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With news that an armed man on a motorcycle committed a brazen early morning robbery at the posh Bellagio Hotel Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, one had to question what he might do with his millions.
The $1.5 million stolen was not in the form of cash but rather casino chips.
"Casino chips are not like cash," explained Yvette Monet, spokeswoman for the Bellagio's parent company, MGM Resorts. "At some point they must be redeemed for cash at the Bellagio."
The unidentified man ran across the casino floor around 4 am Tuesday morning.
"He entered the casino floor and went directly to the craps table where he confronted patrons with a firearm," says Lt. Clint Nichols, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
The time it took to commit the armed heist was no more than three minutes.
This is the 10th casino robbery in Vegas this year according to police.
"The number is still relatively low," Lt. Nichols says. "It's not an epidemic that we see valleywide."
Some high profile robberies in Vegas casino bathrooms have been cause for alarm however.
Just a few weeks ago, a man was murdered in the Opera House Casino bathroom. A suspect in that shooting was later apprehended.
Early in October, World Series of Poker finalist and boyfriend of 2007 WSOPE winner Annette Obrestad, Scott Montgomery, was held up and robbed of all his money in the bathroom of the Bellagio Hotel. The robber in that case was never detained.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
