Bellagio Robbers lose Wigs, $115k and Dignity

If you’re looking for yet another reason to stay at home, play online poker and earn rakeback, how about the fact that you don’t have to worry about getting robbed? After all, how often do you hear about somebody holding an online poker player at gunpoint, then demanding that they transfer their bankroll to the robbers? Well, that's exactly what happened when two men recently tried to rob the Bellagio in Las Vegas, only to make themselves look like complete morons in the process.

Robbery or Joke?

Two men dressed in wigs and sunglasses walked up to a Bellagio blackjack table with the intention of spraying everybody in the vicinity with pepper spray, and then taking all the chips they could. Unfortunately for them, their plan got off to a bad start when one of the men had trouble using the spray. Eventually, the canister did go off, and he sprayed the dealer and surrounding players.

The caper was so badly executed though that one of the blackjack players, Richard Hauck, thought the robbers were joking at first. Things didn’t go much smoother from there - one of the crooks (Michael Belton) took $115,000 worth of chips, only to be wrestled to the ground by Bellagio security. The sprayer actually managed to escape and is still at large, although empty-handed.

Craigslist Criminals

When planning a heist on a major casino, most people don’t go looking for their accomplices on Craigslist.org. But don’t tell that to the currently anonymous escapee, who found Belton through an ad he posted about repossessing cars. According to Belton, he went with the man to Las Vegas under the false pretense that they were going to repossess a car; however, Belton finally learned of the future robbery upon entering Sin City.

He alleges to have gone along with the plot because he needed to raise money for his sick grandmother. Whether this turns out to be the case or not, it’s unlikely that the courtroom will take it easy on Belton after his foiled crime. Also, you can bet that the sprayed blackjack players are so traumatized right now that they’ll solely stick to online poker and casino games in the future!