifically about how they would cash in the chips if they were the bandit. 

Carleo watched and waited. One day a poker player posted the hypothetical question asking how many stolen $25,000 chips other people would want in exchange for a legally obtained $5000 chip. Carleo decided this was his chance and began messaging the player to try and offload some of his stolen merchandise. The player was immediately suspicious and sent the information to the police, and they traced the IP address to the house of Carleo's father, Judge George Assad. It was the final piece of evidence the police needed and they put into motion a plan to catch Carleo red handed. 

Oblivious to the ongoing police investigation, Carleo went about business as usual and continued his search for a way to cash in the loot and return to his partying lifestyle. When a stranger approached him to buy some of his $25,000 chips, Carleo jumped at the chance. The man was working for the police though, and over the next few days, the law put into action a sting operation that would see Carleo finally arrested. 

Tony Carleo received nine to 27 years in Nevada's Lovelock Correctional Center for his two casino heists. He was back at rock bottom only seven weeks after stealing $1.5 million in chips, $19,000 in cash, and living the life of a high roller. Carleo wasn’t the only person to rob a Las Vegas Casino in 2010, there were at least nine others recorded. The previous year had seen nine attempted casino heists as well. 

3. Assault on the Emperor’s Palace

Contrary to popular belief, casino heists don't exclusively happen in Las Vegas. It doesn't matter where the casino is located, there always seem to be thieves eager to try their hand at a robbery. Some casino heists are intricately planned operations using technology or a clever scheme to secure cash, but an attempted robbery in 2013 at the Emperor’s Palace Casino in Johannesburg, South Africa, definitely doesn't fall into that category. 
How so? Well, a group of at least 19 men  armed themselves with lots of guns and just walked in the front door to rob the establishment. It's unclear how, but an employee was tipped off to the plan and promptly alerted law enforcement officials. So when the police arrived at the casino and saw a group of men at the entrance, they naturally became a little suspicious. 

When confronted, the group of men opened fire and a shootout ensued. In the resulting gun battle, two of the robbers were wounded, three were arrested and a further five were arrested in a car down the road from the casino. In total, police recovered three AK-47s, four pistols and one revolver. It's unknown how much money the thieves tried to steal or whether the law caught up with the rest of the men involved, but police are no longer openly looking for anyone connected to the attempted heist.

2. High Roller Scams Australian Casino 

In 2014, an Australian casino became the site of one of the largest casino scams ever. While not technically a heist, the people involved used a scheme that was more than a little bit shady. The craziest part of the story is that while they initially managed to swindle over $30 million, the casino didn't report it to the police. 

Casinos often cater to high rollers who like to bet larger than your average punter; bigger bets often equal more significant losses and more profits. So when a well known businessman and millionaire came to Melbourne's Crown Hotel Casino, management rolled out the red carpet offering all sorts of perks. The high roller ended up playing eight hands of blackjack and winning over $30 million before he decided to call it quits. A staff member immediately became suspicious; winning a few hands of blackjack isn't a red flag but winning eight in a row is, well, almost unheard of.  

After investigating the security footage of the eight hands in detail, security staff discovered something shady had indeed occurred. After a quick investigation, it was discovered the casino's VIP services manager had invited the high roller to come and play blackjack, but unbeknown to everybody else, the security cameras had been hacked. Details are a little scarce, but it's believed that while the high roller was playing, the manager accessed the cameras and relayed information to him, presumably about the dealer's cards or which cards were coming out of the deck next. 

The response from the casino was swift; the high roller was evicted from the premises immediately and handed a lifetime ban for good measure. What happened to the manager is unknown, although it's probably safe to say he lost his job at the very least. Unfortunately for the high roller, he had not cashed out his winnings before he was evicted from the venue, so the casino held onto the loot. Because the money technically had not left the building, Melbourne's Crown Casino decided not to press charges and didn't bother reporting the incident to the police.

3. Hopper Attempts the Ultimate Inside Job  

Around 1991, Royal Hopper was working as a security guard for the Stardust Casino in Las Vegas. During his day-to-day operations, he was responsible for protecting millions of dollars for his employer. It's unknown exactly when the idea entered his head, but eventually, Hopper decided to rob the casino using subterfuge, his inside knowledge of security procedures, and his two sons Jeff and Bobby.

One day while transporting $153,000 through the Stardust Casino with a co-worker, an armed robber sprang out and forced Hopper outside before taking the money and escaping in a taxi. The incident was reported to the authorities, and after reviewing the security footage, they had suspicions that it was an inside job because Hopper and the robber both appeared somewhat calm. Given what should be a high adrenaline situation, it was odd that everything seemed almost routine. 

Without any definitive proof though, no charges were laid. The crime remained unsolved. Later it was discovered that Bobby Hopper was the thief. The Hoppers had gotten away with over $150,000 and their success only emboldened them. For their next heist, they would step everything up a notch. The Hoppers recruited Wesley Carroll as another accomplice and set their sights on an armored truck.

The plan was simple enough; to start, Jeff Hopper lied to casino security, telling them that there were guests fighting in the swimming area. With security now on their way to break up a fictional brawl, Royal, Bobby and Wesley Carroll disguised in wigs and false beards ambushed the armored truck driver as he made his way through the casino. After setting off several homemade smoke bombs near the money cage, the bandits charged the driver, knocking him to the ground and stealing two bags, one with nearly $500,000 in cash and the other with $627,000 of negotiable checks.

The bandits managed to escape through the employee's exit and then used multiple getaway cars to make their movements much harder to track. The authorities suspected the first heist was an inside job, and now they were certain. The three robbers knew exactly when and where the armored truck driver was going to be, kept their faces hidden from most of the security cameras and knew the venue's layout perfectly. 

This gave the investigators a lead. They quickly found a lot of evidence linking the Hoppers to the heists, the most damaging of which was a Dr Pepper can in one of the getaway cars with a fingerprint on it belonging to Bobby Hopper. Combined with Royal Hopper’s inside knowledge of the casino's security procedures, and his involvement with the first robbery, the authorities were confident they had found the men responsible.

At the time, the Hoppers were already planning their next heist, but they wouldn't get the chance to carry out their scheme, as police arrested the three Hoppers and Wesley Carroll in connection with the thefts before they could. During the trial, the authorities pressured Jeff and Bobby to testify against their father, and eventually, Jeff took them up on the offer. He alleges that the police threatened other members of his family with prison time, so he felt he had no choice but to testify. As a result, everyone involved received prison sentences, with the mastermind Royal Hopper getting the largest at 17 years. All four men served their time and were released. 

In a strange turn of events, it's alleged that Royal Hopper knew William Brennan, another famous casino robber who walked out of the Stardust Casino Sportsbook with $500,000 in 1992 and disappeared. Jeff Hopper alleges that his father had discussions with Brennan about how easy it would be for an employee to steal the money from the sportsbook. Whether Brennan was inspired to commit his crime after that conversation will never be known because he has yet to be caught.

4. Gang Terrorises Las Vegas Casinos 

Around the same time the Hoppers were being arrested for their crimes, a gang of bandits were raiding casinos all over Las Vegas. First, the crew hit the change windows at Arizona Charlie's Casino Hotel. Then they went to Palace Station Hotel Casino, where they held up a slot machine change booth taking over $8000 in loot. Nobody was injured and the men escaped, but casino security were hot on their trail. 

The security officials followed two suspects into a housing area and secured the abandoned getaway car until police arrived with a helicopter and a canine unit. The search ended up being a waste of time because they didn't find the men. However, using the heist surveillance footage and other unspecified evidence, the police were able to arrest Terry Malone and William J. Culverson for the robberies. 

Malone was charged with armed robbery and the use of a deadly weapon, while Culverson was charged with one count of armed robbery at Arizona Charlie's. Two others were suspected to be involved, but their ultimate fates remain unknown. 

5. Reginald Johnson Attempts to Hit a Trifecta at the Treasure Island Casino 

In a lot of true crime stories, the perpetrators return to the scene of their crime to relive the thrill of the moment. But in 2000, a man named Reginald Johnson took this concept to new extremes. After successfully robbing the Treasure Island Casino, he came back a further two times - not to relive the thrill but to try and pull off two additional heists. 

The 27-year-old Johnson first struck the Treasure Island Casino in July of 2000, taking $3000 in cash from two employees after threatening them with a firearm. No shots were fired, nobody was hurt and the thief quickly escaped, never to be seen or heard from again -at least until October of that same year. After his earlier success, Johnson returned to the Treasure Island Casino again, but this time, he was far more aggressive . 
He fired several shots in the air and at security personnel, injuring noone, luckily. and escaping with $30,000.

Overall, the two heists had only resulted in $33,000 being stolen, but casino management became concerned about repeat crimes, so they decided to invest in more security upgrades. They wouldn't need to wait long to test out their additions because Johnson returned only a few months later. 

Johnson came back to the Treasure Island Casino a third time in December of 2000. However, this time, he failed to secure any loot and the new security bars frustrated his attempts to escape and a shootout erupted. A security official was shot in the back during the resulting chaos, however nobody else was injured and Johnson was arrested. Several counts of robbery and attempted murder were among his many charges, but he failed to show any remorse. In fact, during his trial he said his only regret was getting caught. Reginald Johnson received over 100 years in prison for his crimes and will likely die before being released.  

6. Cheaters Justice

Not all heists actually end with the perpetrator being charged by police; in days long past before corporations controlled Las Vegas, thieves were dealt with in an entirely different manner. When the Mafia controlled Las Vegas, the penalty for theft or cheating was often a violent one. Known as "Cheaters Justice", there are more than a few urban legends of Mafia enforcers breaking the bones of cheaters and thieves.

Assaulting gamblers who tried to steal from the casino wasn't just the exclusive domain of the Mafia though; individual casino owners were also known to react violently when they discovered any wrongdoing. A prominent example was Ted Binion, gambling executive and son of famous casino owner and creator of the World Series of Poker, Benny Binion. One night while observing patrons in his casino through the eye in the sky cameras, Ted Binion allegedly spotted a craps dealer pocketing loose chips from the table. 

Angered, Binion waited until the man went to the toilets to count his winnings and then followed him inside. Binion cornered the thief and handed out a savage beating that supposedly left the man’s ear partially torn off. In another instance, a blackjack player named Alan Brown was caught spying on the hole cards of dealers; while it wasn't technically cheating, Binion disagreed and Brown suffered a beating that left him with a ruptured kidney. 

One Way or the Other, the House Always Wins

Despite all the state-of-the-art security features at casinos, there seems to be no shortage of people keen to try their hand at a heist. While it might be tempting to take a chance and go after all that money, the odds are definitely not in your favor. In nearly all cases the thieves are eventually caught and face some pretty hefty penalties.

The casino on the other hand usually has insurance so they don’t lose out financially, and will beef up their security, making it harder to be robbed in the future. In the long run, the heist doesn’t affect them, while the robber’s lives are changed forever, and not for the better. Odds in casino games might not always be in players' favor, but when it comes to a heist, it seems the House always wins in the end. 

Check out part I here.