I almost got into an argument about “vaults” in casinos. My friend thinks that most medium to large casinos have a vault to keep money in. Not as extravagant as what they show in the Oceans 11 2001 movie, but the larger casinos could have a big safe door, a password, a security lock, etc., like what banks have. I think they don’t need a “vault” to store money in, because they don’t need to keep money for long periods of time. I think most of the money gets picked up multiple times a day. The casinos have a secure back room, like what’s shown near the start of the movie Casino or what’s shown in the Oceans 11 1960 movie, where they count and double check all the money and store it for a little while until it gets picked up. Why would they need to store a bunch of money for days or weeks? Most banks don’t even store a ton of money for long periods of time. Which of us is closer to the truth – or is it actually partly what each of us says?
Your take is much closer to the reality.
Yes, casinos have vaults, but the design, size, and function differ from traditional bank vaults, due, as you rightly state, to how cash flows in and out.
The count rooms process enormous amounts of cash daily, both incoming (buy-ins) and outgoing (payouts, chip redemptions, cage transactions). Thus, cash doesn't sit idle; it's constantly cycling through the count room, cage, and casino floor. Of course, this means less need for large-scale long-term storage like a bank vault.
As you also surmise, most casinos have daily or more armored-car service from Brinks, Loomis, or Garda. Excess cash beyond operational needs is picked up and deposited into bank accounts.
In addition, count rooms are highly secure areas where slot and table-game drop boxes are emptied, counted, and reconciled; they're sized for operational flow, not indefinite storage.
Furthermore, a goodly percentage of a casino's working "cash" is actually in the form of chips in play or in the cage, which don't require vault storage in the same way. Increasingly, digital wallets, TITO for slots, and wire transfers (in and out) with markers on the floor reduce physical cash handling.
Finally, as a general rule, casinos try to minimize on-site cash to reduce the risk of theft and insurance costs, so vaults are right-sized for a few days' (at most) operating cash, not weeks or months of reserves.
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Sandra Ritter
Jan-20-2026
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