The Most Daring, Shocking, and Biggest Casino Heists of All-Time

10. Rogue Cop Holds Up Casinos

• • Name(s): Caleb Rogers
  • Year: 2021-22
  • Location: Three Las Vegas Casinos
  • Amount: $164,000

Armed casino robberies of cashiers are the most popular method for thieves. The story of 35-year-old Caleb Rogers isn’t particularly interesting for his modus operandi, but more so for who he was.

From 2021 to 2022, the then Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officer hit three casinos for roughly $165,000. He committed three separate casino heists over four months at the Red Rock Hotel, Aliante Hotel, and lastly, the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino.

Using his LVMP-issued handgun, Rogers went to the cashier’s cage at the Red Rock and Aliante and left with more than $85,000 in November 2021 and January 2022. As his colleagues searched for the bandit, Rogers got even more brazen and attempted to pull off another casino heist.

In February 2022, Rogers arrived at the Rio and demanded cash, similarly to the first two thefts. Despite exiting the building with $79,000, Rogers had a brief stand-off with security personnel and was subsequently arrested after threatening to shoot them.

Rogers reportedly committed the heists due to crushing debt from a gambling addiction. Facing a life sentence, the former police officer was ultimately sentenced to 12 years in prison.

9. Stardust Sportsbook Employee Vanishes with $500k

• • Name(s): William “Bill” Brennan
  • Year: 1992
  • Location: Stardust Resort and Casino – Las Vegas, NV
  • Amount: $500,000

Although the vast majority of criminals get caught and prosecuted, there are a select few who pull off the heist and are never caught. As of May 2025, former Stardust sportsbook worker 34-year-old William Brennan remains missing.

On September 22, 1992, Brennan went to work at the now-demolished Stardust Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. The infamous former Mob casino, which inspired Martin Scorsese’s 1995 movie, Casino, was home to some of Las Vegas’ shadiest and criminal behavior in the city’s history.

That includes Brennan, who left his workplace with $500,000 in cash ($225,000) and casino chips ($275,000). While co-workers believed Brennan was counting money and chips, he exited with the bills and chips in his possession. Aware of where the cameras were pointed, Brennan managed to escape without a trace.

Authorities searched his apartment, but he was absent, along with his cat. To pull off the heist and collect all $500,000, he would have needed an accomplice to cash the casino chips or a sophisticated disguise to dodge security personnel.

In 2006, Brennan was removed from the FBI’s Most Wanted List after the Stardust Resort and Casino shut its doors.

8. Family Turns Smoke Bombs into a Million

• • Name(s): Royal Hopper, Bobby Hopper, Jeff Hopper, Wesley Carroll
  • Year: 1992
  • Location: Stardust Resort and Casino – Las Vegas, NV
  • Amount: $1.1 Million

In a family affair at the Stardust, Royal Hopper, 57, and his two younger sons, along with a friend, Wesley Carroll, executed a plan to rob the casino. Only months before Brennan’s heist, Royal recruited his two sons to help him with a huge scheme.

Working as a security guard at the Stardust, the elder Hopper was familiar with the property. In September 1991, while working as a security guard, Royal was “robbed” of $150,000 while pushing a cart of cash. Later in the investigation, it was discovered that Royal’s son, Bobby, was identified as the thief.

With ambitions for a much larger casino heist, Royal contacted his two sons to assist him. Along with friend Wesley Carroll, the thieves drove to the Stardust loading dock in the rear of the casino in a brown station wagon with plans to rob an armored truck guard.

After weeks of planning, the group entered the Stardust and carefully monitored the armored truck guard as he collected $500,000 in cash and $600,000 in checks. Jeff called security to inform them of a fight occurring at the pool to divert their attention.

OTD 1958 the iconic Stardust Hotel opened on the #LasVegas Strip. It opened as the "world's largest hotel" with over 1,000 rooms in 6 motel structures and a 16,500 sq ft casino. It remained a #Vegas destination until November 2006. 📷s @summacorp pic.twitter.com/N9bohk6umB

— _GrandpaD__Old School Vegas✨ (@_GrandPaD) July 2, 2024

Simultaneously, 7-Eleven Big Gulp cups, which were equipped with smoke bombs, exploded on the casino floor. As smoke filled the casino, the thieves followed beyond the armored truck guard to seek his satchel of cash and checks. As the guard went for his service weapon, Bobby used his .45-caliber pistol to deter him.

The group scooped up the bags of cash and checks and exited back to their station wagon. Initially, they escaped, but Royal was ultimately arrested, followed by his sons and Wesley days after the heist. Royal was sentenced to 19 years in prison, Bobby, 14, Wes, 10, and Jeff, five.

Upon his release, Jeff discovered a new calling in the ministry as a church pastor.

7. Biker Bandit Nabs Millions from the Bellagio

• • Name(s): Tony Carleo
  • Year: 2010
  • Location: Bellagio Resort & Casino – Las Vegas, NV
  • Amount: $1.5 Million

In one of the wildest and perhaps stupidest casino heists, the 29-year-old son of a local Las Vegas judge, Anthony “Tony” Carleo, stole millions in chips from a Bellagio craps table. Five days earlier, Carleo robbed the Suncoast Casino for $19,000 and set his sights on the world-famous Bellagio.

Wearing motorcycle gear and a helmet, Carleo approached a craps table on the casino floor in the early morning hours. Armed with a gun, the robber scooped up as many chips as he could before running away and fleeing the casino. Carleo hopped on his Suzuki motorcycle with chips in hand after outrunning security.

He would escape but committed a dumb misstep after turning to the internet for help to cash the chips. Known as “Oceanspray25” on poker forum TwoPlusTwo, Carleo tried to entice other users into helping him. Days before the heist in Dec. 2010, Carleo was reportedly agitated after losing $10,000 in one hand at the Bellagio poker room.

Carleo also discussed with another gambler how he’d like to grab some “cranberries” and white chips from the table. He continued explaining how it would be easy with a motorcycle and a black mask. Additionally, Carleo bragged about how he would get off because he has no criminal record and connections.

On Sept. 23, 2009, Carleo filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, propelling him into desperation and motivation for the Bellagio casino heist. Following the robbery, he was identified as losing roughly $105,000 at the Bellagio, of evidence collected from his player’s card activity from Dec. 14, 2010, to Jan. 19, 2011.

In Feb. 2011, Carleo sold some of his stolen chips to an undercover officer and was arrested thereafter. Additionally, evidence from TwoPlusTwo and his interactions in the Bellagio poker room helped convict him to 3 to 11 years in prison in 2011.

6. Surveillance Tech Hog Ties Way to Over a Million

• • Name(s): Rolando Luda Ramos
  • Year: 2007
  • Location: Soboba Casino – San Jacinto, CA
  • Amount: $1.5 Million

In one of the most brazen big casino heists in real life ever, casino employee Rolando Luda Ramos took the Soboba Casino in San Jacinto, CA, for $1.5 million in 2007.

The surveillance technician held his fellow employees at gunpoint and hog-tied three workers near the casino vault. With experience installing cameras at the casino and knowledge of surveillance procedures at the Soboba Casino, Ramos was able to use this to his advantage.

In the end, he stole roughly $1.5 million from the vault into a duffel bag. The 25-year-old native of Hemet was caught by authorities at a hotel in the vicinity of the Los Angeles International Airport. He had recently applied for an emergency passport with the intention of leaving the United States.

Police officers noted that Ramos was wearing a disguise consisting of a cheap wig. At the time of his arrest, he had already spent a significant portion, roughly $500,000, of the money on drugs, transportation, lodging, food, and female relations.

5. Roulette Masterminds Beat The Ritz with Laser

• • Name(s): Unknown
  • Year: 2004
  • Location: Ritz Casino – London, UK
  • Amount: $1.7 Million

In 2004, a group of tech-savvy gamblers sought to push the law to the limit with an unbelievable $1.7 million roulette heist at The Ritz Casino. The group, which consisted of a Hungarian man, a Serbian woman, and a minimum of one accomplice, used a small laser in a mobile phone to help them win huge on high-stakes roulette.

The casino heist was simple: Aim the laser scanner at the roulette wheel to measure the trajectory and speed of the roulette ball and wheel. While the human eye is incapable of predicting where the ball will land before the betting round is called, the laser device was incredibly accurate in predicting the area of the wheel the ball would settle in.

The information from the laser was calculated by a computer, which was in turn forwarded to the team. Although the laser couldn’t predict the exact number the ball would land in, it provided them with enough information to give them an idea of where it would stop.

In two nights, the roulette team was able to win £1.3 million, or $1.7 million. The large wins immediately caught the attention of security, who discovered they were using the laser device.

Although it may have been against house rules, the UK didn’t have a law at the time prohibiting technology use in the casino. Consequently, the roulette players weren’t prosecuted for their massive score despite being arrested at a nearby hotel.

In 2025, the majority of jurisdictions around the world, including Nevada, have laws against the use of technology in playing casino games.

4. Soviet-Trained Commando Takes Down Las Vegas

• • Name(s): Jose Vigoa and Associates
  • Year: 1998-2000
  • Location: MGM Grand Las Vegas, Desert Inn, New York-New York, Mandalay Bay, Bellagio – Las Vegas, NV
  • Amount: $3 Million

In a sophisticated scheme that spanned across five casinos over two years, and included murder, Jose Vigoa, 41, at the time, and his associates made off with approximately $3 million.

Born in Cuba during Fidel Castro’s reign, Vigoa escaped poverty by becoming a Soviet-trained special forces officer. He served in Afghanistan and Angola before setting his eyes on the United States.

Vigoa’s plans for starting a new life were short-lived due to a prison sentence for his involvement in the drug trade. Upon his release, Vigoa hatched a plan to start a criminal enterprise to target some of the most famous casinos in the world on the Las Vegas Strip.

In June 1998, Vigoa, with the help of Pedro Duarte, Luis Suarez, and Oscar Cisneros, started committing armed robberies at Las Vegas casinos. They turned their attention to armed truck drivers at the MGM Grand in September 1998. The Desert Inn followed in June 1999, Mandalay Bay in Oct. 1999, and then finally, the Bellagio in June 2000 before being arrested.

They made off with around $3 million and $160,000 in the Bellagio casino heist alone. The men forced their way into the cashier’s room and pocketed $160,000 in cash. In their most brazen theft yet, shots were fired as Vigoa and his partners fled the property.

Four days following the heist, police got into a vehicle chase with Vigoa, who subsequently crashed his car into a tree. He would ultimately plead guilty to all 46 counts against him, including a first-degree murder charge of two armored truck drivers.

Vigoa is currently serving a life sentence without parole in the High Desert State prison in Nevada for the murders of Gary Dean Prestidge and Richard Sosa.

3. “Bonnie and Clyde” Rob Circus Circus

• • Name(s): Roberto Solis and Heather Tallchief
  • Year: 1993
  • Location: Circus Circus – Las Vegas, NV
  • Amount: $3.1 Million

Well aware that pulling off a big casino robbery was easier with an associate by his side, Roberto Solis, zeroed in on Heather Tallchief in 1993. Shortly after being fired from a nursing assistant job for cocaine use, Tallchief, then a 21-year-old, ran into the perfect storm.

Solis and Tallchief struck up a friendship, which culminated with the duo committing one of the biggest Las Vegas casino heists of all time. In the early stages of their relationship, Tallchief primarily relied on Solis to fuel her cocaine use.

Solis’ apartment included bizarre artifacts, including goat heads, crystals, tarot cards, and an altar. As Solis continued getting closer to Tallchief — who she claimed had a “Manson-like” control over her — encouraged her to apply for a job as an armored truck guard with Loomis Armored. The security company, with contracts at major Las Vegas casinos, hired Tallchief.

On Oct. 1, 1993, Tallchief went to the first stop on her route at the Circus Circus Hotel & Casino. After packing her vehicle with $3.1 million in cash, Tallchief drove off and disappeared, hiding the truck in a rental garage.

The couple used fake IDs to fly to Europe, eventually settling in Amsterdam. In 2005, 12 years after the Circus Circus heist, Tallchief walked into a federal courtroom and turned herself in after traveling back to the US from Amsterdam.

At 33 years old, Tallchief was sentenced to five years in prison. She was also ordered to repay $2.9 million to Loomis Armored. Solis’ whereabouts remain unknown after Tallchief left him in Amsterdam.

2. Shaken, Stirred, and Blackjack Larceny in Australia

• • Name(s): James Manning
  • Year: 2013
  • Location: Crown Casino – Melbourne, AU
  • Amount: $32 Million

Set to enter the Guinness World Records for most expensive cocktail purchased, New Zealand businessman James Manning ended up being embroiled in one of the largest casino heists of all time.

Invited to participate in a PR event for the Crown Casino’s Club 23, Manning agreed to purchase “The Winston”, a $12,500 cognac-based cocktail. Prior to the event at Club 23, Manning played blackjack in the high-limit room the evening before.

After an eight-hand winning streak, Manning netted an eye-watering figure of $32 million.

“We could not believe what he had won, and some of the bets he placed were very, very suspicious,” a former Crown Casino executive said. “Those eight hands, in particular – he bet against the odds and won, so one of our surveillance guys decided to take a closer look.”

The investigation revealed that the security cameras had been tampered with and someone — believed to be an unnamed VIP service manager — had been signaling to Manning. Despite claiming his innocence, Crown Casino security went to Manning’s villa and banned him from the property.

The Crown Casino declined to press charges, and the two parties came to an undisclosed agreement. In the shadow of a massive PR event at Club 23, casino executives hoped to keep the incident a secret. Regarding the cocktail, the casino contacted other high rollers to fill in for Manning.

While the event proceeded, there is no record of the cocktail being officially purchased despite going into the Guinness World Records.

1. MIT Blackjack Team Takes World by Storm

• • Name(s): Bill Kaplan and Students
  • Year: 1979 – 2000
  • Location: Multiple Casinos – Las Vegas, NV (Various), Atlantic City, NJ (Various), Foxwoods Resort Casino, Grand Victoria Casino, IL, Monte Carlo, Monaco (Various)
  • Amount: $50+ Million

Even though it isn’t a casino robbery in the traditional sense, the most infamous and biggest casino heist of all time is courtesy of the MIT Blackjack Team. Founded by Bill Kaplan in 1979, the MIT Blackjack Team, known as the Limited Partnership, Strategic Investments, used card counting to win more than $50 million over roughly two decades.

The original team consisted of six students recruited by Hap from MIT’s Burton-Conner House. Recruited by Haplan after overhearing them discuss his blackjack expertise, the Harvard graduate conceived a plan to beat the casinos by using card counting. With primitive security practices at the time, at least compared to today, Kaplan believed blackjack card counting could be lucrative.

He was spot on. The MIT Blackjack Team, which grew over the years and inspired other groups, won more than $50 million from casinos around the world. Using different disguises, spotters, and verbal/nonverbal cues, they made it nearly impossible for casino security to stop them through the 1980s.

While security technology advanced through the 1990s, the gambling boom, which saw several new casinos open around the world, introduced new opportunities to the team. The original team, led by Kaplan, largely dissolved in 1993 as members delved into other endeavors, but newcomers thrived in smaller groups, including a then 22-year-old Mike Aponte.

Although crowd counting is frowned upon by casinos and against house rules, it isn’t illegal in the eyes of the law. Blackjack players can be banned but not arrested and charged. The MIT Blackjack Team continues to inspire new card counters looking to beat the house to this day!