The Most EPIC Casino Heists of All Time: Part 1 — The Successes

Everybody loves a good casino heist film: the clever plan, the high octane execution and the adrenaline rush that comes with success. Often, these highly intelligent crooks end their escapades sipping drinks and celebrating a job well done, before a cut to black screen, a roll of the credits, and the film ends. In reality, casino heists are anything but glamorous, often ending with people getting hurt and the would-be robbers receiving a lengthy prison sentence for their trouble. 

A surprising number of people have tried to rob casinos over the years, using various methods: some clever, others downright stupid. Many have failed, but believe it or not, despite all the security around the billion dollar industry, some have succeeded, and the perps got away with the cash. Admittedly it's rare, but it has happened. Here are some of the most successful and famous casino heists ever attempted.

1. Warning Shots Fired in Las Vegas 

A number of notable events took place in 2005: surgeons in France carried out the first human face transplant on Isabelle Dinoire; scientists announced they had created mice with human neurons, and a whole slew of celebrities passed away. It was also the year two masked men entered the Mandalay Bay Casino in Las Vegas with the intent to rob the venue.

According to news reports at the time, the two robbers approached the change booth inside the casino like bank robbers in a movie, firing warning shots and ordering everyone to get on the ground. The cashier wisely followed every order given and nobody suffered any physical injuries from the event. Then, the two masked men took their loot and fled to a parked car outside. The whole operation was well-planned and over in moments. To this day, there have been no publicised arrests in connection with the heist and no suspects identified. 

The police and the Mandalay Bay Casino both declined to disclose how much cash was stolen and have only provided vague details about the robbery. This has led to speculation that the sum stolen was substantial and that the brazen heist blindsided casino security. In which case, they would want to avoid widely publicising the details of the event to avoid inspiring copycat crimes or highlighting flaws in their security. 

If this were a movie, the two robbers would’ve skipped town to live on an island, puffing cigars and planning their next big score. However, what actually happened to the two robbers is unknown, and after so long, it's likely the authorities are no longer looking. So whoever the two masked men were and whatever happened to the money will probably remain a mystery, barring a break in the case or a new witness coming forward.

2. The Inside Job 

The Vegas Stardust Casino operated continuously for 48 years before officially closing its doors in 2006. Many fortunes were won and lost during its heyday, but the event the old building is most remembered for is a heist in the early 1990s where over $500,000 was taken. Unlike a traditional robbery, no weapons were used and no threats were issued.In fact, nobody even knew money had been taken until after the daring thief was long gone, never to be seen or heard from again. 

In 1992, the Stardust Casino Sports book had an unassuming cashier named William Brennan. He didn't really stand out, and if you asked his colleagues at the time if they thought he was capable of robbing a casino, they would have laughed you right out the door. That's what made him the perfect thief; nobody saw him coming. 
On a regular Monday evening, the venue was packed with gamblers for Monday Night Football. Plenty of cash was changing hands. Once the punters had left, Brennan was assigned to count the money, as he had many times before. Unlike other nights though, rather than count the takings, he bundled over $500,000 — about $225,000 in cash and the rest in chips - into a trash bag and walked out the door. By the time the theft was discovered, he was long gone. 

As you would expect, the response from the casino and the authorities was swift. Brennan was put on the FBI's most-wanted list; they tracked his movements, talked to his colleagues, friends, family and called for any witnesses to come forward with information. Nothing ever came of it though, as Brennan had disappeared along with the cash and chips, never to be recovered.Successful heists like Brennan's often become heavily romanticised. The idea that he managed to pull off the heist and completely evade the authorities has seen the story enshrined in Las Vegas folklore. Unfortunately, the reality is probably much harsher. The leading theory from investigators is that Brennan was dead soon after taking the money. It's alleged he was in cahoots with another party, and they killed him for the loot. 

This theory might be pretty close to the truth when you consider the fact that the law no longer wants to arrest him for the robbery. In 2006, the same year the Stardust closed its doors, the U.S. attorney's office dismissed Brennan's case. To this day, he has never tried to contact anybody — no friends, family or other loved ones and there have also been no sightings since his disappearance.

Brennan's successful heist saw new casino security standards put in place to ensure a similar robbery couldn't happen again. With all the cameras and extra eyes watching employees' every move in modern casinos, it's doubtful anybody could ever pull off a caper like this again, but that certainly hasn’t stopped people from trying, often with disastrous results. As for Brennan, his fate remains a mystery, one that will likely never be solved. 

3. Trio Have More Than Just Lady Luck on Their Side

Not all casino heists involve breaking into secure areas and taking cash. Some are done in full view of security, using sophisticated techniques or technology to gain an advantage at the tables. For example, in 2004 at the Ritz Casino in London, two men and their female accomplice walked into the venue with a plan to take millions in winnings by playing the games. While not technically a heist, their plan was more than a little bit shady and would result in significant changes to casino security worldwide after they were caught. 

After choosing their target, the Ritz Casino, the trio put their plan into action and started playing roulette. On their first night, they won over 100,000 Euros. On the second, they won even more, taking home roughly 1.3 million Euros after only three hours of playing. Anyone who has played roulette knows that it's rare for players to consistently win at the tables. The casino staff were also suspicious and started checking the security tapes for signs the trio was cheating in some way. Under scrutiny, it was discovered they were using laser scanners on their phones to track the roulette wheel's speed. Then, using the data and a linked computer, they could predict where the ball would ultimately fall with a high degree of accuracy so a bet could be placed within three spins of the roulette wheel.

Whether you agree with the trio’s methods or not, it can't be denied that the system was ingenious. Security experts at the time thought it was impossible to use a scanner and a computer to predict where the ball would land in roulette because of the speed and complicated process involved. So the casino didn't bother checking why a group of people had their phones consistently trained on the roulette wheel until they were long gone with their winnings. 

When it was discovered what had happened, the casino reported the trio to the police. Authorities tracked them down and they ended up in court. But in one final twist, the judge ruled they had not done anything illegal; no law had been broken. The only penalty they received was a lifetime ban from London's casinos. The trio got to keep their winnings and walk away. Word of this case travelled the globe and it’s now standard casino policy to ban the use of mobile phones near any table game. 

Whether the trio tried to use their system at other casinos after the court case isn't known. However, it's entirely likely their faces and names were noted and big venues around the world made sure to blacklist them as well. Regardless, the trio managed to get one over the house and drive off into the sunset much richer.

4. Unlikely Duo Rob an Armored Truck at Circus Circus Casino

To say Roberto Solis and Heather Tallchief were an odd robbery crew is an understatement. He was a recently paroled criminal, convicted of shooting a guard named Louis Dake in the back while robbing an armored truck in 1969, while she was a young woman 27 years his junior with no criminal record. 
After serving 23 years in prison, Solis was released in 1992 and he met Heather Tallchief through a friend at a nightclub. They became a couple soon after. According to Tallchief, when they initially met, she had already hit "rock bottom". She had ongoing substance abuse issues and struggled to hold down a job. In her opinion, this made her an easy target for manipulation and brainwashing by Solis. 

At Solis' suggestion, Tallchief moved with him to Las Vegas in 1993 where she became a driver for Loomis Armored. For a while, Tallchief performed this duty to an excellent standard and gained a reputation as a solid employee. However, that all changed when she disappeared with a shipment of nearly $3 million while making a stop at the Circus Circus Casino Hotel. The vehicles didn't have GPS tracking at the time, so Loomis Armored had no idea a robbery was in progress until the money was long gone. 

According to Tallchief, she drove the truck to a garage leased under a false name and helped Solis load the money into boxes and suitcases. Solis then took the money, and she never saw it again. The couple then escaped from the United States in disguise and fled to Amsterdam. For a time, their plan succeeded - the authorities had no idea where the duo were. For many years, it appeared the two bandits had escaped with the loot, never to be seen or heard from again. 

However, in 2005, in a twist that wouldn't be out of place in a Hollywood film, Tallchief returned to her home soil and asked to be arrested for the 1993 crime. Turns out being part of a successful casino heist isn't all it's cracked up to be. After years of looking over her shoulder waiting to be arrested, she couldn't deal with the anxiety and mental anguish anymore; she just wanted it to be over and for her son to have a normal life. 

According to her, after escaping with Solis, the couple had a son but their relationship quickly imploded. Solis left her, taking the loot with him to parts unknown. In her account to the authorities, she claimed to have no knowledge of his current whereabouts. The location of the money was also a mystery. 

In 2006, she was sentenced to 63 months in federal prison for her role in the robbery and ordered to repay the nearly $3 million in stolen cash to Loomis Armored in restitution. She was released from prison in 2010. Solis and the stolen money have never been found. He was born in 1945, so he would be in his late seventies if he is still alive today. After all this time, his ultimate fate, and the location of the money will most likely remain a mystery.

5. MIT Team Wins Millions from Casinos 

Believe it or not, the House doesn't always win, especially when the players are top level mathematicians. While not technically a heist, the story of the MIT Blackjack Team winning tens of millions through card counting is still worth mentioning. Card counting is technically legal; no laws expressly outlaw the practice; however, casinos unofficially forbid it. Any players who are caught trying the technique risk being kicked out of the venue. Casinos will maintain that they aren't technically banning card counters; instead, they are just refusing service to specific customers, which is perfectly legal. 

The MIT team first came together in the late 1970s. One of the original leaders, Bill Kaplan, had taken a year off from school and moved to Las Vegas to see if he could take a mathematical approach to traditional blackjack strategies. He had a great deal of success and steadily recruited others to his scheme. Kaplan went back to school a year later, but while attending Harvard Business School, he still managed his team of card counters in Las Vegas. 

The team trained its members to use a variety of different strategies and subterfuge to hide the card counting. For example, the team would deploy a counter to sit at the table, track what cards had already come out, and get a rough idea of when high cards were on the way. When they thought the high cards were close, the counter would signal one of the players to come and start making large bets at the table. The player would stay at the table until the counter gave them a code word that meant no more high cards were left to come out. 

The team kept up their activities for roughly two years before many casinos started to catch on to the card counting scheme and banned most of the members. The bans prompted most of the team to head overseas to try their luck elsewhere, leaving Kaplan behind to form another group. Over the next few years, the MIT Blackjack Team changed rosters, reformed and splintered into other groups. Overall the original team is thought to have consistently made profits after every trip to Las Vegas, while the splinter groups had mixed results and eventually disbanded. 

They might have managed to evade casino security, but the team often ran into other problems, especially when transporting their winnings through an airport. They would hide their cash in bags, but there were several occasions when it was confiscated on suspicion of being drug money. Turns out travelling on a plane with a big bag of money tends to raise a few red flags, especially if done regularly. The cash was usually returned after an investigation, but the process would take months. 

All good things must come to an end though, and eventually casino security became far too sophisticated to get away with card counting. With surveillance cameras monitoring the blackjack tables, and better trained staff alert for signs of card counting, it became nearly impossible not to get caught. The team slowly disappeared as members were permanently barred from casinos and turned to other pursuits. By 2000, it's believed the team disbanded and has never officially reformed. 

When the story of their card counting adventures became public knowledge, the MIT Blackjack Team became infamous. Several films loosely based on their history and escapades have been made, and a few ex-members have written books. Arguably the most well known film was "21", starring Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, Laurence Fishburne and Kevin Spacey. The book and the resulting movie have come under considerable scrutiny since they were published, with some of the events contested by the people the characters were based on. 

6. Red Rock Casino Possibly Hit by Lone Bandit 

In late 2021, a bandit supposedly walked into the Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas and stole between $60,000 and $70,000. Reports are vague, but apparently no one was hurt and the robber remains at large. Investigators haven't ruled out an inside job after the bandit appeared to know the layout of the building and escaped via a side door near the resort's pool complex. During the robbery, he also knew which bundles of cash had alarms or other security devices attached, indicating to the cashier which cash bundles to avoid touching.

It's believed the robber acted alone and no further details have been provided. That will most likely be all that's said on the matter, as casinos tend to avoid giving out details on robberies. The whole thing could also be a hoax or a case of misreporting by the media. Either way, the casino would be insured and will most likely not be out of pocket over the incident if it did actually occur. As for the bandit, his identity and fate will most likely remain a mystery.

Are There More Casino Heists We Haven't Heard About? 

Yes. In the early 1990s, there were many attempts to rob armored trucks while transporting casino money. Casinos will very rarely openly discuss a robbery or an attempted theft over fears it might inspire copycat crimes, invite extra scrutiny or expose flaws in their security measures. Regardless, with modern technology and security devices the best they've ever been, any attempt at a heist nowadays would most likely result in disaster. The effort is definitely not worth the possible rewards. Even most of the robbers who have succeeded in the past did not live a life of luxury after their heists, despite what is depicted in movies and literature. It seems one way or the other, the House always does win. 

Check out part II here.