Motorcycle bandit robs Las Vegas casino of $1.5 million

[Hump66]

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6BD5LO20101214

"An armed man on a motorcycle robbed a craps table at the Bellagio casino of $1.5 million in chips early on Tuesday, Las Vegas police said.

A police spokeswoman said the unidentified suspect entered the casino at about 3:50 a.m. local time, wearing a full-face motorcycle helmet, and walked directly to a craps table.

"He pulled a gun, told everyone not to move and took approximately $1.5 million worth of casino chips. The suspect then ran back out to the motorcycle and exited westbound on Flamingo Boulevard," the spokeswoman said.

Police believe the same suspect may have robbed the Las Vegas Suncoast Casino poker room cashier last week using similar means.

The suspect was described as a white male carrying a handgun and last seen wearing a white motorcycle helmet, black down jacket, black pants and black gloves.

His motorcycle was described as a 2009 or 2010 black sport bike."


Not quite the amount of Ocean's 11, but this guy definitely has some style. Apparently robbed a smaller casino on Dec 9th of $20k. Maybe a test run?

 

[Perplexed]

$1.5 million in chips? I'm not a gambler, so I have no idea how things are done in Vega$. Can this guy cash in the chips somewhere else, or are they marked with the casino's name? I'd think he would have a hard time converting those chips into cash since the casino probably sent out an immediate alert. Unless he sold them off over time in small packages to gamblers

 

[TJay74]

I dont think they can kill the chips without a bunch off issues. He is either going to use them over time and play on them or sell them off over time.

 

[BadgerLB]

Some casino's will pick up other casino's chips... but it doesn't sound like they can identify him... ditch the helmet, bike, gear, and start cashing them out every month or two... it would take a while, but what else does he have to do? heck send strippers in to cash em out like they did in oceans.

 

[UhYeahWhatever]

It's worthless. I don't know if they (authorities) ever said what denomination chips the robber got away with, but anything over $100 chips are pretty much useless due to tracking system. At $1,500,000......the LEAST manageable amount of chips to carry are $5,000 chips which would be 300 chips. Even at $1000 chips, that's 1500 chips.....way too many to carry.

A rack holds 100 chips, a bird-cage holds approx. 8 racks (800 chips), and let me tell ya, it's NOT light. So even if all the chips were $1000 denomination (1500 chips), he/she would have had to have carried 2 bird-cages which is almost impossible to carry on a motorcycle.

My guess is it was an inside job.

 

[soonersfan]

It's worthless. I don't know if they (authorities) ever said what denomination chips the robber got away with, but anything over $100 chips are pretty much useless due to tracking system. At $1,500,000......the LEAST manageable amount of chips to carry are $5,000 chips which would be 300 chips. Even at $1000 chips, that's 1500 chips.....way too many to carry.

A rack holds 100 chips, a bird-cage holds approx. 8 racks (800 chips), and let me tell ya, it's NOT light. So even if all the chips were $1000 denomination (1500 chips), he/she would have had to have carried 2 bird-cages which is almost impossible to carry on a motorcycle.

My guess is it was an inside job.

Hey way to screw up a good story with a bunch of facts. It's a good thing you're not a member of the media.

 

[inactive]

It's worthless. I don't know if they (authorities) ever said what denomination chips the robber got away with, but anything over $100 chips are pretty much useless due to tracking system. At $1,500,000......the LEAST manageable amount of chips to carry are $5,000 chips which would be 300 chips. Even at $1000 chips, that's 1500 chips.....way too many to carry.

A rack holds 100 chips, a bird-cage holds approx. 8 racks (800 chips), and let me tell ya, it's NOT light. So even if all the chips were $1000 denomination (1500 chips), he/she would have had to have carried 2 bird-cages which is almost impossible to carry on a motorcycle.

My guess is it was an inside job.

From what I heard there were $25k chips in there. That would lighten the load considerably.

No link as that was a radio report.

 

[UhYeahWhatever]

From what I heard there were $25k chips in there. That would lighten the load considerably.

No link as that was a radio report.

If that's the case, DEFINATELY useless. Might as well get rid of it before they track his/her ass down. I wouldn't even keep it as a souvenir if I were them. Having a chip like that is gonna stick out like a sore thumb.

 

[TJay74]

Track him as in how? Is there some sort of electronic tracking system built into those chips or just a identifier in them that the casino can log as being stolen?

 

[JRSherman]

Track him as in how? Is there some sort of electronic tracking system built into those chips or just a identifier in them that the casino can log as being stolen?

+1. Not that I plan on stepping foot in a casino, but
were I to break that personal law
Murphy didn't bankrupt me in the process
stars and planets align to make me mega rich
someone's pulling an Oceans 13 heist in the process
yadayadayada

I would like to have a big chip like that as a souvenir without the Gaming Commission getting on my butt lol.

Seems pretty unlikely to me that there's room in a casino chip for an electronic sending device, especially to be in every last one of them. . .even in Vegas that's a hell of a lot of production cost.

I gotta go watch the Ocean's trilogy now. Too much fun.