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"All of a sudden in the distance you see this person running and one person screams 'Get down!' And then you see everyone get down on the floor, the whole casino at once," Andrés told Slashfood.
He hit the deck along with his pal the artist Mikel Urmeneta.
"It was very weird to see an entire casino laying down, everyone on the floor," Andrés said.
Authorities say that a helmet-wearing man pulled a gun at a craps table at 3:50 a.m. December 14, took $1.5 million in chips, dashed from the casino and then sped away on a motorcycle, a crime that has drawn comparisons with an Oceans 11 caper.
It sounds dramatic, but Andrés, who was in Vegas overseeing the opening of two new restaurants at the nearby Cosmopolitan Hotel, did not realize until the next day when he read the news that a serious crime had taken place. His more immediate concern at the time was his bet.
"The ball had hit the number four," he said. "I was going for number four for a long time."
Both lying on the floor, Andrés said to Urmeneta, "What the f---, I finally win and this happens?"
"I was only afraid I was not going to get paid," he said, laughing in retrospect. "But I got paid. I had 20 dollars on four."
Multiplied by the odds of 36 to 1 on that kind of bet, this means that Andres won $720 during the holdup.
"I realized what happened after," the Spanish-born chef said. "But during it I didn't know to be scared or to laugh. I only realized the next day it was news."
"It was a funny two minutes. In the same way everyone got down on the floor at once, everyone stood up and started betting again. It was weird."
Andrés said he never saw the gun, and only glimpsed the gunman from afar. He was in fine shape the following afternoon and said in a telephone interview that he planned to attend the opening of the $3.9 billion Cosmopolitan hotel tonight, December 15. Urmeneta did the artwork for Andrés' new Las Vegas restaurants, one a Jaleo tapas bar modeled after his restaurant of the same name in Washington, D.C., and the other a Chinese-Mexican inspired place called China Poblano.
"This is Vegas," Andrés said. "It was very weird."
Police released a short video showing the robber making his getaway: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NktlrixHG78.
For more on the Bellagio caper, and a roundup of five other Las Vegas heists, visit the Surge Desk at AOL News.
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12-15-2010 @10:20PM usmaels1 said... I am not a gambler...just played a few slots here and there...so I don't understand how this thief taking chips means anything. Can someone explain this to me? I don't see how a thief could cash in over 1 million in chips at another time in the future...especially all at once or even in significant amount at a time. Seems like they have cameras to monitor just about anthing that goes on in a casino.I am sorry if my questions are stupid...I know they are...but I would still appreciate someone explaining this. Thanks.
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12-15-2010 @10:42PM GPinMN said... Couple of things wrong here..... Going to extremely diffucult to cash in these chips... even over time...1.5 mil in chips, your talking high denoms here 5K and upwards. They will be looking for them to show up and you can bet the casino knows when it pays out that kind of money and how the chips were won by the person cashing them. Also the payout on a single # is 35-1 for a $700 payout not 720....
12-18-2010 @11:56PM Mimigirl said... I work in a major casino. I can tell you that when a guest goes to cash in a large denomination chip (usually $1000 or above) or a large amount of smaller denomination chips, the cage worker asks the guest where they were playing, then calls that pit to verify the play. Any casino worker who knows anything about table games play would know this. So in my opinion, this would not have been an "inside job." This thief was basically stupid for taking such high denomination chips; he'll never be able to cash them in.
12-15-2010 @11:03PM usmaels1 said... Yeah...it looks like you agree with me then...thanks for the reply. They make it sound like this was some big robbery, but it seems more like something for Americ'a Stupidest Criminals TV Show. They compared it to Ocean's 11...man was that a bad comparison. That robbery was for cash...and a lot more. This whole robbery story was weird...something is not right about it...especially the fact that this guy got away and it occured right out on the main floor. Every Casino I have been to has security all over the place...I don't see how this guy got away. It sounds like an inside job...but still...for what (?)...this guy will be busted. Like you say...the Casinos watch the payouts more than the public realizes. The Tellers who pay out the money are highly trained to watch for anyting strange, I'm sure. One thing is for sure...the guy has some nice chips to play poker with...hope he grabbed some good cards from the place also...before they get the holes punched in them!
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12-15-2010 @11:09PM carlos said... You're xorrect. The payout is 35 -5. But the odds are 38-1, so there is almost a 9% edge for the house. This makes roulette the worst game to play.
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12-16-2010 @6:08AM fatsexycow2010 said... Can't believe this guy was willing to be interviewed. He sounds like a blithering idiot. Hopefully he is smarter in the kitchen than he is in conversation.
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12-16-2010 @10:32AM usmaels1 said... Mimi...Thanks for the further input...I agree...and I understand what you are saying. That was my point ...that taking these chips...on the surface...appears to have been a useless theft. That is why I think there is more to this. By inside job...I was not suggesting that somehow the thief was going to cash in the chips over time...because that would obvioulsy not work...for the reasons you and the other person said. I am thinking that this thief will somehow cash in these chips with the operators of the casino...who I am sure can figure out a way to profit on them. He may have even been put up to it by one of the owners with the agreement that if he pulled off the theft...which he did...that they would compensate him ''well'' for the stolen chips. It would not take much of a payment in respect to the total chip value to get a thief to agree to do this. It is amazing what a thief will do for even $100...let alone a pay-off off ...say 1% of 1.5 million ($15,000) in chips value...but I am sure he would get more than that. There is an old saying..money saved is money earned...and all the owners would have to do is put the chips back into circulation. "They" could get away with that...but the thief would never get away with cashing in the chips himself. Kinda like our government does with money when they print more money just to temporarily eek us along further into world debt. I think that is what is called inflation, recession...or whatever name or spin they put on it.
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