Cash handling in a casino. (Image: neatorama.com)
Ever wondered how much a casino keeps on site? On the off chance that you are planning an elaborate casino heist, here’s our handy print-out-and-keep guide. Although, it’s only fair to warn you, that this legally makes us entitled to a 10% cut of any ill-gotten gains you should accrue thereafter.
Right Then, Lets Plan That Heist
Firstly, you must accurately predict the day when the vault will be at its fullest, before outlining specific skills relative to the project and recruiting your team accordingly. Then, draw up your plan as a group and make certain everyone is on point and crystal clear what their role in the heist is. At this point, members of the professionally skilled criminal elite should be able to spot any risks and highlight them. Of course, this mastermind team of baddies should be able to propose solutions and keep the risks at a minimum.
Skilfully and working as a team, a scale appropriate model of the casino must be constructed allowing everyone to take part in a “dry run” before tasks are officially delegated and individual preparation ensues.
Surveillance is conducted, in which times are estimated down to a millisecond of precision so the team know how long certain aspects of the event will take and, according to the movie Ocean’s Eleven, even the amount of air there is for the man in the vault must be calculated.
When all the prep work is done your team of heisters can put their plan into progress, with a delegated hacker watching over events through in-house CCTV directing the gang as necessary.
Is It Worth It Though?
Well, imagine going to all the effort of pre-planning an elaborate heist on a casino. Not necessarily a high end super casino, or even a rundown seaside casino, but any casino. You have meticulously recruited the perfect team, planned and acted out every scenario and pre-emptied every possible outcome, sparing no details.
And, after all that, just when the plan reaches its climax, you are finally about to secure your life changing, casino breaking win fall and…. nothing. Well, something certainly but definitely not what you were hoping for or anything that remotely equates to the effort you have committed to over the past twelve plus months.
Well, the likelihood of that is low. I mean, either pulling the heist off in the first place or opening up an empty vault. On the off chance that you do get past a casino’s security protocols, you’ll soon realize that it is worth it because there is a ton of money in even the worst casino.
How Much Money is Actually On Site Then?
Let’s be honest, it depends on where in the world you are. If you are talking about a local British seaside casino then it will hold a sufficient sum but a great deal less than the Hippodrome in London’s Leicester SQ, or the extremely high end Monte Carlo, Vegas or Macau. Basically, the bigger the whales, the bigger the pot.
That said, the basics are the same. As a general rule of thumb, a casino must hold in reserve enough cash to cover every chip in play on its floor. This is there to safeguard a bettor’s gambling rights and to ensure payment on all debts accrued by gambling wagers, plus the total amount advertised on pay out machines.
A rough estimate would be that, even a small urban casino, would be holding, at least, $20 million or so on hand at any given time. So forget about Vegas, even the worst casino has a sum worthy of a thieves’ desire.
So is Ocean’s Eleven Realistic Or Not Then?
Well, the movie called the law correctly, so it’s not all silly. And there have been events in real life too. In March 2013, the Crown casino in Melbourne is said to have lost $32million in a hi-tech heist. Using only an £3 earpiece and a computer, two conmen stole the money by remotely accessing the venue’s security camera and then directing their high roller in-place ringer how to bet based on other players’ hands of cards.
Basically, while the movie involves an elaborate heist, the biggest real life example we have to go on is far less exciting and basic. The schemers used the casino’s security system against itself and played the table accordingly. What the story does tell us though, is that there was sufficient cash on site to walk away with $32m Australian dollars.
We do not recommend this method for your heist. While it may offer better odds of success, it’s far more boring and in no way as cool as dressing like Sinatra or Clooney and ripping off a casino in style.