The bandit who robbed Las Vegas' Bellagio casino this week went to a lot of trouble to get his hands on some mostly worthless plastic chips, security experts say. The helmet-wearing gunman made off with $1.5 million in casino chips ranging in value from $100 to $25,000—but he won't be able to redeem them anywhere except at the scene of the crime. Casinos don't publicize their security measures, but the $25,000 chips are almost certainly fitted with some kind of tracking device, the Los Angeles Times notes.
Casino security guards didn't pursue the robber, and experts say letting him get away was definitely the right move. A gaming researcher at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas asked: "Which is a worse headline: '$1.5 million stolen from the Bellagio in chips'—or 'Three innocent bystanders dead in gun battle'?"
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