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Comment by tsetse-fly | Hacker News Reader

I was a bit skeptical about how anyone could easily carry away that amount of cash from an ATM, but it's not so unbelievable:

    $9,000,000 / 130 ATMS = $69,230.8 or roughly 692 $100 bills.

    The US government requirement for currency paper is: "the thickness of the paper shall be 124 micrometers [...]."[1]

    124 micrometers * 692 bills = 0.085808 meters or 3.38 inches thick. Not bad at all.

[1] https://www.fbo.gov/utils/view?id=ccca3ea58d649385700a9f20c9...

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My question is, even with a max of $1000 per transaction, each ATM had to be hit more than twice per minute, for 30 minutes straight.

They must have choses extremely busy ATMs, or whoever got the scoop on this story got something wrong.

We don't know what the limit was or even if there was one. I'm sure that's why payroll cards were picked for this particular scheme. I think people are too caught in thinking about how their cards work. The same rules that apply to credit/debit may not apply here.

I was also thinking that transaction limits could be per card per ATM, rather than per account per ATM. They could print out as many cards as they wanted to.

ATMs in the USA almost never give out $100 bills (it's never personally happened to me in my life). The highest I've seen is $20.

What's the largest amount you've withdrawn? It seems like if you withdrew your daily limit (~$500+?), you'd get something larger than a $20.

Well, I've done a LOT more than that, and it's still generally $20s, except for certain ATMs in certain casinos. Even in casinos that have ATMs that hold $100s, only a few certain ones generally do. The Wynn is the only casino I know of where all of them have $100s.

And most non-casino ATMs have a per transaction limit of $600-$800, independent of your card's limit. You can do multiple transactions, but you'll get $20s every time. This too varies a bit in Vegas and AC, where you can find much higher limits, but again only in the right ATMs in the right casinos.

Vegas casinos have a rule that they will only trade you up to $500 in $100s for lower denominations per casino per day. It's to prevent laundering. The Feds absolutely hate $100 bills because of that. If the FBI were able to get rid of them, they would in a heart beat.

Since I made most of my money playing online poker and withdrew it that way, I would often spend hours each day walking up and down the strip cashing $20s in for $100s.

I've never understood why $50s weren't used more. It seems like the optimal bill. Spitting out $500 in them isn't objectionable, and I imagine a lot of people withdraw $50 (or would if you made it a quick cash option).

A great many "pro" gamblers believe $50s to be bad luck. Try going to a craps or blackjack table with some of the seasoned vets, and lay down a couple $50s. Several of the other players will leave.

If they believe that then they aren't really pros, are they?

Hence the qoutes in my post.

casino atms give out 100s

Actually most don't. Two years ago I could tell you in Las Vegas or Atlantic City exactly which ones do. I'm not kidding either.

ATMs have $100 bills? Only certain ones?

ATMs in Vegas give $100 bills.

Yes, and I've seen some of ATMs in Waikiki dispense $50 bills.

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