Casino Crime

Insane True Casino Crime Stories

Fill a room full of flashing lights, loud noises and loads of cash, and what are you most likely going to attract? Criminal masterminds! Casino heists are common in the industry, and while many perpetrators have snatched the cash and chips never to be seen again, the same cannot be said for the following casino crime participants.

At EjWagner-CrimeHistorian.com we have taken a special interest in crime which occurs in the land-based casino and gambling environments, and not only do we report on gambling crime history, but we also provide the last casino crime news.

Casino Crime News 2009: ‘Mr Casino’

Even though Richard Taylor’s crimes eventually caught up with him, he could definitely be categorised as a criminal mastermind, and he was so successful at scamming casinos that he earned himself the nickname Mr Casino. Taylor focused on high roller play at the craps table and set up an elaborate network of players and dealers that would allow small rule breaches to occur seemingly unnoticed. After a while, these small rule breaches added up to $700,000 worth of losses from just two casinos and Taylor was eventually caught and sentenced to several decades in prison.

Casino Crime 1992: The Stardust Heist

Bill Brennan was just your average cashier at The Stardust Casino and there was honestly nothing remarkable about him – or so his employers thought. While Brennan was most certainly no criminal mastermind, his ability to remain calm under pressure certainly aided in his plan. In September, 1992, Brennan placed $500,000 worth of casino cash into his backpack and calmly walked out of the casino on his lunchbreak. What truly makes this true crime casino story Hollywood-worthy is the fact that Brennan has never been found, and it would appear that he simply vanished.

Casino Crime News 2010: Berlin Poker Heist

March 2010 saw some of the biggest names in the world of professional poker descend upon Berlin to play for a €1 million prize. As the tournament kicked off, armed men in balaclava’s stormed the venue in order to get their hands on the money, and panic erupted. Hundreds of spectators and tournament participants were trampled while attempting to flee the scene and the robbers got away with almost €200,000 without harming a single patron. However, several people were injured during the panicked stampede, and to make matters worse, the entire robbery was streamed live online as part of the media coverage of the event.

Casino Crime 2006: The Trash-Bag Cashier

Much like Bill Brennan, Elizabeth Williams is another example of a humble, bog-standard casino employee attempting to stick it to the man – except she was caught in the act. Apparently Williams didn’t give the whole robbery much thought as she emptied $50,000 from gambling machines into black trash-bags directly in front of the casino’s security cameras. She may have even gotten away with it if her employers hadn’t noticed that Williams calmly walked out of the casino with 3 trash bags, but only 2 of them ended up in the dumpster, prompting them to check the security cameras.

Latest Casino Crime News

If true casino and gambling crime fascinates you, then you’ve come to the right place. Not only do we focus on casino heists from days past at EjWagner-CrimeHistorian.com but we also provide our readers in Canada and New Zealand with the latest casino crime news and casino cheaters.

Assessing the Impact of Casino Gambling on Crime

February 14, 2022July 19, 2017 by admin

Does Casino Gambling Raise Crime Rates? Canadians and New Zealanders have many things in common, starting with their colonial heritage. Casino fans in both nations also have access to legal land-based operations, but they are subject to different rules regarding online casino gaming. Canadians are allowed to play at any Internet casinos registered by Canadian … Read more

Casino Cheaters

February 14, 2022July 4, 2017 by admin

Everyone knows that casinos have some of the most advanced security systems in the world. You’d have to have a special kind of genius, or perhaps insanity, to beat these systems. Here are eight of the biggest and most impressive casino cheaters in history. Tommy Glenn Carmichael Tommy Glenn Carmichael gained millions of dollars over … Read more

What Is Money Laundering?

February 14, 2022July 4, 2017 by admin

Money laundering is the process of making illegally acquired (i.e. “dirty” money) appear legal (i.e. “clean”). It is not confined to casinos: there are multiple methods of money laundering. Casino money laundering is simply one of them. For example, if you have money you received from a bribe, you can get your cash illegally converted into casino chips for a fee by a junket. This is the placement stage. You can then take these chips to a casino to gamble with or simply cash in. This way, no-one will know the money you have if from a bribe – it will look like you won it fair and square. Another way is to simply buy a whole lot of casino chips at the casino with a suitcase of cash. However, this will probably look highly suspicious. If you do gamble with the chips this is called gambling money laundering – a way to introduce some risk and a fun time in your casino money laundering process, and also make it look less suspicious.

Looking at the Top Casino Heists in History

February 14, 2022June 22, 2017 by admin

Who isn’t fascinated by casino heists. So ingenious and yet so harebrained, individuals scheming to take vast sums of money from casinos, which are more secure even than banks. Even the smallest level of cheating can get you caught with the most high-tech security systems in the world. Actually attempting to get away with thousands or even millions of dollars – no-one but the most audacious would attempt such a thing. Below are some of the most daring casino heists in history – many failures, a few successes, a great deal of money and stories stranger and more exciting than fiction.