The Most Notorious Casino Robberies
Gambling attracts the attention of many people. Some people spend their time on them to improve their mood, while others choose gambling for the sake of increasing their capital. This goal is pursued by another group of people, but in an illegal way – by robbing a casino. Today, there are many well-known cases when users have decided to enrich themselves on gambling entertainment by simply stealing money from a particular establishment. But only some of them can be called a really loud and impressive attempt. We are going to review the cases of the most famous casino robberies in this article together with an expert in the field of gambling Yurii Mykhailiuta at https://www.slotsup.com/author/yurii.
Top 5 Lland-based Gambling Robberies
Casinos have been a target for crooks since the day they appeared. These places concentrate large sums of money, sometimes even obscenely large. A huge number of films have been made on the subject. One of the most striking pictures of this genre was the work of director Steven Soderbergh’s “Ocean’s Eleven”. In it, a team of professionals stole 160 million American dollars from three of the most successful establishments in Las Vegas. You can read more about this film at this web resource: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean%27s_Eleven. Not everyone was able to repeat such a success. However, there were cases in the history of casinos, when the robbers took away millions from the clubs. You can see in the table below the names of land-based establishments and the amounts that were once stolen from them.
| Casino name | Amount of stolen funds |
| «Stardust» | $500,000 |
| «Circus Circus» | $3 million |
| «Ritz» | $1.4 million |
| «Soboba» | 1.5 million dollars |
| «Bellagio Hotel and Casino» | 1.5 million dollars |
Despite the fact that the security of any gambling establishment is always ready to repel any attempt of intruders, it does not always lead to the desired result for the casino. Below we take an in-depth look at a couple of the most interesting stories on the table.
Bill Brenen and $500,000 in a Trash Bag
This robbery could be called the quietest of all those on the table. It was elaborate and done by a Stardust employee. This establishment was in Las Vegas until 2016, but after that, it was torn down and Echelon for Boyd Gaming Corp took its place. The gambling club cashier had held his position for many years. He worked honestly and had a reputation for responsibility. One day, which was September 2, 1992, he came to work and spent his shift. At the end of his shift, he left the casino with a black garbage bag.
In fact, however, the bag contained his “severance package” of $0.5 million. However, there was not only cash, but chips as well. Since that day, no one has ever seen him again. The police investigated the crime, but it did not bring any significant results. Law enforcement has two versions of the man’s fate:
- Bill had falsified documents and also had plastic surgery to change his appearance so he could live a life of pleasure;
- Bill worked with his partner and he liquidated him to avoid sharing the stolen money.
It is impossible to verify or disprove any of these versions. To this day, it is unknown exactly how the story ended. It is better not to make such difficult decisions to avoid tempting fate, and earn honestly and openly in the casino. At newvegas casino users can play slots with progressive jackpots and win large sums of money completely legally. To do this, you only need to register at the company, following two main rules: be of legal age and create one account for one person.
The Truck and the Circus Circus Casino Robbery
Heather Tolchef was a young and beautiful girl who worked as a collection truck driver. On the first of October 1993, she began her workday with two male colleagues. They loaded a decent amount of funds into the truck and drove to the sites. Their first location was to be a world-famous casino called Circus Circus.
Upon reaching their destination, the two men took one bag of cash and entered the establishment itself with it. Heather was supposed to pick them up at the entrance after 20 minutes, but she didn’t appear there. It later turned out that the girl had left that sunny afternoon on her own affairs, neatly taking with her the $3 million in cash that was in her truck (read more about that vehicle here: https://www.britannica.com/technology/truck-vehicle).
Police launched an investigation into this high-profile crime. But even though the search began hot on the trail, they were unable to find the woman who had committed the crime. It turned out that she had left the United States with her boyfriend for the Netherlands. For 12 years, the case was considered open. Until one day in 2005, Heather herself appeared at the police station and admitted what she had done. She explained her actions by the fact that she was overcome with the throes of conscience. The court found the girl guilty and sentenced her to five years and three months in prison. Her partner did not confess and was left free.
Unsuccessful Robbery of the Soboba Casino
This robbery could have been the screenplay for a Hollywood movie. In early August 2007, three men stole $1.5 million from the Soboba Casino in Riverside. One of them knew the establishment’s system very well, as he had held the position of video surveillance technician there. Many items were used in the robbery, such as:
- pepper spray;
- firearms;
- duct tape;
- a wig, etc.
The robbery was carefully planned. The guns were used to threaten casino employees so that they would not resist, the wig hid the true appearance of the robber, and duct tape was applied to disarm the guards. The sheriff’s department later commented that the plan for the raid itself was a really good one. But it even helped evade justice. All of the suspects were caught and convicted, and the stolen money was returned to the gambling house. At the same time, there was a real high-speed desert chase after the two perpetrators.
