Ho New / Reuters
A thief has discovered an entirely new way of breaking the bank at a Las Vegas casino: Rob it at gunpoint.
Police say a man wearing a motorcycle helmet walked up to a craps table at the lavish Bellagio hotel casino Tuesday morning, brandishing a firearm and demanded chips, of which he was given $1.5 million worth. No injuries were reported, no shots were fired, and no money was taken from casino patrons, according to the Las Vegas Review Journal. He just wanted the chips.
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The unfortunate part for the helmeted robber is that it would have probably been more financially beneficial for him to actually try to get some cash because Bellagio’s chips are not likely to be exchanged for money thanks to industry safeguards.
Authorities believe this robbery may be related to one last week in which a man, also wearing a helmet, stuck up the poker room at the Suncoast casino, a few miles away. Tuesday’s chip grab makes the tenth casino robbery in 2010.