The Fastest and Easiest Way to Complete the Diamond Casino Heist

1. Unlock

Access to the Diamond Casino Heist runs through an Arcade property. Follow the steps below:

• After receiving a text message to do so, meet Lester at Mirror Park.

• After the cutscene, open Maze Bank Foreclosures and purchase an Arcade. Any of the six works for the heist, but we recommend Videogeddon in La Mesa (GTA$ 1,875,000): it's the closest arcade to the casino, which saves you real time across the prep missions. If you just want the cheapest way in, Pixel Pete's in Paleto Bay costs GTA$ 1,235,000. You can compare all six on our Arcades page.

• Head to the location you purchased and watch the cutscene.

• Go to the computer in your Arcade basement and complete the setup mission.

• Once the Arcade setup is complete you'll be able to access the Diamond Casino Heist via the basement room with the giant white boards.

2. Setup

Setup is pretty straightforward. Follow these steps:

• Pay the GTA$ 25,000 fee to initiate setup.

• If you haven't already, complete Scope Out Casino. Make sure you photograph the Security Tunnel access point, located in a tunnel underneath the racetrack. Without it, the entrance this route relies on won't be available.

• Next, complete the Vault Contents mission. What's in the vault decides your payout: GTA$ 1,480,500 in cash, GTA$ 1,645,000 in artwork, GTA$ 1,809,500 in gold, or GTA$ 2,303,000 in diamonds, each worth 10% more on hard mode. Diamonds only appear during special event weeks, so gold is the best target you'll normally see. See the full payout breakdown, including the weekly first-completion bonus, below.

• Finally, select your approach: The Big Con. Don't confuse the approach with the disguise: Gruppe Sechs is the entry disguise you'll pick during prep, and it's the one that walks you straight to the vault with zero resistance.

Skip the optional extras on this screen. They aren't needed for this route.

How much does the Diamond Casino Heist pay?

The vault holds one of four loot types, and your standard take ranges from GTA$ 1,480,500 for cash up to GTA$ 2,533,300 for diamonds on hard. Diamonds are event-only, so gold is the ceiling you'll usually see. These are gross figures, before Lester, your hacker, and your crew take their cuts.

Since the July 2026 update, the casino finale pays a first-completion bonus of 1.86x the standard take if the host has not yet completed it in the current weekly period. That boosted payout goes to everyone in the crew, host included, and the weekly period resets on Thursday, same as the GTA Online weekly reset. Once the host has completed the finale that week, repeat runs under that host drop back to the standard amounts above. At the top end, that pays GTA$ 4,711,938 with diamonds on hard.

Remember, both tables show the gross vault take. Lester takes 5% off the top and your hacker takes their cut, so the amount you actually pocket is lower. The FAQ below breaks down the after-cuts math.

3. Prep

This is where the bulk of your time will be spent. Follow these steps:

• Hire a crew. You'll barely use the gunman's weapons or the driver's getaway vehicles, so take the cheapest option for both (Karl Abolaji and Karim Denz, 5% each). The hacker is where you spend: the better the hacker, the more time you get in the vault. If you've found all 50 Signal Jammers you'll have unlocked the best hacker for the casino heist, Avi Schwartzman, who gives 3 minutes 30 seconds of vault time for a 10% cut. Next best is Paige Harris at 3 minutes 25 seconds (9%), but she requires owning a Terrorbyte. Christian Feltz (7%) is always available and gives 3 minutes. A Nightclub unlocks Yohan Blair (5%), but at 2 minutes 52 seconds he's behind Feltz anyway. Whoever you pick, getting spotted on the way in cuts your vault time by roughly a minute, so stay in disguise.

• Complete all missions with a yellow asterisk next to them. It doesn't matter which unmarked weapons and getaway vehicles you choose. Under approach-specific preps, be sure to choose Gruppe Sechs and complete both missions.

• Optional preps: the one that really matters is the Security Pass. With the Level 2 pass you swipe through locked doors instead of playing a hack minigame each time (you can also pay to skip this prep). Duggan Shipments are worth destroying if you tend to get detected on the way out, since they weaken guard armor, but on a clean stealth run you can skip them. Everything else you can ignore.

Now it's time to move on to the finale.

4. Finale

Now that you've completed all the setup and prep, the finale will be pretty easy. Follow these steps:

• Be sure to select Security Tunnel as your access point. Exit point doesn't matter. You'll have plenty of time to deliver the goods, so you can select the most difficult buyer option for the bigger payout.

• When you begin the mission, all you have to do is follow the instructions. As you make your way to the vault all will go well as long as you don't literally bump into anyone.

• Once you're inside the vault you'll need to hack into the side rooms. The hack minigame requires you to select four images that are part of the fingerprint image. If you get this wrong too many times you will be detected, so look carefully.

• Get as much loot as you can, then head to the door when you have about 15 seconds remaining.

• When you're leaving, go straight through the room again, not bumping into anyone, until you reach a hallway with the stairwell.

• Enter the stairwell. While you're in there Lester will inform you that the theft has been discovered and the place will go on high alert. Equip your weapons.

• At the top of the stairwell wait until the guard outside the door is positioned in a way that you can quickly melee attack him.

• Now you have a choice: you can either continue to sneak your way out, melee attacking as you go to remain in stealth, or you can just start shooting. Being detected at this point shouldn't make things that much more difficult for you.

• From the stairwell door turn left, then turn left again until you reach a door to a control room on your right.

• From the control room immediately go through the door you'll find on your left.

• Turn left into the hallway, watching for enemies, and make your way around the desk to the metal detectors.

• Go through the metal detectors and exit out the back door.

• From outside the back door run straight ahead and climb over the fence, then head diagonally straight and to the right.

• If you haven't been detected, sneak carefully on the race track until you're far enough away from the casino before running. If you have been detected, run right away and shoot anyone you see as you go.

• You'll need to climb another fence and jump down. There are sections here that are low enough to avoid injury, but even if you get slightly injured it won't be the end of the world.

• Once you've jumped down, run to the road and steal a car. From here head to the sewer entrance, which is right around the corner and in the canal.

• Drive through the sewer until you reach the exit on the other side. You will probably have lost your wanted stars by this point, but if you haven't, don't exit the sewer until you have.

• Now all that's left to do is drive to your buyer's location. Steer clear of the casino or your wanted stars will come back. Feel free to keep an eye out for a faster vehicle, but if you've done this right you'll have plenty of time to reach even the farthest buyer.

One last incentive to keep it clean: finish the finale in under 15 minutes without raising the alarm and you'll earn the Elite Challenge bonus, an extra GTA$ 50,000 on normal or GTA$ 100,000 on hard mode.

5. FAQ

How much do you actually keep after cuts?

The payout tables above show the gross vault take. Lester takes 5% off the top, your hacker takes their cut (Avi 10%, Paige 9%, Feltz 7%), and the two hire-crew NPCs take 5% each; the players then split the rest by the board percentages. In practice, a clean two-player gold run on hard (GTA$ 1,990,450 gross) nets around GTA$ 700,000 to 850,000 each.

Can you do the casino heist solo?

Almost. Every setup and prep mission can be done solo, but the finale requires at least two players and supports up to four.

What is the best approach for the Diamond Casino Heist?

The Big Con with the Gruppe Sechs entry disguise: you walk into the vault level with zero resistance and only have to deal with security on the way out. Veterans alternate between two approaches so every run lands on hard mode for the 10% bonus.

How do you get diamonds in the vault?

You can't force them. Diamonds only appear as vault contents during special event weeks when Rockstar enables them; the rest of the time the vault holds cash, artwork, or gold.

Who is the best hacker for the casino heist?

Avi Schwartzman, with 3 minutes 30 seconds of vault time if you enter undetected. He's unlocked by finding all 50 Signal Jammers. Paige Harris (3 minutes 25 seconds) is nearly as good and only needs a Terrorbyte.

How much money do you need to start the casino heist?

An Arcade, from GTA$ 1,235,000 for Pixel Pete's, plus a GTA$ 25,000 setup fee each run. The arcade is a one-time purchase that also earns passive income.