How two men took down a casino for a record-breaking score.
It wasn’t the $12,500 price tag placed on the cognac-based cocktail that was going to splash the Crown Casino’s name on front pages across the world. It wasn’t even the entrance of that particularly expensive shake into the Guinness World Record books that was going to set eyebrows raising in February 2013.
Noooo. What was going to make the casino the talk of Melbourne, what gave the casino unwanted worldwide publicity, was the incident that was shielded by the news of the exorbitant cocktail, a beverage invented solely as a cover story to cover up a major heist.
The multi-millionaire who was due to purchase “The Winston”, as it was called, was New Zealander, James Manning. The historic significance of the drink, and the reason for its hefty price tag, were attributed to Winston Churchill and Dwight Eisenhower.
When planning the D-Day landings during the war they were known to have a drink or two between sessions of this particular cocktail.
As good as the cocktail was, however, at the end of this particular day, James Manning was not going to spend a dime on the super expensive cocktail but was going to steal $32 million from the Australian casino in one night right under their noses.
Months previously, James Manning had been invited, as a known high roller used to gambling thousands on the turn of a card or the roll of a dice, to the casino by the VIP services manager. In anticipation of his arrival, the manager made a villa available for him and his family and ensured that the vault was properly stocked with sufficient funds just in case Manning got lucky.
Manning’s game of choice was Blackjack. He was good at it, but it was still a game of chance, results dependent on the players at the table and the simple turn of a card.
Now, winning at a casino’s blackjack table is not illegal, irrespective of the amount. This night Manning was planning on betting huge sums with wanton abandon so he could win big. On this particular night, he was going to bet confidently, fearlessly, even recklessly, because he knew that the outcome was never going to be in doubt and that it would have nothing to do with luck.
His intention was to rob the casino even as they watched his every move and he smiled in anticipation as the first cards were dealt.
Days earlier the intricate security system of the casino that had cost millions had been hacked by his inside man, nonother than the VIP services manager himself. With his experience, he easily gained access to the computerized system, not so he could manipulate the cameras, but so he could know what cards were coming next.
One aspect that the security system possessed was the ability to monitor the cards as each one was installed with an identifying chip to prevent fraud, to prevent players from bringing in identical cards and cheating the casino.
Having access to this information was a goldmine and a system was set up between the two so Manning could receive signals when to bet. How much was up to him, but when all the odds were rigged in his favor, he decided to bet millions.
And so, without a gun being raised, without anyone being threatened, with no complicated getaway needed to be meticulously planned, Manning and his accomplice stole the most money ever from a casino in only 8 hands of blackjack.
It was, to put it mildly, daylight robbery.
He bet enormously when he should have folded. He stuck when any normal player would bet to beat the dealer. He played flawlessly, and a mere eight hands later he was $32 million richer.
Satisfied with his night’s work, and more so that everything had gone off without a hitch, Manning sauntered back to his comped villa to spend the rest of the night with his family, his newfound riches waiting in the casino vault ready to be transferred to his private account in the morning.
That night he slept soundly.
Or he would have done if there hadn’t been a loud knock on his door in the middle of the night.
On the other side of the door were some big men with big frowns. Their unblinking eyes showed that they were firm believers in the motto that “The House always wins.”
Manning’s big win had been scrutinized from every suspicious angle, and the surveillance officers pored over every hand that Manning had played, over and over again. As elaborate as his scheme was, they soon cottoned on that something unusual was going on.
When they realized that Manning was being signaled when to bet by their very own VIP Manager, they immediately understood that they were being robbed in plain sight!
Acting quickly, they blocked any attempt to transfer the $32 million out of the casino and went to pay James Manning a visit.
In the middle of the night, he was confronted by the burly security guards and not-so-kindly instructed to leave the casino immediately. And never to return. The police weren’t called for two reasons. First, no money had actually been transferred out of the casino or withdrawn from the vault. And secondly, the casino was embarrassed.
To admit publicly that they had been robbed in such an easy fashion and for that exorbitant amount of money, would not reflect well on the organization. They had to cover it up, and The Winston cocktail publicity was a perfect diversion to deflect from the robbery.
The occasion was hyped up in an attempt to smother any leak of the heist, using the involvement of the Guinness Book of World Records as a convenient smokescreen.
No charges were filed against Manning or his accomplice. They were both banned but at least they were not thrown into prison.
Yet o add insult to injury, not only did they not get away with the $32 million from their elaborately planned heist, but they didn’t even get a chance to drown their sorrows with a sip of the record-setting $12,500 cocktail.
