Casino robberies: The casino heists that shouldn’t have worked

If there’s one thing Hollywood has taught us, it’s that casino robberies are intricate affairs, pulled off against all odds and ending with the charismatic culprits slipping away with a hefty haul of cash. But is that how it really works in real life?

Some famous Las Vegas casino robberies have made headlines, and the MGM Casino case showed that this isn’t just movie fiction. Casino robberies do happen, though they tend to be far more mundane.

They’re rarely glitzy or showy. More often, they hinge on an obvious security lapse, or something as simple as an employee walking off with nearly $1 million in chips and cash. Sometimes, of course, there are guns, violence, and plenty of confusion.

The Crown Casino Heist - A Millionaire with a Plan

The Crown Casino heist is first on our list of headline-grabbing casino robberies, worth perhaps a movie. The case is not what you would expect, but it does offer some bizarre twists. In 2013, a New Zealand businessman, one James Manning, decided to try his luck at high-stakes blackjack at the Crown Casino in Perth, Australia.

Manning sat down and placed eight consecutive bets, each of which was a success, resulting in the man accumulating $33 million in winnings. The casino was immediately onto Manning, realizing that he had just beaten extraordinary odds without flinching.

The businessman was found to have been using an electronic earpiece that was giving him signals based on an accomplice hacking into the surveillance system, which allowed Manning to know exactly what he was going up against.

This case showcased serious security shortcomings within the sector, and the Crown was so concerned about keeping the story under tight wraps that it announced the Billionaire’s Club cocktail, sold for $12,500, and secured a Guinness World Record to distract media and journalists from what had transpired.

As to Manning himself? He was removed from the premises and asked never to return. His, though, is one of the most iconic casino heists, even if it failed mid-way.

The Bellagio Robbery – A Perfect Heist, Poor Follow-Up

The Bellagio robbery is perhaps one of the most underwhelming casino robberies of all time, if you consider the follow-up that is. The brazen crime was committed at one of Las Vegas’ most iconic properties, and it involved Tony Carleo, the son of a local judge, Anthony Carleo.

One day in 2010, Carleo donned a motorcycle helmet and walked up to a craps table at the casino, brandishing a gun. Swiping casino chips from the table, he then dashed outside of the property, chased by on-site security guards, which he was able to outrun, before jumping on his Suzuki bike and speeding away.

Despite the high-grade security, identifying Carleo proved surprisingly difficult until one user known as Oceanspray25 started posting on TwoPlusTwo, a poker forum, asking about how he could get rid of the Bellagio chips. A quick look at the user’s history showed him talking about how easy it would be "in theory" to walk to a casino table, swipe some chips, and run on the back of a motorcycle.

The criminal mastermind did turn out to be Carleo himself, who was contacted by a potential buyer for the chips, who turned out to be undercover police. He stole about $1.5 million from the Bellagio, and even returned to the crime scene, where he lost another $105,000. He was eventually sentenced to nine years in prison.

Carleo’s incredible piece of brazen luck failed in his post-robbery execution. Regardless, this is one of the most iconic and largest cases in Las Vegas, the history of the gambling industry.

Cop Goes Bad, Robs Three Casinos

People affiliated with the law have shown remarkable proclivity for operating outside of it. This is precisely what Caleb Rogers, a cop who went on a casino robbery spree in 2021 and 2022, did as well. While Rogers’ funds stolen hardly amounted to all that much, about $164,000 in total, his behavior won him notoriety.

The former Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officer robbed three casinos in total in a period of four months, and hit the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, Red Rock Hotel, and Aliante Hotel. Rogers would use his police gun to threaten cashiers at these locations to hand him over cash.

When news about the serial casino robber began circulating, Rogers decided to return to Rio and repeat his previous offense. The cashier complied, but Rogers was arrested outside the property with casino personnel and police arriving on the scene, resulting in his surrender. Rogers’ act landed him in prison for 12 years, as per an official statement issued by the US Department of Justice.

While hardly the largest casino heist in the history of Las Vegas, Rogers’ case still illustrates that, given the opportunity, some individuals are willing to rob some of the most secure locations in the world. However, much like in the case of Carleo, he didn’t plan for one crucial detail – what if he actually got away?

Circus Circus Money’s Gone – 12 Years One of the Culprits Shows Up

The case of Roberto Solis and Heather Tallchief is perhaps the most cinema-worthy instance of a casino robbery on this list. But even this cunning duo did not really pull off anything extraordinary when you come to think of it. The couple came together through Tallchief’s substance dependency.

When she met Solis, Tallchief was immediately enthralled by the man. She continued with her drug use, which Solis helped her with. Interested in the occult, mysticism, and other esoteric studies, the pair quickly became close. At one point in 1993, Solis concocted a plan to steal from the Circus Circus Hotel & Casino, by relying on Tallchief’s good looks and unthreatening appearance.

Solis convinced Tallchief to apply for a job at the Loomis Armored, a security firm that was tasked with transporting hauls of money for casinos around Las Vegas. Tallchief was soon given a job as a driver, and she was ready.

After stopping at the Circus Circus Casino, the first property on her route, and loading the truck with $3.1 million, Tallchief failed to appear at her next stop, making away with the money instead.

Using a fake ID, Tallchief and Solis then flew out to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, until 2005, when Tallchief reappeared in the United States, walked into a federal courtroom, and turned herself in. Solis’ whereabouts were never established, with Tallchief saying that she had left her partner in Europe.

The MIT Blackjack – The Robbers in Plain Sight

Perhaps the most successful casino "robbery" of all time wasn’t a robbery at all. Much like the case of James Manning at Crown Resorts in Perth, Australia, this was about gamblers descending on casino floors and beating the casinos at blackjack.

But there were no earpieces involved, no hacking, and nothing but a solid grasp of mathematics, rigorous training, and a highly coordinated team of highly intelligent individuals. The MIT Blackjack, as this outfit was known, was founded by Bill Kaplan in 1979, who recruited six graduates from MIT’s Burton-Conner House.

Kaplan was himself a skilled gambler, but he knew that to succeed, he would have to run a much larger enterprise than himself, showing up at a casino and running the blackjack table dry. He leaned into card counting, a practice that is policed against in 2025, but wasn’t exactly too popular back in the 1980s.

Teaching his recruits how to count cards and how to "set up" the tables for other members of the team by keeping track of what cards have been played, the MIT Blackjack team would go on to win millions of dollars, as much as $50 million, although the real numbers are still subject to wild speculation and Hollywood fiction.

Wrapping up: Can you rob a casino?

The answer is you probably could. Yet, the trade-off seems to be rather poor. Most of the casino heists and robberies on this list have failed one way or another.

A time of reckoning has come, and the money stolen – outside of the legitimate MIT Blackjack team, which didn't steal anything – is too trivial to even matter.

Casino robberies do still happen, but they are unlikely to have a great deal of success, and for the most part, casinos have grown much more resilient to such shenanigans.

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