39 articlesNo matter what approach you use for the Diamond Casino Heist in GTA Online, Diamonds remain the most valuable target you can get.
The catch is that these Diamonds are mostly reserved for special event weeks or special GTA+ promotions.
Whenever Diamonds return, players normally rush back to the Casino Heist since the payout potential remains solid even years later. Of course, with the right setup and crew, it remains one of the most profitable activities in-game.
In this guide, we’ll tell you how to complete this heist with every approach.
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To play the heist, you need to be a CEO, VIP, or MC President. Also, whoever is hosting will need to own an Arcade. Ideally, pick an Arcade within the Los Santos city itself and not one out in northern San Andreas.
Once you meet those requirements,visit the Arcade basement and pay a setup fee of $25,000. Then follow the setup to scope out the Casino and see what your target is.
Here’s the maximum potential payouts for every target:
- Cash – $2,115,000
- Artwork – $2,350,000
- Gold – $2,585,000
- Diamonds – $3,290,000
Do note that Diamonds are only available as a target on special event weeks and limited-time Rockstar events.
Once you’re done scoping, you can select one of the 3 approaches for the heist, which we’ll cover in detail below.
Just take note that you can’t do the same approach twice in a row. You’ll be forced to use another approach the second time.
However, you can use the first approach you used again after the second time. If you do, it will be harder, but you will get 10% more money as a reward. Hard mode approaches are marked with a skull icon.
Aside from that,you can also complete optional objectives to fulfill Elite Challenges.
These vary per approach and reward you with a $50,000 bonus on Normal and a $100,000 bonus on Hard.
The Big Con
The Big Con approach is still considered the easiest and most beginner-friendly approach in the game. This one doesn’t require you to go into combat mode.
Instead, you have to disguise yourself as a casino staff member or maintenance crew.
Once you have your disguise, you simply walk directly into the restricted areas. As long as you keep up the act, you don’t have to worry about alerting anyone until you loot the vault.
Here is the recommended setup for this approach:
- Gunman: Karl Abolaji
- Driver: Karim Denz
- Hacker: Paige Harris or Avi Schwartzman
- Entry Disguise: Gruppe Sechs
- Exit Disguise: NOOSE or Firefighter Gear
- Security Passes: Level 2
- Entrance: Security Tunnel
- Exit: Staff Lobby
- Buyer: High Level
The Gruppe Sechs disguise is still the best option for this one since it allows you to enter the vault area with virtually zero resistance.
Aside from that, here are the Elite Challenge requirements for this approach:
- Complete in Under 15:00 Minutes
- Have Zero Deaths
- Don’t Get Detected
How to Perform The Big Con Approach
Early on, this approach is pretty straightforward. You can just follow the in-game instructions until you get the cutscene of the security guard allowing you to enter the casino’s vault.
At this point, you’ll have 3 minutes and 25 seconds to loot the vault, thanks to your hackers.
If you have multiple players, the most efficient plan is for whoever is best at the fingerprint hacking minigame to focus on opening the gates. The other players should focus on just looting.
To make things easier, you can also use the cheat sheet above. It shows all potential solutions to the fingerprint hacking minigame.
Once you have about 15 to 20 seconds left, leave the vault. If you are still in the vault once the time is up, you will be detected and guards will hunt you down.
After leaving the vault and going upstairs via the staff door, the guards will become alerted. However, you’ll still be undetected, so you’ll need to avoid guards seeing you!
Use your minimap to avoid the guards as you head to one of the shirt icons to get your disguise. You can knock out guards with melee hits while holding a weapon.
At this point, the guards will no longer be looking for you, as you can tell by their icons turning white on the minimap. So, just follow the in-game directions to leave through the main entrance.
As soon as you go through the main entrance, turn to your right. The real Firefighters will come; avoid getting spotted and steal their truck.
Once you’ve stolen the truck, you can follow the route shown above to steal a helicopter from the nearby police station. Use that helicopter to fly over to the buyer’s location and you’re all done!
Silent & Sneaky
As opposed to The Big Con, the Silent & Sneaky approach is the hardest for inexperienced players. After all, you will have to go in without using disguises or anything like that.
So, it’s a bit tougher than The Big Con, but you can be more lethal. However, it can also be the cleanest as long as you know the guards’ patterns. Now, here is the recommended setup for this approach:
- Gunman: Karl Abolaji
- Driver: Karim Denz
- Hacker: Paige Harris or Avi Schwartzman
- Optional Prep: EMP Device, Infiltration Suits, Security Passes
- Entrance: Staff Lobby
- Exit: Staff Lobby
- Buyer: High Level
Meanwhile, here’s a quick list of all the Elite Challenge requirements:
- Complete in Under 15:00 Minutes
- Have Zero Deaths
- Have Zero Failed Hacks
- Don’t Get Detected
How to Do the Slient & Sneaky Approach
As soon as you enter the building for this approach, make sure to shoot the power box with your Stun Gun to disable the alarm. Then, enter the room and quickly shoot both guards in front of you and the camera to your left with a silenced weapon.
The main thing to keep in mind here is that you can quickly headshot any unarmored guard to take them out. However, you need to melee armored guards to pistol whip them.
As always with stealth in GTA Online, make sure to pay close attention to your minimap. It’ll let you know where all the guards are and their field of view.
Once you reach the vault, drill it to open it. Make sure not to keep the drill active too long as it will overheat. Timing is important here.
Inside the vault, the general approach is the same as in The Big Con. A player should focus on the fingerprint hacking minigame while the others loot everything. The cheatsheet for the minigame is above.
You have a total of 3 minutes and 25 seconds to loot as much as possible, thanks to your hacker. Start getting out of the vault once you have about 15 to 20 seconds left on the timer.
To leave the casino, just retrace your steps to exit through the same entrance. Once you’re outside, follow the route above until you can steal a vehicle or get your getaway vehicle.
Then, go to the nearby police station’s rooftop to steal its helicopter. Use it to lose the wanted level and reach the buyer’s destination, finishing the heist.
Aggressive
The last approach is Aggressive, which is simply the loudest and fastest approach. No stealth, no real plan. Just break in and shoot everyone who tries to stop you from looting the casino’s vault!
The downside is that being so aggressive also makes it harder to fully loot the vault. Here is the recommended setup for this violent approach:
- Gunman: Patrick McReary
- Driver: Karim Denz
- Hacker: Paige Harris
- Optional Prep: Duggan Shipments, Boring Machine, Security Passes
- Entrance: Sewers
- Exit: Main Entrance
- Buyer: High Level
Next, here are the Elite Challenge requirements:
- Complete in Under 15:00 Minutes
- Have Zero Deaths
- Get 80 Headshots
How to Do the Aggressive Approach
For this approach, you have to blast a hole through a wall and enter near the vault straight away. However, this will instantly alert all guards. Deal with them using headshots for the Elite Challenge.
Also, the Duggan Shipments prep is mandatory for this approach. Without it, it will be harder to complete the heist since enemies will become heavily armored.
Once you get to the vault door, place another thermal charge on it. Place it, leave the blast radius, and detonate it to enter the vault proper.
When you enter the vault itself, use thermal charges to open the locked doors. No minigame this time! However, it takes like 15 seconds for the charges to detonate, and you can only place one at a time.
Also, you will have less time to loot the vault with this approach. But you don’t need to rush since you don’t really worry about being detected.
Once the timer is up, gas is released into the vault. You’ll take damage while in the gas, but it’s slow enough that you can still get some extra loot if need be. Plus, you can eat Snacks from the weapon wheel to recover.
To get out of the building, just follow the in-game markers while shooting every single guard on the way. Remember, go for headshots!
Once you get outside and get on the getaway vehicle, follow the route above to steal the helicopter from the nearby police station. Use it to lose the wanted level and fly to the buyer, finishing the heist.
Unlike the previous two approaches, you should expect to lose money during the escape because of incoming gunfire.
Due to this, I normally won’t recommend this for Diamond farming due to firefights reducing your overall efficiency. However, if you struggle with the stealth approaches, this might just be the perfect approach for you.
Is It Still Worth Farming Diamonds?
Even after years of updates, Diamonds remain one of the best Casino Heist targets in the game whenever Rockstar re-enables them during special event weeks.
So the answer is, yes. Absolutely.
The Big Con with the Gruppe Sechs setup is still considered the safest and most consistent strategy if you want to farm Diamonds efficiently.
However, if Diamonds aren’t available, you can turn to Gold and Artwork due to their faster looting speed compared to Cash.
For most players, the Diamond Casino Heist is no longer the undisputed best moneymaking method overall, especially after newer activities and balance changes. However, it is still one of the most enjoyable heists in GTA Online.
Also, it’s easily one of the best co-op experiences in the game.
So, there you have it! That’s our guide on every approach to The Diamond Casino Heist in GTA Online. Now you know what to do when Diamonds are available as the target! Good luck out there.
