Casino Security: How Safe Are Casinos?
Casinos are one of the most heavily monitored public areas in the country. Most land based casinos will have hundreds of cameras and more casino security personal than a small town. But does that mean you are safe?
Casino security increasingly turns to police to keep casinos safe. © Pierre Herman, Unsplash
Casino Security: How Safe Are Casinos?
While it’s true that much of the focus of casino security is on protecting the casino’s assets, it’s important to realize that you, as a customer, are a very highly prized casino asset and much thought and attention goes into making sure you are safe while on property.
Parking Lot Safety
This often starts before you ever set foot in the casino, as one of the most vulnerable safety spots in any casino is its parking structure. Well-run and secure operations will ensure that there are plenty of cameras and security in plain sight at any parking area.
All those officers in golf carts and cameras with blinking lights are clearly aimed at deterrence, but other security features are lurking as well. One of the most highly effective measures is also one of the cheapest.
License plate readers have become almost ubiquitous across casino parking lots and garages because they let security know anytime a flagged plate enters casino grounds. Those license plates may be flagged by local law enforcement, say as a stolen vehicle or one seen at a robbery.
The casino’s surveillance team could also flag it as a card counter or someone banned from the casino. It could even be a VIP who the casino hosts want to be notified of when they arrive.
At the Front Door
Once inside, you will always be greeted by a casino security guard at the door. Their nominal job is checking identification to make sure minors don’t gamble but don’t be fooled. They will assess you, your demeanor, your appearance, and even anything you might be carrying to ensure that you or your possessions don’t pose a threat.
They will also be in possession of a list of Be On the Look Out (BOLO) sheets from other casinos, with pictures and descriptions of people who have caused issues in the recent past. They will also have on-property BOLOs of people who are no longer welcome or are suspected of various violations, which surveillance wants to keep a closer eye on.
Speaking of surveillance, they may have already gotten a look at you in the parking garage elevator or walking up to the property, but at the front door, either surveillance staff or, increasingly, facial identification software will be making sure that you are allowed on the property and that there are no issues with your play.
On the Casino Floor
While some of the worst offenders are stopped before they can even get on the casino floor, the sheer volume of traffic through major casinos and the cavernous space inside them mean that there is going to be some petty crime. Mostly, it’s someone grabbing something out of your purse while you are distracted by a slot machine or someone grabbing your phone while you are playing blackjack.
Again, this isn’t frequent because there are much better places with a lot fewer cameras to ply this kind of trade, but it does happen. Some particularly bold crooks have been known to steal money from your chips on the dice table or at roulette while you are busy with the games.
Pickpockets, particularly in a crowd, can go unknown to even surveillance cameras, so be aware of your environment and protect your personal space. While people may just be crowding your craps table because of a hot roll or reaching over you on roulette because table space is at a minimum on a busy weekend, they may have other motives as well.
This is why almost all large resorts have casino undercover security, in that they can often get a better view, down in the middle of a crowd, than the cameras can from the ceiling.
What Happens in Vegas
Obviously, your room in a major strip hotel is going to be very secure with state-of-the-art electronic locks, cameras in the elevators, and guards downstairs at the doors. But one of the most common crimes in Las Vegas casinos, and even at casinos across the country, occurs when you ask strangers back to your hotel room.
Sometimes, this may be a paid proposition, especially in Sin City, or other times, it may be just a flirty stranger you’d like to get to know better. Unfortunately, this may end up with you waking up in the morning with your wallet or purse gone, as well as your watch, phone, and possibly even the hotel robes.
We are pretty sure the whole coming to, in a bathtub full of ice with your kidney missing is pure urban legend, but you never know. One reason this crime continues isn’t so much that the casinos couldn’t identify and prosecute the perpetrators; it’s that it goes widely unreported by victims who prefer not to have too many questions asked when they return home.
When Things Go Really South
While pickpockets and prostitutes are a nuisance, the reality of 2025 America is that casinos do need to prepare for much more serious eventualities. The vast majority of casino security you will encounter in US real money casinos is unarmed, and that is for the very simple reason that even highly trained police officers often shoot innocent bystanders by mistake in a gunfight with an armed assailant.
In the not-so-distant past, some properties wouldn’t have armed casino security staff at all under the assumption that whatever a thief might steal would be nothing compared to the litigation costs and publicity fallout from a gun battle on the casino floor that left innocent people hurt or dead and relied on the local police force to provide an armed response.
While that may still be true at smaller regional casinos, large Las Vegas resorts have opted for secretive Special Response teams that closely resemble SWAT teams when dealing with active shooter situations. They also increasingly use K9 units for both bomb or firearm detection, as well as for disarming some attackers.
Still others, without the budget for these SRTs in-house, contract these services out. One company, Protective Force International, contracts with over 18 Las Vegas casinos to provide both K-9 and SRT teams when called upon or for help with special events.
Online Casino Security
While only seven states in the country currently allow gambling online, more than 30 states allow mobile wagering on sports, and a staggering amount of money flows through these online casinos each year. Revenue just from online casinos will be more than 7 billion this year and sports betting revenue is nearly double that at 14 billion.
Keeping all of those 1 and 0’s secure is a whole other casino security nightmare. And much like keeping yourself safe in a land-based casino, much of the responsibility for staying out of trouble online starts with you.
First and foremost, only play with licensed sites in legal jurisdictions. Trusting your money and personal information to an offshore site in the Carribean is akin to walking down a dark alley off Fremont Street with all your winnings from a hot night on the dice table.
Never click on a link asking for information or help with your account. Go to the site directly. Just like with your bank, BetMGM won’t ask for your password in a poorly written email with spelling and grammar mistakes.
Use secure payment options. Find casinos that accept Paypal or some other type of service that keeps your bank account or credit card number separate from the rest of your info. Never use crypto, or those pay with cash ATMs. Once you hit send, that money is gone, so be 100% sure where you are sending it and how you are sending it.
Conclusion
Casinos don’t gamble with their player’s safety. They spend millions of dollars on everything from state-of-the-art surveillance to gun sniffing dogs. In a world that is increasingly unpredictable, with threats from everything from deadly pandemics to active shooters, you can rely on casinos to help make sure that you stay safe while you gamble.
But the keyword is help. Casinos are for adults who are comfortable with their own decisions. Whether it’s betting the rent money on red bringing a stranger to your room or wiring all your hard-earned cash in untraceable crypto to Aberbijan to play in an online poker game, you are ultimately responsible for your own safety and security, so make sure and play smart and pay attention.
