Famous Casino Heists in History

Who doesn’t love the story of casino heists? It’s a little bit Robin Hoodesque, stealing from an establishment that makes profit every month. Well, apart from the fact that the criminals rarely distribute the money to the poor.

Nevertheless, real-life casino heists have all the elements of a movie – intrigue, crime, maybe even a little romance – and that’s why people love hearing about them. There’s also an element of the underdog sticking it to the man, although it rarely works out the way they want it to.

These days, it’s become far more difficult for criminals to steal from gaming establishments, especially an online casino. Cybercriminals do exist but reputable online platforms (like PokerStars) have stringent security measures and encryption technology put in place, so it’s not as easy as you may think. Now though, let’s take a look at some of the biggest casino crimes to occur in the history of the gambling world.

$33 Million Stolen – The Crown Casino Heists

If you’re looking for a movie-style type of heist, then this is the one for you. James Manning, a New Zealand millionaire and high roller, was invited by the VIP manager at Crown Casino, Perth, to play in one of their exclusive lounges in 2013. Eight rounds of blackjack later, Manning was up $33 million, but his luck didn’t last for long. His winnings were due to security cameras that were breached and hand signalling from the very same service manager!

Manning never cashed his winnings, which meant the casino could remove him without having to arrest him, and they were able to keep this under wraps for as long as possible.

$22-$57 Million Stolen – The MIT Blackjack Team

Blackjack does seem to be the game of choice when it comes to large casino heists, and that’s mostly due to the fact that one can employ card counting in the game. There’s a grey area when it comes to card counting, as it’s not technically illegal but highly frowned upon at most, if not all, gambling establishments. The counter of the MIT team, Bill Kaplan, maintains that online blackjack is the only casino game one can win purely by employing statistical analysis, with probabilities changing every time the dealer plays.

Using this method, Kaplan gathered some of the best student minds from all over- Princeton, Harvard, the University of Chicago and, of course, MIT. Over two decades, this team won huge amounts of money from casinos in every part of the world, with the guestimated total ranging anywhere from $22 to a whopping $57 million.

$3 Million Stolen – Circus Circus Heist

Women have always had ingenuity and sometimes an ability to see an easier way to the solution (or, in this case, the stealing) that doesn’t involve unnecessary scheming and elaborate plots. In 1993, Heather Tallchief did exactly that, although some credit must be given to her convicted murderer boyfriend, Roberto Solis. In the twist of fate that life seems to throw at us now and then, he was released from prison because he wrote poetry that won awards and with his newfound freedom, he encouraged and advised his girlfriend to follow through on her plan.

Tallchief was soon a driver for the Loomis company, and her job entailed driving armoured vehicles full of cash to be filled at casino ATMs in and around Las Vegas. At a routine stop at Circus Circus Casino, Tallchief escaped with the $3 million that was inside the vehicle while the guards were outside.

The couple escaped out of the country and in 2005, Tallchief turned herself in, claiming she only received about a grand of the heist money, with Solis taking the rest. To date, authorities have still not been able to find the poetic killer.