I haven't played GTA V/Online since 2014, so things have changed a bit. It's all quite overwhelming for newcomers or returning players, especially if you get the Criminal Enterprise Starter Pack like I did.
I snagged my Motorcycle Club, my Bunker, and free vehicles, and proceeded to follow guides for making money with those businesses. I sank too much into them, to the tune of getting down to $500,000 with no profit coming in because I was getting skunked as a solo player, even in a solo public session.
The most difficult part of it all is dealing with the sharpshooter NPC's. These guys are ridiculous! So, we're aiming for non-combat jobs.
That said, here's what I recommend folks do: - Snag the Criminal Enterprise Starter Pack for the $1,000,000. - Link your Amazon/Twitch Prime account with your Rockstar Social Club account to snag another $200,000 (and another $200,000 after 4 weeks consecutive play, supposedly). - Grab a bulletproof helmet ($20,000) from a clothing store, and ensure it's always equipped. (You may skip this, as it's really not necessary, but will help if you get pinned somewhere.) - Purchase a Mini SMG ($8,900). - Purchase a Pegassi Bati 801 motorcycle ($15,000). - Play Mission Repo - Simeonics until Rank 16 (Pause Menu > Online > Jobs > Rockstar Created > Missions > Repo - Simeonics). Profit $16,170. - Once Rank 16, play the Chasers II mission (Pause Menu > Online > Jobs > Rockstar Created > Missions > Chasers II). Queue into it, select Hard, and on the next screen, select Closed so no one else joins so you don't have to wait for them. Start a timer once you load in, go grab the car, ignoring people shooting at you (they'll stop once you get close enough to the destination), and turn in the vehicle once you pass 4:00. Profit $9,480. - Repeat - Once you get to $1,500,000, see this post or watch this video to start making $240,000/hr until you reach $2,200,000.

Notes for fellow noobs

Snacks are how you regain health. Your free CEO office has an executive assistant that provides snacks for free. These can be consumed on-the-fly via the Interaction Menu at Inventory > Snacks.
Ammo can be purchased for your currently-held weapons via the Interaction menu at Inventory > Ammo.
Visit the casino once per day (real time). No matter what, it's worth the drive, even if just for a few thousand RP.
At this point in the GTA Online lifespan, your goal should be to obtain a submarine ($2,200,000) in order to do the Perico Heist. So, after grabbing your free cash, and spending some dough on the aforementioned items, you should be sitting at $1,156,100 before even starting any jobs. You're practically halfway to the submarine already...
The reason we wait for 4:00 is due to the way payout is calculated. Further reading here.

Math

I tried a bunch of things, but what boiled down to being most profitable-to-ease of completion, in order of best to okay, were: 1. Chasers II 2. Repo - Simeonics 3. San Andreas Seoul 4. Warehouse 1x Crate Pickup & Delivery
``` | Job | Avg Time to Complete | Net Profit | Avg Profit per Minute | Profit per Hour | | ------------------ | -------------------- | ---------- | --------------------- | --------------- | | Repo - Simeonics | 10:00 | $16,170.00 | $1,617.00 | $97,020.00 | | Chasers II | 6:45 | $9,480.00 | $1,404.44 | $84,266.67 | | San Andreas Seoul | 9:00 | $11,380.00 | $1,264.44 | $75,866.67 | | Warehouse 1x Crate | 8:00 | $9,000.00 | $1,125.00 | $67,500.00 |
Sample Size for each: 10 ```

Conclusions

Taking into account the costs for each warehouse, we'd have to do roughly 9 hours of solo 1x crate jobs before breaking even. However, these will come in handy with vehicle cargo if I decide to do that in the future.
While Repo - Simeonics is more profitable, it's also slightly more difficult. Taking your Bati 801 to the airport twice to grab two cars takes some time, and has more room for error, especially considering the wanted level at the beginning. That said, the only choke point is at the entrance/exit of the airport, and really isn't an issue. But it is worth noting.
Chasers II can be done in around 2:00, with 2:00 of waiting in Simeon's parking lot to turn in. This can definitely be more boring, so I am currently switching it up between Chasers II and Simeonics.
Once you're ~ Rank 40, you should be able to do some better missions, as mentioned in this post, but you should have already done the Perico Heist by then, and at that point the missions will be less than what you can make with Perico.

Testing Parameters:

Each mission was timed from the beginning of loading into the queue to loading back into free roam.
Crate jobs were timed from leaving the CEO laptop, picking up, taking to warehouse, selling and dropping off, to returning to the CEO office. Office used was Maze Bank West, while warehouses used were White Widow Garage ($360,000) and Convenience Store Lockup ($250,000).
All tests performed using PlayStation 5 with MTU set to 750. With default MTU setting, queuing into missions may be quicker, and therefore even more profitable.

Questions

Why not Sightseer?
Sightseer, the CEO/VIP Work, is definitely non-combat. However, there are so many variables here, that it's just not worth it. You're usually taken on a wild goose chase throughout the northern section of the map. You need a fast airborne vehicle for Sightseer to be worth it. But even then, you probably already have better means of income.
That said, give it a shot! Even if it takes you all 15:00 to complete, it's still $20,000 ($25,000 if completed in under 5:00, but let's not kid ourselves). This comes out to $1,333/min if done in 15:00, or $2,000/min if done in 10:00.

Changelog

12/30/2020 - Added Questions section - Added information regarding Sightseer. - Added information regarding CEO Vehicle Cargo.

I've done the Heist three times now with duos, I'm pretty sure I could even do it solo now.
Make sure you have the Drainage Tunnel option unlocked by swimming behind the compound during the scope out. UPDATE: Make sure you complete the Torch Prep as well! The Torch Prep will not be available in the submarine until you scope out the Drainage Tunnel infiltration point.
If solo, trios, or quads, Make sure you have bolt cutters by the main bay.
I enter through the drainage tunnel putting me right in the compound. UPDATE: I've used the submarine and the halo jump, but I imagine any vehicle will work. If you use the sub it will give you scuba gear, so avoid the pools while you're in the compound, otherwise it will put the scuba gear back on and remove your active weapon. Once you get out of the pool you'll lose 3-5 seconds taking the gear back off.
I suggest you take out all the guys stealthfully while taking out as few cameras as possible, 1 or 2 will be necessary unless you are really patient.
If you're doing it solo you don't need to worry about the key cards or gate keys. If you are doing duos+, then one key card is held by a guard, the other is up in Rubio's office.
Once you get to Rubio's office there will be a fingerprint hack (its easy once you understand how it works) and get the files using the combination given to you in the basement, don't exit through the gate, go back into the compound, grab the secondaries in the compound (duos+), and exit through the main entrance, that causes a save-state, so if you die you don't have to start all over. If you are duos your loot bag should be full. If you are in duos, I recommend grabbing the painting first and is much gold as you can carry, don't bother with the cash.
If you haven't alerted anybody by then, make your way down to the main dock, if solo, or trios, then get the secondary loot there, grab a boat and drive away from the island. Your escape is undefined, so even if you don't make it to your designated escape route, you can leave the island in any direction.
If you are in quads, there's a good chance your loot bags won't be full, at that point you can decide whether you want to go and grab more secondaries, or leave the island while still in one piece.
If you have been caught, kill everybody and book it out the main entrance towards the main dock where you can grab a boat and GTFO. Because I was in duos I had right around 2mil each time, the one time I set the guards off on the way out I only lost 60-80k.
From what I can see you cant hold more than 800k in your loot bag, I may be wrong though.
Potential cut: 6mil
SOLO: 1.1-1.9 Mil
DUOS: 1.1-2.7Mil
TRIOS: 1.1-3.5Mil
QUADS: 1.1-4.3Mil
That Is my experience. If anybody has any good useful information there, I'm sure it would be greatly appreciated to the community. Such as:
*Better ways out of the compound
*Secondary Target values
*Any way to get the full potential 6mil? (During my scope out I had 4.2mil in Secondary targets. That left a total of 5.3mil, I was probably missing two secondary targets somewhere on the island)
*Anything I may have missed
UPDATE: For those of you wondering how the payouts compare to the Diamond Casino Heist.
The payouts for the DC heist hard modes are as followed, not including aggressive.
Cash: don't bother, reset your heist
Artwork: 2.7mil - 2mil split - 100k per 5%
Gold: 2.8-3.1mil -2.1-2.4 mil split - 105k-120k per 5%
Artwork can be done with DUOS (1mil each depending on cut) but gold has to be done with TRIOS (1.2mil 50%, 600k 25%) unless you want to leave 250k on the table. Which Gold DUOS would pay the sililar to Artwork DUOS.
Your best opportunities to make money on GTA online are going to be Cayo Perico SOLO or DUOS and Diamond Casino DUOS.
On another note: I haven't timed it yet, but it seems to take less time to do all of the Cayo Perico preps than the Diamond Casino Preps (Aside from identifying secondary contents). The Diamond Casino Heist takes 15-25 minutes when done correctly with Big Con or Silently & Sneaky while the Cayo Perico heist can be completed in 7-15 minutes SOLO and DUOS.

I've been playing for 7 years, across 2 Sony platforms. I still suck at it. I've completed all the heists with randoms over the years (save for Doomsday and Casino). I have a few real-life friends who enjoy the game, but are not gamers, and a couple more who just recently bought GTA V because of the great sale.
I tried to string them along for a Cayo heist, but the stealth/infinite enemies were overwhelming us. I can solo the heist, but telling my friends to stay underwater while I slowly complete the mission isn't what we are looking for. I'd be happy spending an entire Sunday completing a heist with them.
So, all that said, what would be the best heist for 4 weak wristed gamer-dads, who are looking for fun and success over payouts? I see this has been answered a few times in the past, but I don't know if patches have changed anything in the past year.
TL;DR I'm looking to identify a casual, fun heist. I've got the crew, don't need the GTA$ per se, and I'm not looking for advice on how to run the heist, just what you guys think is a fun noob friendly one. (Not Flecca though, we've all done that one).
Thanks.

GTA 5 Online Premium Edition: What's in Epic Games Store Criminal Enterprise Starter Pack?

Get yourself everything you „Starter Pack“ contains, you get properties, vehicles, weapons and clothes for free in a worth of $9.000.000 GTA Dollars. You also get extra $1.000.000 in cash, but this could take up to 7-10 days to get it. All the sales you have will be shown with a dollar sign! Here’s what and how:
For property and vehicles open your phone (arrow key up) and go to Internet (arrow key done>enter)
Property: (In the internet go to „Money and Services“)
Maze Bank West Executive Office (on Dynasty 8)
Paleto Forest Gunrunning Bunker (on Maze Bank Foreclosure)
Great Chaparral Biker Clubhouse (on Maze Bank Foreclosure)
>Senora Desert Counterfeit Cash Factory (if you own the clubhouse, go to the computer there and unlock this property)
1561 San Vitas Street Apartment (on Dynasty 8)
1337 Exceptionalists Way 10 Car Garage (on Dynasty 8)
Vehicles (in the internet go to „Travel and Transport“)
Enus Huntley S, Invetero Coquette Classic, Grotti Turismo R, Bravado Banshee, Enus Windsor, (Annis Elegy RH8) (on Legendary Motorsports click „Sort by Price“ once)
Western Zombie Chopper, Obey Omnis, Pegassi Vortex (on „SouthernSanAndreasSuperAuto.com“ click „Sort by Price“ once)
Frogger (on Elitas Travel click „Sort by Price“ once) you can request any aircraft vehicle you own by calling Pegasus on your phone (you can do that in your contacts). The helicopter are an essential vehicle in the game to travel from A to B
Dune FAV (on Warstock click "Sort by Price" once)
Weapons, Clothing & Tattoos (not on your phone but on the map)
Compact Grenade Launcher, Marksman Rifle, Compact Rife are avaliable at every Ammu Nation Gun Shop (Pistole sign at the map)
(Stunt Race & Import / Export Outfits, Biker Tattoos)

Some more tipps:

Solo Public Lobby: really worth it if you wan’t a online session for your own/friends and don’t want to be killed by other players randomly. Press ESC + CONTROL and look up for „resmon“ in your search line. You will find a sort of Task Manager. Find GTA5.exe > right click > hold on the process > wait for like 7sec > right click > continue the process. Now all players will be kicked.
How to turn off your car radio: Yes, I have been asked about this. If you want to change your radio channel or turn your radio off press Q.
What weapons to use as a beginner: Buy the Mikro SMG to shoot out of your car and the Special Carabine to fight NPCs and equip them unconditionally with a silencer and an extended clip as quick as possible. It costs about $40.000 with extensions each. The Homing Rocket Launcher ($75.000) is also an important investment if you need to shoot down helicopters. Also buy Sticky Bombs, they will be really useful.
Learn to fly! On the map is a plane sign, which is a flying school. Flying is a really important part in the game and you have to get known with the controlls of it. You also get a bonus of $230.000 Cash if you complete all flying lessons with a gold medal.
How do I find people to play heists with: If you have no friends who want to play GTA with you there are of course other opportunities. On specific subreddits like HeistTeams or gtafriends you will find people who are solo players too and need heist members. There are also GTA community discord servers like the one from the youtuber TGG: here. You will never be alone!
Weekly Discounts/Bonuses: really worth to look for that. It changes every Thursday at 10 CET. On gtaonline it will be pinned on top of the subreddit. There may be huge sales for cool vehicles and properties (for example 40% off). Sometimes there are double or triple $ and RP events, which is extreme worth grinding. Like for this week 2x for bunker sell (during an 2x money event on the stock of your business the value is already doubled!). Do the Time Trial which you can do once a week to get a $100.000 each. How to drive these races "the right way" and where to find them can you look up on the pinned discount posts on gtaonline.
Lucky Wheel: In the casino you can spin the Lucky Wheel every 24h. Prices are Money, RP, sales, clothes and the podium car. The podium car changes with the Weekly Discounts every Thursday and you can with the car every week (Tipp: When it says S to spin the wheel count to 1,2 ,3 in your head to have a higher chancer to get the car).
Best investments: For absolute beginners for sure invest in the cheapest High End Apartment Del Perro Heights Apartment 7 ($200.000) on the Dynasty 8 website where you get the opportunity to play your first heists. Play the Fleeca Job then (about $80.000 earnings), where you unlock the sale for a Kuruma ($525.000) which is a must have car for beginners. It’s fully armored and you can literally do every missoins with it because the NPC’s can’t shoot you in there. It can be bought on SouthernSanAndreasAutos**.com.** And if you want to upgrade your helicopter get the Buzzard Attack Chopper for $1.750.000 with machine guns and the essential missiles. In my opinion the best investment you can make to grind for money. It can be requested everywhere for free instead of $25.000 if you are registered as CEO (open shortcut menu with M>SecuroServ>CEO Vehicles>Buzzard).
Fast Money: There are plenty of guides on Reddit how to make quick cash in grinding. (Money Grinding) My recommendation: Play Heists with friends who are high level. If you are alone or new with your friends go for Contact Missions (How: ESC >Online>Jobs>Rockstar Created> Missions) Every Contact Mission gives you about $10.000-15.000. The longer you play a Contact Mission, the more money you will get. But on the long run it's more worth it to play the job as quick as possible (in 4-6min $115.000/h and remember with double $ and RP event $230.000/h) Each player in the mission increases the payout by 10%, so best is to play in a full round. (Payouts and other questions for Contact Missions here).

Businesses:

There are plenty of businesses you can run. You own the Bunker business and one M(otorcycle)C(lub) Business . Go to the location of your business, do the setup missions and refill your supplies regualary. In each of this businesses you can improve your production by buying equipment upgrades and staff upgrades (first buy the cheaper staff upgrade then equiment upgrade). You can also buy security upgrades because your business will be raided by NPCs (like Police) and trough this you can minimize the probability of raids. The security upgrades doesn't affect your production! (but in my opinion not really worth it because you still can be raided). You can steal or buy supplies. If you didn't bought the upgrades yet, steal the supplies. If you have all upgrades who improve the production of your business buy the supplies for $75.000. The businesses stock will fill in a certain time, but you have to be online in the game! If you have good stock you can sell your products (invite friends for that). Always sell to the best priced location. (Los Santos most of the time) And go in a public solo session, you don't want your products destroyed by some idiot, random player. If your vehicle gets destroyed or you was not able to deliver everything you will lose money. Business is easy money for doing close to nothing + during the time your business fills up you can grind on other Missions or the Special Cargo Crate Missions, whatever you like. Choosing the right location for you business is very important! Look that your businesses are as close together as possible. You will drive crazy going 7 miles all the way up on the map just to look how many supplies you have left. Here's a map for all properties there are, so you can choose the best locations for yourself!
Don’t buy the nightclub business as a beginner! You will need the other businesses first to play missions in the nightclub + to get in running you need to pay millions for the 5 mechanics who will farm the money for you.
You can switch between beeing a CEO or MC President: Open your shortcut menu with M. .To retire as a CEO go to SecuroServ>Retire. To retire as a MC President go to Motorcycle Club>Disband MC.
You can add somebody to your CEO Organization or your Motorcycle Club: to add someone as CEO go to SecuroServ>Hire associates and select who you want to add. As a MC President go to Motorcycle Club>Find prospects and select who want to add. With this function your friends can help you do to deliver your products.
Bunker Business: In the bunker you can decide between Manufacturing, Research or both. For money do Manufacturing only. On Research you don't get money, you will unlock weapon upgrades for particular vehicles which also costs money to be customized on your vehicle (Research takes a lot of time and their 51 different weapon upgrades which takes about 7 days if you run it non stop) Doing both may sound smart, but it takes twice as much of the time it would normally take. So doing both is not worth it. If you sell solo sell your stock at $125.000 with no upgrades and at $175.000 with upgrades for one vehicle. For higher stocks invite friends to help you. If you're interested in the number of production, supplies and time it takes: Read it up here.
MC Business (Motor Club Business): Your sort of command center for all the businesses will be your clubhouse. The best clubhouse is the Grand Chapparal Clubhouse. It's the cheapest and will be located near your businesses. You can own 5 different MC Businesses ($/hr with staff- and equipement upgrade + recommended location): Cocaine Lockup in Alamo Sea ($46.500/hr); Methamphetamine Lab in Grand Senora Desert ($29.500/hour); Counterfeit Cash Factory in Grand Senora Desert ($27.000/hr); Weed Farm in San Chianski Mountain Range ($24.000/hr); Document Forgery Office in Grapeseed ($12.000/hr). If you're interested in the number of production, supplies and time it takes: Read it up here and the "nerd" version here.
Special Cargo Missions: In your CEO Office which is directly located next to your High-End apartment (if you bought the one for 200k) you can grind the Special Cargo Missions. You have to buy a warehouse and source crates. There are three kinds of warehouses: small, medium and large warehouses. The bigger it gets, the more money will it costs but the more you can store in there. You can choose between stealing 1, 2 or 3 crates. Always go for 3 crates. It is the expensivst but you will get the most money out of it in the long run. There is a 5min cooldown between every mission, so people buy a second warehouse to instantly start the next mission when they arrived at the Office (Yes, it's annoys to always wait). Cheapest small warehouse $250.000 (16 crates space, full stock sale $144.000 profit), cheapest medium ware house $880.000 (42 crates space, full stock sale $483,000 ) and cheapest large warehouse $1.900.000 (111 crates space, full stock sale $1,554,000 ). (table of profits and time it needs to fill) If you do solo, sell every 9 crates stored to get only 1 vehicle!
Import/Export Business: A CEO Mission (on your Office Computer "Vehicle Cargo"), where you steal cars and source them into a garage. The cheapest garage is $1.500.000 and you can buy in on your Office Computer. There are three catergories of cars: Standard, Mid- and Toprange. The top range cars are the one you want to sell. You can always tune them up for $20.000 and for delivering you get $100.000 which means about $80.000 Profit if you not damage the car. (Sometimes you will be attacked while you steal/deliver the car) There is an algorithm that if you have 10 Standard- and 10 Midrange cars in your garage, you will only get Toprange cars. Always tune them up before you sell and never sell Standard or Midrange cars except you really need the money. You always want to go for the Toprange cars to get the most money out.

Final word

These are just some recommendations in how the game works and what variations there are to make fast money. You can still choose your business locations for yourself, but I recommended the best and effectivst (in my opinion). The most important part is to have fun in playing the game. There are pretty good guides on Reddit and also on Youtube. It’s really worth reading/watching these if you want money. The Guides on Reddit are much more precise. But keep in mind, you have to invest plenty of time to get rich. It’s not done tomorrow.
And please, don’t be an asshole in the lobbies. Be a friendly and nice player and do not kill players and destroy their cargos. Every GTA Player hates this kind of people and remember, high level players are stronger and will go for revenge. They will target the shit out of you until you just want to quit the game.
Have fun playing the game and I hope I could help some new players with my information!
I’m sure if there are anymore questions Reddit will help you.
Here are useful links to other guides on Youtube or Reddit
Please send, maybe better, Youtube and Reddit Guides under this post so I can add the links, thanks. I'm open for improvement on this guide!
Youtube Guides:
(Playlist) GTA Online Solo Beginner Guide - TGG
My personal playlist which helped me a lot
Bunker Beginner Guide
MC Business Beginner Guide
Best Business Guide
Best and Worst Business locations - TheProfessional
Reddit Guides:
GTA Online Mega Guide and Weekly Simple Question Thread - May 14, 2020 <-- is the best with the most information about grinding and different variations to get fast money.
The complete CEO/MC solo Guide
Special Crate Guide
Offices, Warehouses & Crate Missions: CEO FAQ & Guide Index
Thanks for reading.

Gta online timeline
2013
Start.
You arrive in LS and are greeted by your friend from life invader Lamar Davis who gives you your first gun and challenges you to a race afterwards he sets you up with your first gig for his friend Gerald and gets you in contact with Simeon his boss who “tricks” you into working for him. You later get a phone call from Martin Madrazo who receives more than enough briefcases from you but is still happy to pay top dollar every time you bring one. You later meet your future most prominent accomplice Lester Crest. Other characters Like Trevor appear for you to do work for but it is very unimportant.
Singleplayer
Lester briefly mentions you to Michael as an option for the Jewel store robbery but are quickly dismissed as you are “too unpredictable”
2014.
Original heists. You have now built up some street cred doing odd jobs and are doing well for yourself living in a high end apartment when Lester gives you a call. He wants to do a robbery on a fleeca bank franchise. This is quite a small venture into organized crime but it’s a good first step. He sets you up with another contact Agent 14 who will also come into play later who needs your help breaking a Humane labs researcher out of prison. You later go on to raiding humane labs and Robbing the pacific standard bank.
2015
1)Lowriders DLC
You get a phone call from an old friend Lamar Davis who wants your help taking over LS . He is in a gang war against the Vagos and Ballas.
You fail
2)Executives and other Criminals
A new player has emerged on the streets of LS. Securo Serv has opened for business! You buy an office and get your own personal assistant. You can now do work for this mysterious organization in return for perks like having on demand vehicle access and decently large payouts.
2016
1)Further adventures in finance and felony
You purchase your own warehouse to smuggle contraband. With the help of your assistant you become an efficient forklift operator .
2)Import export
Same thing but with cars
2017
1)Bikers
You find a property for sale and turn it into a bikers clubhouse. You’re greeted by Malk who sets you up with a connection to the dark web where you can purchase businesses and run a drug cartel. You also get another contact going under the alias “LJT” who is actually just Lester using a voice changer.

Gunrunning

You get a phone call from agent 14 he sells you a bunker used for gun manufacturing. Later he gives you missions to do using military grade weapons .
2018
1)You get a call from Lester to buy a government spec facility to do some work. You end up working for the IAA, agent 14 and this tech giant Avon Hertz to save the world from Russians. You later get backstabbed by Avon and his AI Clifford . You save the world and your criminal record is wiped.
2)nightclub
Tony Prince comes to LS from liberty city and teams up with you to set up a nightclub. You get to sign different DJs. It is also finally confirmed that Lazlow is bisexual.
3)arena war
You get spammed by phone calls from Bryony who is the assistant of Al Gerome the main commentator for arena war.
You are scammed out of millions
2019
1)casino DLC The casino finally opens in LS! You splurge on a penthouse and are sucked into the politics of ownership. You help the manager mrs baker with getting the owners son “mr Cheng” out of trouble and helping them fight off the Duggans who want to demolish the place. You kill the main bad guy but his son still buys the casino and fires the best character hands down in all of gta history.

justiceforvimcent was born

2)casino heist
Lester gives you a call, he wants to meet up in mirror park. You are introduced to Mrs Cheng who wants revenge on the Duggans. You rob the casino multiple times and make milli
2020
The great alien wars
Bunch of 12 year olds beating the shit out of each other with baseball bats which later turns into straight up griefing as people started being dicks
I hate myself for writing this

Diamond Casino Guide:
So you decided that you wanna rob a casino, great! The Diamond Casino Heist is one of the best ways to earn money, but you're wondering, how do I get started? Well, you're in luck! This guide is going to teach you the ways to get the best out of the Diamond Casino Heist!
Step 1: Arcade
Alright to get started, you’re going to have to own an arcade. Now, it may seem better to go for the arcades on the top of the map to save yourself some cash, however, this will make all the preps much harder, as most of them take place in LS or Sandy Shores.
The best arcade locations are 8-bit ($2,530,000, located in Vinewood) and Videogeddon ($1,875,000, La Mesa). When buying your arcade, none of the upgrades are necessary, as most of them are cosmetic. You’ll have to complete a quick arcade setup mission to access the basement where the diamond casino heist planning board is located.
Step 1.5: Arcade Income
While this isn’t related to the diamond casino heist, I thought I would put this in there. The arcade generates income based on how many games you have, going up to 5k per in-game day (48 min). The game doesn't matter, so you can just buy the cheapest one (Monkey’s Paradise, $90,000) and fill up your arcade with it.
Step 2: Scope out casino
After you’ve finished watching Lester scribble a big mess over the whiteboard, you’ll be able to start the casino heist. Normally, you’ll have to pay a setup cost of 25k, but since it’s your first time doing it, it’ll be free. After you’ve confirmed that you want to start the casino heist, you’ll need to finish the scope out mission. For the scope out mission, you’ll need to take a variety of pictures for Lester in order to unlock entrances for the heist. A full guide is linked here but I’ll sum up the most important ones.

Staff Lobby: This entrance is arguably the best entrance for the Silent and Sneaky approach. It gives you easy access to the control room where you can get the daily vault easily. It is also the best exit for most approaches as not many guards patrol it. The staff lobby should be around the back of the casino and should look like a white door behind some yellow bollards.
Security Tunnel: By scoping out this entrance, it gives you the ability to enter the casino as a Gruppe Sechs team for the Big Con. This entrance is the best if not one of the best approaches to the casino heist. The disguise will allow you to go straight to the vault undetected and back up, however, you will be detected when going back out of the casino on the casino access floor, so I would suggest getting some exit disguises to make your escape easier. The security tunnel should look like a big metal garage door with a security camera watching over it under the racetrack.
Sewers: The sewers allow you to burrow down right into the vault access floor giving you easy access as you are right next to the vault mantrap. The sewer exit, however, is only available in the aggressive approach.
Roof Terrace: At first glance, the roof terrace may seem like a horrible entrance/exit, however as it turns out, the roof terrace is actually a contender for one of the best aggressive exits. By taking the roof terrace, you can shoot down the guards at the racetrack while they're not being able to shoot back and then parachute down.

You’ll only need to do this mission once, and it will be completed for all future casino heists.
Step 3: Vault Contents
The vault contents mission is pretty easy. You’ll be given the rough location of a Duggan security guard, once you find him, you can either hack him, which can take some time but you won’t get the cops on you if you do it right, or you can kill him and grab the phone, which will save you some time but you’ll need to lose the cops before you can enter the casino.
After you’ve entered the casino, you’ll need to bring out the sightseer app on your phone to find a wifi signal. After you’ve located the wifi signal, you’ll need to figure out the vault contents. Beware that you only have a limited time to do this (2 min).
Since it’s probably your first time, I would recommend that you go through every camera to scope out each POI. The target will be cash since it’s your first time, which has a payout of 2.1 mil on normal. The first time will always be cash (payout of $2,115,000 on normal), but if it’s not your first time, the targets can be either cash, artwork (payout of $2,350,000 on normal) or gold (payout of $2,585,000 on normal).
There is a 4th target, which is diamonds (payout of $3,257,100 on normal) however this vault content is only available for special occasions and has been removed from the vault contents.
If you do the heist on hard by doing the same approach after you’ve done another one, the payout will be 10% larger. If you’ve completed all 3 approaches to the heist, you can cancel the heist which can be helpful if you’ve got a bad target. Link to this is here.
Step 4: Selecting your approach
Once you’ve finished the vault contents mission, you’ll be able to select your approach.
There are 3 approaches to the diamond casino heist. Silent and Sneaky, The Big Con and Aggressive.
For beginners, I would recommend alternating between Big Con and Aggressive, because those are the easiest ones. For Big Con, choose the Gruppe Sechs disguise for the easiest entry. Aggressive is good for newer players however it does end up in a lot of money loss. After you’ve got the gist of it, alternate to doing Silent and Sneaky in place of aggressive for a bigger payout.
Step 5: Selecting your support crew
After you’ve selected your approach, you’ll need to select your support crew before you can do any of the prep missions.
Selecting your support crew is very simple. You’ll need a gunman to source guns, a driver to source cars, and a hacker to delay the nerve agent inside the vault.
Selecting your support crew depends on the approach and target in the vault. For Big Con, SnS, any target EXCEPT for art, you’ll want the worst gunman (Karl Abolaji, take his Micro SMG on big con, heavy revolver on aggressive and on SnS the choice is up to you), the worst driver (Karim Denz, take his sentinel classic) and the best hacker available to you, for most people, this will be Paige Harris (unlocked when the Terrorbyte is purchased, gives 3:25 in the vault when undetected and 2:23 detected).
For aggressive, you’ll still want to have the worst driver and best hacker, however, the gunman is up to you since you’ll be using guns a lot. I normally go with Charlie Reed (unlocked when purchasing a hangar), he takes a 7% cut (2% more than Karl) and gives you an assault SMG, however, you can get by with Karl, as every gunman gives you an SMG to go along with another weapon, which is still a perfectly fine weapon.
For Big Con, SnS and the target is Art, if you and your heist partner can both hack very well, you can get by with Yohan Blair (takes a 5% cut and gives you 2:51 in the vault if you are undetected and 2:01 if you are).
Step 5.5: Secret heist crew members
There are 2 hidden heist crew members that can’t be unlocked by purchasing a business like most heist crew members. There 2 are Patrick McReary and Avi Schwartzman. Patrick McReary is a gunman who takes an 8% cut and gives the choice a Combat MG or an Assault Shotgun in aggressive. Avi Schwartzman is a hacker that takes a 10% cut and gives 3:30 undetected in the vault and gives 2:22 if you are detected. To unlock Patrick, he spawns as a random event around the map. He spawns in a police car that you will need to hijack. A guide is linked here. To unlock Avi, you’ll need to destroy 50 signal jammers that are located around the map. A guide is linked here.
Step 6: Prep Missions
Now that you’ve selected your support crew, you’ll be presented with a plethora of prep missions. Some mandatory and some optional. To complete these missions, I suggest that you use a Kuruma, Buzzard, or Oppressor Mk2 to make your life easier. In some prep missions, you will not be able to call Lester, so be prepared. All of the missions can be done solo but it makes it easier if you have a friend with you to help you out.
Now onto the optional prep missions. Optional prep missions, are, as the name suggests, optional. The optional prep you should do depends on the approach. If you own a penthouse and have completed all of the missions, you will gain access to the security intel mission. It’s very easy to complete and you will only need to do it once. A nice trick is that the gauntlet actually spawns when you start the mission, not when the cutscene is triggered, so you can just shoot the driver and take the gauntlet. A guide will be linked below.
Let’s start with Silent and Sneaky. For Silent and Sneaky, the optional prep missions depend on your skill level. If you’re an experienced player, you don’t need to do much, only level 2 security passes. Power drills you can do if you think you have enough time. However, if you are a very new player, I’d recommend that you do patrol routes, Duggan shipments (you only need to destroy 3 to get rid of their bulletproof helmets), level 2 security passes, emp device and infiltration suits and power drills if you think you have enough time. If you do all these, the heist should be a breeze.
Going onto the Big Con, if you’re doing Gruppe Sechs, you don't need to do much. You only need to go through one door if you exit out the staff door, so you can decide if you want to do level 2 security passes or not. Patrol routes do make things easier, however are not necessary. Again, only do power drills if you think you have enough time. Make sure you do exit disguises. Noose and firefighter are exactly the same, so do firefighters since it has an easier mission.
For aggressive, again, patrol routes make it easier but are never necessary. Make sure to do Duggan shipments. You can solo it, but it will be much easier with another person. If you don’t get them all you can just close the game and you’ll be able to do the mission again. Reinforced armor allows you to take more damage, so I would recommend it even if it makes you slower. Be sure to also do boring machine as it allows you to enter through the sewers. Make sure to also do level 2 security passes unless you really like hacking doors.
Step 7: Finding people to play with
Now that you’ve completed all your required prep missions, you need some people to play with. If you don’t have any friends to play with, I recommend checking out HeistTeams or the GTAO Discord LFG Channels to find people to play with. Make sure to have good communication between your teammates otherwise the heist will be in chaos.
Step 8: Completing the heist
Now that you’ve got a solid heist crew waiting to grab all of that sweet loot out of the casino’s vault, you’ll be able to start the heist. If you're doing aggressive, the plan is pretty simple, shoot your way in, grab the loot, then shoot your way out. The easiest entry for aggressive is sewers, and the easiest exit is the eastern roof terrace. If you exit through the staff lobby, you’ll get shot a ton when going over the racetrack, however, if you exit through the roof terrace, you can shoot the guys behind the stones on the racetrack then safely parachute down.
For The Big Con, I’m going to assume you’re doing the Gruppe Sechs approach. By doing the Gruppe Sechs approach, you can pretty much waltz into the vault and back out of it, just be careful that this has some limitations. When going back up the stairwell/elevator to the casino access floor, the guards will have checked the vault and know it’s been robbed, so you disguise ain't gonna work anymore. I strongly suggest getting exit disguises, as they will greatly help your escape. The easiest exit for this is the staff lobby.
For SnS, I’m not really going to go into too much detail here because there’s a full video linked below. What I will talk about is when to use the emp (If you did the prep mission). I recommend emp’ing when you’re at the vault access floor, allowing you to waltz into the mantrap, or when you're coming back up to the casino access floor and are in the mantrap. Be warned that if you decide to get the daily vault when you trigger the emp, the emp’s timer will run out before you can get to your exit, so plan ahead. The easiest entrance for this is the staff lobby and the easiest exit is also the staff lobby.
Tips and tricks to complete the heist

If you are disguised, do not bump into any of the guards. They will detect you and start shooting.
In the control room, there is a button that you can press to open the door to the daily vault. One person has to hold the button while the other goes in and grabs the cash. This can be done with any approach.
Running and jumping is faster than just running normally, use this to your advantage while inside the vault.
Running in first person is actually faster than 3rd, so use this to your advantage when trying to knock out guards.
Don’t bother trying to escape the cops by hiding in an alley or something, either take your car into the sewers down by the LS river or take the heli that usually spawns on top of the police station. The sewers will result in you losing less money, however will be much slower. I will link both of these methods below in the useful media section.
Normally when exiting the casino from the staff lobby without any disguise, you’ll need to knock out a guard to the left of the swat fan to your right, before hugging the race track wall and then dropping down. I have found that sometimes if you run, the guard will hear you and detect you, causing you to get shot at. To prevent this, walk up to him making sure you stay out of his FOV then knock him out.
You walk much faster in the casino if you are in first person, making the vault contents mission much easier.
In prep missions, you can change any accessory (glasses, hat, ect.) to lose 1 star which is useful on missions where you can’t call Lester to remove your wanted level.
On some missions, you can lose the cops by entering your Terrorbyte/MOC/Avenger.
On some missions, you can lose the cops if you accept Lester’s apartment heist invite. This only works if you have a heist active.
In the hacking device mission where you have to infiltrate the FIB building, you walk a lot faster if you aim down sights on any gun, however, if you go into any agent’s LOS you will get detected instantly, so be careful when using this trick.
You can upgrade your getaway vehicles in the arcade by getting in them and pressing the button shown on the prompt that appears on the top left.

Useful media

Diamond Casino Heist FAQ
Welcome to the Diamond Casino Heist FAQ! This thread is going to go through all of the new changes and content added to the Casino Heist DLC. The information in this thread is up to date as of 28/7/2020.
Release Date
Announced on December 5th and released on December 12th, 2019, the Diamond Casino Heist is the latest DLC to come to GTA Online as of July 25th, 2020. This DLC adds a bunch of new content, including new vehicles, properties, vehicles, and a brand new heist!
New Content
Vehicles:
Maxwell Asbo (SSASA): $306,000 - $408,000
Karin Everon (SSASA): $1,106,250 - $1,475,000
Lampadati Komoda (Legendary): $1,275,000 - $1,700,000
Vapid Retinue Mk II (SSASA): $1,215,000 - $1,615,000
Ubermacht Rebla GTS (Legendary): $1,175,000
Maxwell Vagrant (SSASA): $1,660,500 - $2,214,600
Grotti Furia (Legendary): $2,055,000 - $2,740,000
RUNE Zhaba (Warstock): $1,800,000 - $2,400,000
Karin Sultan Classic (SSASA): $1,288,500 - $1,718,000
Nagasaki Outlaw (SSASA): $951,000 - $1,268,000
Declasse Drift Yosemite (SSASA): $981,000 - $1,308,000
Dinka Sugoi (SSASA): $918,000 - $1,224,000
Dinka Blista Kanjo (SSASA): $435,000 - $580,000
Nagasaki Strider (Legendary): $502,000 - $670,000
Dewbauchee JB 700W (Warstock): $1,470,000
Overflod Imorgon (Legendary): $2,165,500
Albany V-STR (Legendary): $1,285,000
Progen PR4 (Legendary): $3,515,000
Ocelot R88 (Legendary): $3,115,000
Nagasaki Blazer Lifeguard (Warstock): $62,000
Brute Boxville (Warstock): $298,500 - $398,000
Declasse Bugstars Burrito (Warstock): $450,000 - $598,000
MTL Fire Truck (Warstock): $2,471,250 - $3,295,000
Declasse Lifeguard (Warstock): $865,000
Brute Stockade (Warstock): $1,680,000 - $2,240,000
Weapons
Ceramic Pistol (Ammunation): $20,000
Navy Revolver (Unlocked after finishing the Los Santos Slasher treasure hunt): Free
Properties
The release of the Diamond Casino Heist DLC introduces a new property: arcades. Arcades are a passive business that allows you to host the diamond casino heist. The maximum daily income of the arcade is $5,000.
They are purchasable from Mmazebankforclosures at 6 different locations. The cheapest is at $1,235,000 (Pixel Pete’s, Paleto Bay) and the most expensive being at $2,530,000 (8-bit, Vinewood Hills).
Customization options on offer are 2 arcade styles, $290,000 - $470,000, 8 mural options, $50,500 - $107,500, 8 floor options, $78,000 - $165,000, 8 neon art styles, $107,500 - $320,000, personal quarters, $150,000, high score screens, $295,000 and a garage $215,000. 2 extra options are available to purchase from the arcade computer, which are the master control terminal, $1,740,000 and the drone station, $1,460,000. A variety of arcade games are also available to purchase, ranging from $90,000 to $420,000.
Credits
u/Pepperooney_ for adding a bunch of info on the tips and tricks section
u/what_it_dooo for suggesting the roof terrace and the hacking device trick

I haven't seen a good comprehensive guide for this, despite it being the best money making method in the game, so I thought I'd write a guide about it.

What is the Casino Heist and why should I do it?

The Casino Heist is semi-challenging PvE content for 2-4 players. As of August 2020 it's the best paying grind in the game, paying out $1.5-$2 million split between heist members every hour and a half. If you're doing setups with one friend, you're both effectively earning ~$80k per setup mission.
If you have no friends who play GTA:O, try to find a buddy in game or on HeistTeams
It's possible to get even higher payouts, but discussing glitches is against the rules of this subreddit; go to gtaglitches for that stuff.

Getting Started

To do the Casino Heist you need an Arcade, preferably Eight-Bit (Vinewood) or Videogeddon (La Mesa) as they're the closest to the Casino and setup missions.
Not required, but strongly recommended as they'll make setup missions much easier:

A good gun, such as Special Carbine
A bulletproof car for gunfights, such as Armored Kuruma
An aircraft with homing missiles, such as Buzzard Attack Chopper or Oppressor Mk2

Scoping and Vault Contents

All Points of Interest
All Access Points
Cash has the worst payout (up to $2.1 mil). You will always get cash the first time you host the Casino Heist.
Art has middling payout (up to $2.3 mil) but is very fast to steal, which means you can get detected, or hit the vault with fewer players, and still get the maximum take.
Gold is like cash but gives much better payout (up to $2.6 mil), with the disadvantage of making you run slightly slower when you leave the vault.
Diamonds only appear during special events, but have the highest payout for vault contents (up to $3.6 mil).

Choosing Approaches

The Big Con is the best approach, since the security tunnel entrance + Gruppe Sechs disguise takes you straight to the vault. Always choose it when possible.
Silent & Sneaky is like The Big Con, but is more difficult and takes longer.
Aggressive is relatively fast, but gives less time in the vault, making it much harder to get the maximum take for any target except Art.
In general, you should choose Aggressive for Art, The Big Con for other targets, and Silent & Sneaky only as a last resort. You should also choose Hard mode whenever possible as it gives you a 25% higher take.

Support Crew

Your Hacker is the most important support crew member, as they determine how long you have in the vault, and therefore your maximum take. My go-to is Paige Harris, who you unlock by owning a Terrorbyte. Avi Schwartzman is equally good and can be unlocked by destroying all Signal Jammers. If you don't have either of them, Christian Feltz is a decent stopgap measure; just be aware you'll have a good chance of missing out on profits.
The Driver determines your getaway vehicles, and is largely irrelevant since most people ignore the getaway vehicles and jack a car or a helicopter for their escape. I always go with Karim Denz and source the Sentinel Classic. It's only worth getting a more expensive driver if you want to unlock a car's trade price.
The Gunman determines the weapons you'll be using in the run. Again, mostly irrelevant, since Karl Abolaji's weapon loadouts are good enough even for a Hard Aggressive approach. Only get a more expensive gunman if you're going Aggressive and aren't confident in your headshotting skills or those of your crew.

Optional Preps

I don't recommend paying to skip any of the preps, because it eats significantly into your profits, and unlike MC/bunker missions, you can't easily make back the cost by doing other missions in that time.

Security Passes

Mandatory for every approach. Remember to get level 2 security passes, not level 1. The mission is very easy and saves you from having to do lots of annoying hacking minigames during the final heist.

Duggan Shipments

This is mandatory for Aggressive and Silent and Sneaky, as destroying at least 3 shipments will remove the bulletproof helmets from guards and allow them to be headshotted. Most people also do this for Big Con just to be safe. Having at least one other player in your organization, as well as a Buzzard or Oppressor Mk2, makes this mission very easy.

Security Intel

Unlocked after completing all Casino Penthouse missions, this is a once-off mission that reveals security cameras on the radar on all future casino heists. Do it when you unlock it.

Patrol Routes

Reveals guards on your radar. Not required, but useful on every approach, especially Silent & Sneaky. Do this if you have time.

EMP (Silent & Sneaky only)

This mission is relatively easy and the EMP saves a lot of headaches in a Silent & Sneaky run. Not required, but worth taking the time to do.

Boring Machine (Aggressive only)

This unlocks the best entry route for the Aggressive approach where you tunnel straight to the vault. Not required (Staff Lobby is almost as fast) but it makes the approach to the vault very easy.

Power Drills

Don't bother with this mission, other than to play through it once or twice for fun. The money from the deposit boxes isn't worth your time.

Exit Disguise (Big Con only)

These missions are annoying and the disguises aren't that helpful. Collecting all playing cards gives you a permanent exit disguise you can use; I recommend doing that instead and never having to worry about this prep.

Infiltration Suits (Silent & Sneaky only)

This mission gives you night vision. Basically, it's only useful if you plan on using the EMP but don't know the casino floor layout. Do it the first time you do a Silent & Sneaky run; by the second time, you should be experienced enough that you don't need it.

Reinforced Armor (Aggressive only)

This unlocks new outfits that reduce the damage you take during the heist finale. Personally, I hate this prep, because a) the mission is annoying, b) the finale is easy enough without it, and c) the armored outfits are ugly. Do it if you aren't confident in your shooting skills, or if you plan to do the heist with only two players.

Finale Screen

Buyer: Always choose the High Level buyer for the best payout. The only difference is that you have to drive or fly a few more miles after you lose the cops -- more than worth the extra percentage of the cut.
Decoy: This makes the helicopter getaway slightly easier on the Aggressive approach, or if you screw up either of the other two approaches. I don't think it's worth the extra cost, but it could be worth it if you find yourself constantly having trouble getting to the helicopter.
Clean Vehicle: Completely useless. Don't bother.

The Big Con

Entrance: Security Tunnel
Exit: Staff Lobby

Go straight to the vault. Take your sweet time plundering it.
Take the stairs on the way up. You want to take the long corridor looping around the back, pass by the laundry room and pick up your exit disguises if they're there, then make a run for the staff lobby exit.
You will be busted if guards or cameras see you. The guards in the security office can't see you through the bulletproof glass, but you can be seen through the glass panels in the doors.
Melee kill the patrolling guards from behind and run through the cameras without staying in their cone of vision for too long.
Once you're out of the staff lobby exit, there will be a NOOSE van to your right. Head past it, melee killing the guards, and make your way to the main road. From there, you can run to your getaway vehicles or jack a random car off the road.

Silent & Sneaky

Entrance: Staff Lobby
Exit: Staff Lobby

Take your time and have one person go ahead at a time. You want to make sure that you're headshotting guards with your silenced machine pistol, and using the stun gun on all cameras you pass by. If there are two guards next to each other, shoot them both in quick succession.
You will be busted if guards or cameras see you. The guards in the security office can't see you through the bulletproof glass, but you can be seen through the glass panels in the doors.
The daily take is worth getting if you have time.
You can use the Nano Drone in your inventory to shoot a tranquilizer dart. This is most useful on the guard patrolling the stairwell. Have your teammate wedge the door open, then fly the drone through the gap and down the stairs to knock the guard out.
If you got the EMP, you can use the SecuroServ app on your phone to activate it. This gives you 1 minute to book it and run past all guards, security doors, and cameras on a floor.
Once you're out of the staff lobby exit, there will be a NOOSE van to your right. Head past it, killing the guards, and make your way to the main road. From there, you can run to your getaway vehicles or jack a random car off the road.

Aggressive

Entrance: Sewer or Staff Lobby
Exit: Staff Lobby

This is a straightforward gunfight. Just move from cover to cover and shoot everything that moves.
As always, use headshots to get instant kills. Even if you did all Duggan shipments and got an expensive gunman, the guards can take a ridiculous number of bullets to center of mass, so it's faster to aim for the head and take them out instantly.
The guards respawn continually, so it isn't possible to completely clear a floor out. Just keep moving.
The daily take is worth getting if you have time.
When exiting through the staff lobby, don't go straight through the security office or you'll be shot to pieces. Take the long way around instead.
Once you're out of the staff lobby exit, jump the fence to the racetrack and run straight across. If there are any cars in the parking lot to your left, jack them and drive out. Otherwise, keep going and jump the fence to the main road. From there, you can run to your getaway vehicles or jack a random car off the road.

The Getaway

No matter which approach you take, you'll eventually end up outside the casino, on the main road, with a 5 star wanted level. There are two main strategies people use here.

Sewer Tunnel: Directly south of the racetrack, in the storm drain, is the entrance of the sewer tunnel that Michael and Franklin escape through in story mode. If you drive in here and keep going, you'll eventually start losing your wanted level. Get out of the car and wait in the sewer until you're all clean. From there, it's an easy drive to the buyer -- just don't drive near the casino or you'll be wanted by the cops again. This is a safe but slow getaway.
Police Station Helicopter: Over the overpass to the west, directly across the highway from the casino, is the Vinewood Hills police station. It's possible to drive to the back of the building and climb from the grass patch up to the roof. There, you can climb the roof fixtures to get to the helipad, where a police helicopter usually spawns. Once everyone is in the helicopter, you can use it to evade the cops. This is a quick but more risky getaway, since the helicopter occasionally doesn't spawn, and you can get shot during the drive or fall off the roof if you're unlucky.

Bugs

Permanent Wanted Level

Bug: You're in a getaway vehicle far from any cops, but your wanted level won't go away. This happens because one of your heist teammates has high ping and the game is having trouble syncing your wanted levels.
Fix: Have everyone get out of the vehicle and wait until the bug goes away. If you're in a helicopter with no safe place to land, the offending teammate(s) may have to parachute out.

Guards Spawning Late

Bug: On Silent & Sneaky, guards take a few moments to spawn in after you disable the metal detector.
Fix: Don't go through the metal detector or shoot anyone until the guards finish spawning in.

Frozen Guard Patrols / Bugged Camera Movement

Bug: The guards in the casino aren't moving, and the cameras have weird movement patterns or are facing towards walls.
Fix: Just keep going; this bug actually makes Silent & Sneaky / Big Con easier most of the time. If there's a frozen guard you can't get past, use the Nano Drone.

Disappearing Vision Cones During Getaway

Bug: You're getting away from the casino undetected when the vision cones suddenly disappear from your radar. Despite this, the police aren't coming after you.
Fix: This is a visual glitch and you haven't actually been discovered. Just keep going.

Spectator Leaving

Bug: Someone joins as a spectator, then leaves. You screw up the heist and have to restart. Then you fail the heist because "Your heist team quit."
Fix: Suck it up and reset.

Silent & Sneaky Body Found

Bug: You're suddenly busted because a body was found... even if you haven't killed anyone yet.
Fix: Suck it up and reset.

Uncollectable Heist Prep Equipment

Bug: You're doing heist prep mission with a friend, and you can't pick up the equipment because "you can't steal heist prep while on a heist prep mission."
Fix: Suck it up and reset.

Heist Prep Vehicle Not Registering

Bug: You collect a heist prep vehicle and drive to your arcade, but it doesn't trigger the end of the mission.
Fix: Suck it up and reset.
---
Hope someone out there finds this guide helpful. Comments and suggestions appreciated.

UPDATE 4th June 2020: Nevermind the heist is fun as fuck and you can make 1-1.7 million in an hour and a half. I just didnt know how to grind this. ITS WORTH IT, and a very good investment
Spent +10 fucking million dollars on the most expensive arcade location, with all the games and upgrades, including the casino mock up and the security panel for practicing. The result? Arcade makes you earn 3.5k dollars per day. PER DAY. A day in gta online lasts 48 minutes. Maintaining all of my businesses costs me 30k a day. The best part is that I cant even get that money, because the safe box is bugged and I cant open it, because it has no door and my character gets stuck if I try to open it.
About the heist itself:
Set up missions are very hard. And I mean VERY hard. I chose the stealth score option. Turns out that you have to do a lot of shit. Travel from A to B a lot of times carrying pieces of equipment. Kill Avon soldiers that will obliterate the fuck out of you everytime. And even better, the prep missions must be completed in a public lobby. Yes, they nerfed the MK2 and suicide thing, but they converted this heist into a paradise for griefers.
Still havent played the heist finale because it took 2 hours to do 4 set up missions and I still have a lot of them pending.
This DLC has disappointed me a lot. Its overpriced as fuck, the casino mock up costs $130k and the security pannel for practicing costs $430k (not to mention that most of the arcade machines cost +$300k). The new vehicles are overpriced as fuck. Missions are very hard and long, and impossiblenfor people without a group of friends willing to help them, since in some missions you have to get 2 or 3 pieces of equipment and you can carry only one per person.
Been investigating and Ive seen that highest payout is 2 million. People say that its very hard to get even close to that payout because of the crew cuts, the small amount of time you get inside the vault for picking up the money and the gunshots of the enemies that make you lose a lot of money everytime you get hit.
This is a HUGE disappointment. I thought it would be as good as the classic online heists. No. Its stupidly hard, intended to make you earn the least amount of money possible. Looks like Rockstar made it extremely hard on purpose. This is why people use money glitches and hacks. Because it is not fucking worth it to be 5 hours doing set up missions and a heist for that ridiculous payout. Just seen the case of a guy of this sub who did the entire heist with a friend. He did it with a friend (2 players) and they got $1.1M which turned into $900k after losing 200k in the gun fights. Take the crew cuts of that 900k. Both players got 300k. It is not worth it. It is not fair. This is not a decent update. I feel stupid for buying everything.

Since the Diamond Casino update, I have seen a large number of 12-year-olds posting Blackjack memes on this sub. As a parent, this has me very worried.
On top of that, I have seen some of the most trustworthy GTA Youtubers giving flawed gambling advice, which can have damaging impact on their gullible audiences.
So that's why I decided to write this up, to educate everyone on the subject, so there will be no more misunderstandings.
(2020 Update down at the bottom.)
If you're one of those Youtubers that wants to use this information in a video, feel free to do so. The more people (especially kids) that become educated about gambling, the better.
But then also please go back and review your own work, and delete or edit the videos that are giving out the wrong advice, like where you're saying you have "a good strategy for making money with roulette", or some other nonsense that I've heard this week. Delete that please.
Before I get into the individual games, I need to discuss a few concepts first, that will make understanding the rest a lot easier.

Expected return and variance
A game like Roulette or Slots has a fixed expected return on your bets. This is a percentage that you have no way of influencing. Say you are flipping a coin against a friend, and you both put up $1. The winner gets the pot. Since the odds are even at 50%, in the long run, you will expect to break even. Your expected return is 100% of your bet.
But imagine if you would play this coin flipping game in a casino against the house. On the "house rules" listed at the table they would probably say that you would only get 95 cents back for every win, while you are forfeiting a dollar on every loss. Would you still play?
Sounds stupid to do so, but still, everybody does it. Every bet they place on Roulette, every coin they put into a Slot machine, is based on the same concept.
Those few cents they take on every bet are their profit margin, and has paid for all the Vegas lights, the Mirage volcanoes, and the Bellagio fountains. Make no mistake - casino gambling games are not designed to make you lose, because sure, you can get lucky on a single night, but they are designed to make them win. That's the beauty of it. They can both exist at the same time.
Too many people that don't see how this works, are just destined for disaster. Just because you went on a lucky streak and won 8 games out of 10, does not mean that flipping coins is a profitable game, or that choosing tails is a winning strategy. Always be aware of the house edge, your true chances of winning, and just realize that you got lucky. There is no such thing as a strategy in flipping a coin that will give you a higher expected return, so it's just pure gambling, just like Slots and Roulette.
Most casino games are made in such a way, that your expected return is a little under 100%. This means that from every dollar bet at the tables, the casino expects to keep a few cents. For individual players, results may vary. Some will win, most will lose. But for the house, it doesn't matter. They take millions of bets each day, so for them, the expected average works out a lot sooner. In short: the house always wins.
When looking at the house edge, we're talking about the expected long-term result, based on the game's house rules. But for a player, it can take literally tens of thousands of hands or spins before you also reach this average number. Until that time, you can experience huge upswings and downswings, that are the result of nothing but short-term luck, which is called variance.
Some games and some bets have a much higher variance than others, which means your actual results will differ enormously from what you're expected to be at.
Take for example betting on red/black at the Roulette table. This is a low-variance proposition, because it has a high percentage chance of occurring, and a low payout.
Contrast this with betting single numbers in Roulette, which only win once every 38 spins on average. This bet has a much higher variance, meaning you can easily hit a dry spell, and not hit anything for 200 bets in a row, or you can see a single number hit three times in five consecutive spins. This is not a freak occurrence in high-variance bets.
Even though the expected return in both these bets is exactly the same, there's a huge difference in variance, causing massive differences in short-term results, which can go both ways. You need to be aware of this, before you decide what types of bets you are comfortable with placing.

Gamblers' Fallacy
Another thing to realize, is that each individual game, hand, or spin, is completely independent from the one(s) before it, and after it.
Gamblers tend to believe, that the chance of a certain outcome is increased, based on previous results.
The most famous example comes from the Casino de Monte Carlo, where the Roulette wheel managed to land on black 26 times in a row. Gamblers lost many millions during that streak, all frantically betting on red, believing that the odds were in favor of the wheel coming out on red, after producing so many blacks. This is not true. Each round is completely independent, and the odds are exactly the same.
You will hear people say things like a Blackjack table being "hot" or "cold", which is completely superstitious, and should be ignored. The exception was when Blackjack was being dealt from a shoe. It made card counting possible. But with the introduction of shuffle machines, and continuous shuffling like is being used in GTA, this no longer exists.
This is also why "chasing your losses" is a very bad idea. After being on a losing streak for some time, many gamblers believe that now it's their turn to start winning. So they will often increase their bet size, believing that when their predicted winning streak comes around, they will win back their losses, and more.
The reality of it, more often than not, is that people will indeed start playing higher and higher limits, until they are completely broke. Nobody is ever "due for a win". There is never a guarantee that you're about to start winning. In fact, the opposite is more likely to be true. You are, after all, in a casino.

Betting systems
Some people like to think that they have a fool-proof betting system, like the Martingale system. Simply increase or even double your bet when you lose, and keep doing that until you win. In theory, this system will always win. So that's why table limits were introduced, and where the system fails.
If you start at the Roulette table, playing red/black, with a small 750 chip wager, and just double your bet every time you lose, you only have to lose 6 times in a row, before you will be betting the table limit of 48,000, just to get that 750 chip profit.
Sure, you can go on all evening without this happening, winning 750 chips each time, but this losing streak only has to happen once, and you're bust. Any betting system like this is ill-advised, because you are hugely increasing your so-called "risk of ruin", and that's what we were trying to avoid.
And even if your starting bet is only 100 chips, after only nine straight losses, and nine doubled bets, you are betting the table limit at 50,000 chips. If you lose that bet, you're 100,000 chips in the hole, with no way to recover that with your 100 chip base wager.
So don't believe anyone that says this is the perfect system to always win in the casino. Sooner or later they will understand why they were wrong, when they're asking you for a loan.

Set your limits BEFORE you start playing
One final point before we get into the games, a general tip for people that head out to play: money management.
Just like in real life, before you go to the casino, decide on a maximum amount that you are WILLING TO LOSE.
Bet small enough, so that amount can last you through the entire evening, and you will not be tempted to run to the ATM to continue playing.
Considering GTA money, some people will be comfortable losing 1% of their GTA bank balance, some people will be comfortable with gambling away 5% of their total GTA savings. It's up to you what you can handle. Decide for yourself where it will start to hurt, and don't cross that line.
But whatever number you decide on, as soon as you lost that amount, get up and walk away. Don't chase your losses, stick to your limits, and accept that this has not been your day. There is always another game tomorrow. Always agree with yourself on a simple stop-loss rule, how much you would want to lose at most, and simply stop playing when you get there.
Same goes for winning. You can decide on a number, how much profit you would like to take away from the casino. You can go on a hot streak and be up half a million in a short period of time, but if you would continue to play longer, looking for more, chances are that you're going to lose it all back.
Most people are happy with doubling their daily casino budget, for example. Others are looking for 10 bets profit in Blackjack. Whatever you choose, when you hit that number, you can stop playing and bank your profits, or you can continue playing if you're still enjoying the games, but then only just play minimum bet sizes. Then you're just playing for fun, not for money. You've already made your profit, so simply keep it in your pocket, and don't risk losing it again.
Either way, decide on what your money management strategy will be, and STICK TO IT.

Casino games in GTA Online
Now, I'm going to dive into the games that you can find at the Diamond casino, ordered from worst to best.

6) Slots
Generally the rule is this: the less strategy a game has, the worse it is for the player. And with slots, this is definitely the case.
The only influence you have, is choosing what type of machine you're going to play. Basically, there are two types of slot machines:
-high frequency, low payout slots
-low frequency, high payout slots
In the first type, there is no huge (progressive) jackpot on offer, just your average selection of prizes that don't go up to crazy amounts.
This will result in a player having many more spins resulting in a win. The amounts that you win on the bigger prizes, will be smaller, but they do come around more often. This type of slot machine has a lower variance, which means that your money should last you longer, winning many smaller prizes along the way to keep you going.
The second type of slot machine lures you in with the temptation of a huge jackpot prize. Even though the long-term expected return on these machines is the same as the previous type, the prize distribution is hugely different. The large jackpot prize weighs heavily on the scale of expected return, but the chance of it hitting is extremely small. This results in a much higher variance on this type of machine. Usually your money will go down very fast, because the smaller prizes are less rewarding than on the other type of machine.
At the Diamond, the info screen says the player return at slots is set at 98.7%. This means that, on average, for every maximum bet of 2,500 chips, you expect to lose 32.5 chips.
This might not seem like a lot, but the danger of slots is that the game is extremely fast. You can spin about once every 6 seconds, which would result in an expected LOSS of about 20,000 chips per hour of playing.
But again, in this long-term expected number, the large jackpot awards are also factored in, and as long as you don't hit those big prizes, you'll see your money go down a lot faster.
In any case, thank heavens the max bet is only set at 2,500, or else we would see more players go bankrupt at alarming rates.
Optimal strategy for slots:
There is none. Because after betting, you have no more influence over the outcome. The only choices you have, is what type of machine you want to play at, and how much money you are going to risk. And those are all personal preference. As long as you stick to your loss limits, as discussed above, there's no harm in having a go every once in a while, hoping to get a lucky hit. Just realize that you don't have a high chance of scoring a big win, so as soon as you do, get up and walk away.

5) Roulette
Roulette is also a game where you have no influence over the outcome. There is zero skill involved. You place your bet, and that's it.
In traditional French roulette, a table has only the single-zero, but of course, for American casinos that wasn't enough of a house edge, so they simply doubled their profits by adding a second zero. The house edge was increased from 1/37 to 1/19, which is huge.
This makes playing on a double-zero roulette table by definition a sucker's play.
The payouts scale evenly, which means that a bet on a single number, and a bet on half of the numbers, and everything in between, yields the same expected return. The only difference, again, being the variance that you are willing to subject yourself to.
The player return for double-zero Roulette for all bets is 94.74%.
Except for the 5-number bet, which can only be made by placing a bet on the two top rows that contain 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3. The expected return on this bet is lower: 92.1%. This is because it only pays out 6-1. Why? Well, the number 36 isn't divisible by 5, so the greedy people that came up with double-zero Roulette had to round it off someway, and as expected, it wasn't going to be in the players' favor.Just remember that that 5-number bet is the worst bet at the table, and should be avoided. All other possible bets have the same expected return.
So it really doesn't matter how you spread your bets, if you bet only one chip, or if you litter the entire table with a bucketload of chips. Each chip you put out there, has the same expected return, so there is no strategy that will improve your long-term results.
Assuming that you're betting the maximum table amount of 50,000 chips, you will be looking at an expected loss of about 2,630 chips per spin. Considering that a round takes about 45 seconds to complete, your expected LOSS at the GTA Roulette tables will be around 200,000 chips per hour of playing.
Optimal strategy for double-zero roulette:
Stay away. Stay far away.

4) Three Card Poker
With Three Card Poker, we come across the first game where there is actually some strategy involved. You get to look at your cards, and then decide if you want to fold, and surrender your ante, or double your bet.
Additionally, you can choose to place a side bet on "Pair Plus", which offers progressive payouts.
There are some websites out there that ran all the numbers with computer simulations, and even though I would like to quote the source here, these websites are understandably littered to the max with online casino ads, so that's why I have decided against doing that.
Optimal strategy for Three Card Poker:
For this game you only have to remember one strategy rule: Always bet on any high card queen-six-four or better, and fold any high card queen-six-three or lower. That's it. Just don't forget to double check if you're not folding a straight or a flush, and you'll be fine.
This strategy will result in an expected return of 96.63%.
The Pair Plus sidebet, with the payout table that is used at the Diamond casino, gives you an expected return of 97.68%, which is actually a bit better than the main ante bet.
So by playing both wagers, you're reducing your expected losses per bet, but since you're betting more, you're also increasing your expected loss per hour.
My advice would obviously be to not play this game at all, but if you do, put as much of your bet as possible on the Pair Plus, while making our Ante bet as small as you can.
To be able to compare it to the other games at the Diamond, let's stay on that 50,000 maximum wager, meaning making your ante bet 35,000, and your pair plus bet 15,000, if the table would allow it.
This results in an expected loss of about 1,525 chips per hand, and with a round taking about 45 seconds, this adds up to an expected LOSS of around 120,000 chips per hour of playing. In comparison, if you would only play the ante bet for 50,000 per hand, you expect to lose 1,685 chips per hand, which means an expected LOSS of about 135,000 chips per hour. So the more out of that 50,000 wager you can put on the "Pair Plus" sidebet, the better.
Even though it may be fun to try out this game for a bit, since there's only one simple strategy rule to follow, you'll soon find yourself robotically grinding down your bankroll until it has vaporized. You're not missing out on anything if you skip these tables, there is no real challenge.
Just like with Roulette and Slots, if you want to try it out nonetheless, you can just bet the minimum amounts and only play for fun, so it won't matter if you win or lose.

3) Blackjack
Blackjack is the most complicated game by far. Simply because the player has to make a series of decisions, which will largely decide the outcome. Luckily, there is such a thing as an optimal strategy, which will be outlined below.
However, the strategy is also dependent on the house rules. These not only affect your expected return, but in some places also your decisions.
Here are the house rules at the Diamond casino:
-The game uses 4 standard decks, and a continuous shuffle.
-Blackjack pays 3 to 2, dealer checks for early blackjack.
-No insurance offered, no surrender.
-Dealer stands on soft 17.
-Double down on any two cards.
-Player can split only once, but doubling after split is allowed.
-Seven-Card Charlie.
Under these rules, and following the "basic strategy" chart, your expected return at Blackjack is a shade under 99.6%, which is extremely good for a casino game, that's why Blackjack should be your table game of choice.
But it comes at a price: you are going to have to memorize the relatively complicated strategy chart, or at least stick it to your monitor until you have it in your head. But in case you ever stumble into a real-life casino, you won't regret having this table memorized, so I would definitely advise you to work on that.
The strategy chart might look complicated at first, but you will be able to notice certain patterns. Your decisions are mainly based on the dealer's upcard, which is basically divided into a weak card (2 to 6), and a strong card (7 to ace).
When a dealer shows a strong card, you will be hitting more often with the risk of going bust, but when a dealer shows a weak card, you're not taking that risk, and you will be standing more, but also doubling and splitting more. You want to increase your bets when the odds are in your favor, and get out cheap when they're not.
But it also helps to take some time to think about why a certain advice is given. For example, why does it say that you always have to split two eights, even against an ace. Well, that's because two eights equals 16, which is the worst total you can have. It's better to split them up, and give yourself a chance of finding a 17, 18 or 19 with the next card. Once you see the logic in that, you'll have one less thing to memorize.
The playing advice in the basic strategy chart is a result of computer simulations that ran all possible outcomes against each other, and produced the most profitable decision for each situation. So you can't go wrong following it.
Optimal strategy for Blackjack with Seven-Card Charlie
The added house rule of Seven-Card Charlie, adds a small advantage for the player, and it does influence a few strategy decisions. For example, you might have a 14 with 6 cards, against the dealer's 5 upcard.
Normally this would be an automatic stand, but if you're only one card away from the Seven-Card Charlie, meaning an instant win for the player, regardless of the dealer's hand, it turns it into a hit.
Here's the most optimal strategy chart to follow for the Diamond Casino house rules: https://prnt.sc/olct6g
You'll see that two fives are missing from the chart, and that's because you never split them. You treat them as a regular 10. You also never split tens. Just stand on 20.
If you follow this strategy religiously, even with a maximum wager of 50,000 chips, you only expect to lose about 215 chips per hand, and with rounds taking about 30 seconds, that amounts to an expected LOSS of 26,000 chips per hour, which is only half a bet. A small price to pay for an hour of entertainment.
But since the expected return is so extremely close to 100%, you will see more positive short-term results than with other games. But obviously it can also swing the other way. Again, this is supposed to be the game where your money lasts you the longest, but always set your loss and win limits before you sit down. That rule simply always applies.

Still, even with optimal strategies applied, all these games are expected to lose you money in the long run. So betting any kind of large amounts is not advised. If you simply want to enjoy playing these games, there's nothing wrong with betting a minimal amount. Playing these games for a longer period of time will already cost you money anyway, since your daily property fees will still be charged while you're playing in the GTA casino. As long as you can play for fun, there's nothing wrong, but when you see yourself betting insane chunks of your entire bank balance to try to recoup some unfortunate losses, you're doing it wrong.
As the commercials in Britain all correctly say: when the fun stops, stop.

2) Virtual Horse Racing
Now onto the good stuff. I ran some numbers, and I believe Rockstar has made a mistake with the horse racing game. Because as it stands, and if I read the numbers correctly, this game is actually profitable for the player. You can actually make money with this, at least, until Rockstar figures out their mistake and patches it.
If anyone wants to jump into the math and double check this to make sure, please do so. I will add any corrections to this post. This is one of those "to good to be true" things, so I keep thinking that I might have overlooked something. So please verify it if you can.
The setup is this. There is a pool of 100 horses, each with their own attached payout. These are divided into 3 groups, ranked by their odds. From each group, 2 horses are randomly selected to provide a pool of six runners for you to bet on.
Now it's not an actual race you're looking at. You are looking at a raffle. This is important to realize.
Each horse gets awarded a certain number of raffle tickets. The favorites get awarded more tickets than the underdogs, and therefore, have a higher chance of winning.
If this distribution works like it does in the real-life casinos, then the raffle tickets are awarded according to the betting odds.
Example 1: imagine a race with 3 runners, all have 2/1 odds, representing a 33.3% chance of winning. (Because 2/1 means 2 AGAINST 1, so 3 total.) In this case, each horse gets one third of the raffle tickets, giving them an equal chance to win.
Example 2: imagine a race with 3 runners, one has 1/1 odds (or EVENS), representing a 50% chance of winning, and the other two horses are marked up as 3/1, with a 25% chance of winning. The favorite gets half the tickets, the other two get a quarter of the tickets each.
A ticket is drawn, and you'll have a winner.
It doesn't matter in this game which horse you bet on, because the expected return is always the same: 100% or break-even, for the above examples.
Now, what happens if the percentages don't exactly add up to 100%?
They must add up to 100%, because there will always be a winner. And only one winner.
So when this is the case, the actual winning chances of the horses are adjusted to meet the 100% requirement, using their payout odds to determine the scale.
So, if the represented percentages add up to more than 100%, the actual winning chances of the runners will be DECREASED, resulting in all bets becoming losing propositions for the players.
Example: In a 6-horse race, all runners are listed at 4/1, representing a 20% chance. Only with six runners that amounts to 120%. So all chances are scaled down by 1/6th, to end up at 100%.
This means your horse's chances are reduced from 20% to 16.67%, turning it into a losing bet: 5 times you will lose your bet, and 1 time you will win, but only get 4 bets back in this instance, instead of 5. A losing bet in the long run.
This is the type of odds that you find in regular casinos, with fields as large as 15 runners to bet on, where the assumed winning chances always add up to more than 100%, therefore are decreased for all runners, resulting in a house edge.

But in GTA Online's Inside Track, there are other scenarios, because of the small field, and the way that they are put together.
In some cases, the represented percentages when added up, are LESS than 100%, meaning that the actual winning chances of all runners, are INCREASED.
This creates profitable bets for the players, because in the long run, you're expecting to win more money than you lose. This is a gambler's dream, pure and simple.
So, according to the in-game information, the three groups of horses are divided as follows:
-Favorites: EVENS to 5-1
-Outsiders: 6-1 to 15-1
-Underdogs: 16-1 to 30-1

Let's take the two most extreme examples to show what's happening.
The worst possible field to bet on: two runners at EVENS, two runners at 6-1, and two runners at 16-1.
EVENS represents a 50% chance, 6-1 is 14.29%, and 16-1 is 5.88%. Add those up and you land on a total of 140.34%.
This means that the actual winning chances of the horses are decreased by 28.75% (to get that 140% down to 100%), which makes betting on this field extremely unwise.
A horse at EVENS will only come in as a winner 35.63% of the time, instead of 50%,
a horse at 6-1 will only win 10.18% of the time,
and an underdog at 16-1 will only win 4.19% of the time.

The expected return on a bet on any of the horses in this field is only 71.26%, so a maximum bet of 10,000 chips on any of these horses holds an expected LOSS of 2,875 chips.
These returns are the same, because the winning chances are scaled equally, according to the payout numbers. So it really doesn't matter which horse you bet on, in the long run, you expect the same results.
But as explained before, it does influence variance, and therefore your short-term result, which can swing both ways.

But now, the best possible field to bet on: two runners at 5-1, two runners at 15-1, and two runners at 30-1.
Odds at 5-1 represents a winning chance of 16.67%, 15-1 odds means 6.25% chance, and 30-1 odds means a 3.23% chance of winning. Add these six horses together, and you only get 52.285%.
This means that, to get from 52% to 100%, the actual winning chances of these horses will be almost doubled! Multiplied by 1.91 to be exact.
So the 5-1 favorites will now win 31.88% of the time, instead of 16.67%,
the 15-1 runners will win 11.95% of the time,
and the underdogs at 30-1 odds will still win 6.17% of the time.
When betting on this field, the expected return on your bet is 191.25%!
This means that a max bet of 10,000 chips will result in an expected PROFIT of 9,125 chips.
This is printing money, if there ever was such a thing.
Optimal strategy for Virtual Horse racing
So all you have to do, is only bet high on the games where you have an expected positive return, and bet the absolute minimum on the games where your expected return is negative. Or back out of the racing game to refresh the field.
If you don't have a way to quickly add up all the percentages, and until somebody shows up here with a neatly formatted table, just use a few general rules of thumb:
-Always bet the maximum on a race with favorites at 2/1 and 3/1 or higher in it.
-Simply skip all races with two favorites at EVENS in it, and at EVENS and 2/1. Or bet the minimum, if you can't skip or refresh the field.
-To decide if you should play races with other favorite combinations EVENS and 3/1, EVENS and 4/1, EVENS and 5/1, or two favorites at 2/1, the payouts on the other four runners determine whether or not it's profitable to play them. The results of betting on these fields vary from an expected 1,330 chip loss (worst-case) to an expected 1,680 chip win (best-case), with a max bet of 10,000 chips.
But if you're not looking for another strategy chart, you might just want to skip these borderline cases, and just cherry pick the best ones, which are easy to recognize, and with which you can never go wrong.
It's difficult to put a number on an expected win-rate, because it all depends on which fields you get presented with, but it's not unreasonable to state that you can maintain a steady win-rate of around 200,000 chips per hour, with about 50 seconds per race.
Remember, you're not trying to win every race. You're trying to win the most money per hour. So don't sweat it when you bet on a 4/1 favorite, and lose a couple of races in a row. It will still be more profitable in the long run. You have the math on your side.
To reduce negative variance, always bet on the favorite, when betting on profitable fields. We're not gambling anymore, we're grinding out a steady profit. We want to keep the swings to a minimum.
I contacted Rockstar support to verify if this is indeed how it works, but the only reply I got after 6 weeks is that they were "looking into it".
User u/Garsant made a useful Excel-worksheet, available for you to download, where you can quickly type in the payouts on the horses, to see if it produces a profitable bet or not. You can find it in his post here: https://www.reddit.com/gtaonline/comments/ekp8na/gta_online_inside_track_odd_calculato

1) Wheel of Fortune
The number one profitable casino game in GTA Online is obviously the Wheel of Fortune, because it costs you nothing to play.
Unfortunately, you only get one free spin per day, but it holds great value, so make sure you do it.
With a chance to win a super car, vehicle discounts, expensive mystery prizes (which also can be vehicles), and a lot of cash and chips, the expected return on a single spin is around $100,000 in value.
So don't forget your daily spin, it's definitely worth your time.

2020 Update:
As of the Diamond Casino Heist update, the Inside Track horse racing is confirmed to still be as profitable as outlined above.The only thing that seems to be changed, is that you can't refresh the field anymore by backing out of the screen. This does affect your hourly rate in a negative way, but does not change the fact that this game has a huge positive expected return, and should be your go-to when you're trying to take money from the house, without having Lester's nagging voice in your ear. That should also be worth something.

And with that, I conclude my 5,000 word essay on gambling in GTA. Questions, comments, feel free to add your input to this guide.

Cliffs:
-Gambling games should only be played for fun, not for big money. You should expect to lose in the long run. The house always wins.
-A casino game doesn't have a memory, and betting systems don't work.
-Set your limits before you start, how much you are willing to lose or win, and then walk away when you get there.
-Don't play slots, roulette, or three card poker.
-Only play blackjack following a basic strategy chart (https://prnt.sc/olct6g).
-Inside Track betting can be played profitably, if you only bet on fields WITHOUT a heavy favorite.
-Wheel of Fortune is always your best bet, because it's a free bet.

GTA: Online is one of, if not the most expansive online experiences in recent memory. Rockstar Games keeps adding enough to the game periodically to keep the players engaged. One of the most popular additions to the game was 'The Doomsday Heist'. It is a heist that players like to play the most after the Diamond Casino Heist.
But, players need to buy a 'Facility', an underground Bunker essentially, that would serve as the base of operations for The Doomsday Heist in GTA: Online. Heists are some of the best missions the game has to offer. Executing a Heist along with friends with perfection is a real joy. The significant payouts at the completion of a Heist make it a favourite of the player base.
There are a total of 9 Facilities in GTA: Online that players can buy. Keep in mind, if you play GTA: Online with friends, not all of you need to have a Facility to play the Doomsday Heist. The 9 facilities range from $1,250,000 to $2,950,000, they are:
Paleto Bay Facility - $1,250,000
Mount Gordo Facility - $1,465,000
Lago Zancudo Facility - $1,670,000
RON Alternates Wind Farm Facility - $1,855,000
Zancudo River Facility - $2,100,000
Route 68 Facility - $2,312,500
Grand Senora Desert Facility - $2,525,000
Sandy Shores Facility - $2,740,000
Land Act Reservoir Facility - $2,950,000
HEIST GUIDE
All Facilities offer the same amount of benefits and rewards; the only deciding factor in what makes any facility more valuable is how close they are to the main roads.
I don't recommend buying anything at peleto bay . And land act reservoir maybe closer to city but you need to cross a whole freaking hill for that . While doing heist preps it sucks .big time. Buy •RON Alternates Wind Farm Facility
•Route 68 Facility
Grand Senora Desert Facility
Sandy Shores Facility

H ere is the link to the weekly GTA Online Bonuses:
Hi, it's your new neighborhood moderator u/7DeadlyFetishes, along with u/CausticPenguino, u/PapaXan, u/Dan6erbond, u/Tonan, u/Brooksy925, and u/LesterCrestBot! Over the pass few days we've been fine tuning the bot for faster and easier moderation, and taking a more active role in community content curation.
We're making this announcement post both to introduce the new mods to the community but also outline the moderation discipline that we'll be enforcing, and we encourage you all to follow along so that our rules can be universally understood by all. The more informed you are on rules, and less likely your going to have to deal with us!
Rule 1 - Overused Content And Content Relevancy
From here on out Rule 1 will be the most strictly enforced rule, given that reason us mods were invited to join the team in the first place was the rapid amount of content flooding gtaonline, with most of those submissions relying on overused memes, discussions topics, and questions.
Below is a list of common submissions and topics that are now banned from the discussion space on gtaonline, this list is vast and very broad right now given the state the of subreddit, but we'll probably unban and/or loosen our grip on memes and topics as time goes on, but that's only if users like you bring a new angle or discussion point when it comes to a particular subject.

-Rule 1 Continued - Content Submissions That Will Result in Immediate Removal:

Any post with the topic of "Oppressor MKII."

-Discussions related to the Oppressor often fall into two camps, where one group likes it because it helps grinders, and the other group despise it for it's toxic nature. for two straight years that has been the discussion about the Oppressor, and we doubt that the range of conversation related to the vehicle is going to be expanding anytime soon.

Tryhards and/or Griefers are bad.

-Hating tryhards and greifers is equivalent to hating people who kick very small, fragile, cute animals. It's not a controversial position to dislike toxic individuals, and if anything, the relentless whining and complaining around these players only emboldens them more to just to get a reaction out of you chumps. This also extends to K/D ratio and EWO.

Rockstaservers/devs/business model is bad.

-If this subbreddit was developer supported like the likes of FortNiteBR, where the devs can talk and communicate with the community about ideas for the game or improving issues with the game, then this complaining wouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately that is not the case, and whining about expensive prices for vehicles and properties is some secret plot to sell more Sharkcards is a reasonable observation but falls on deaf ears. No one at Rockstar is getting owned by your epic may-may about how the servers are trash, so save your breath and avoid the ban.

Unnamed youtuber who makes clickbait GTA Online videos is bad.

-Y'all know who I'm talking about, no amount of trolling, petitions, or stupid memes is going to make him go away. Most if not all of his base of viewers are not subscribed, they're casual watchers who probably are not deeply invested in GTA Online like the rest of us, so there's not much one can do to prevent him from accruing views besides NOT giving him any attention. Remember that there's no such thing as bad publicity.

Memes and discussions related to GTA 6.

-Let's get the record straight, while it's true that Rockstar sees the potential of GTA Online for the cash cow that it is; that doesn't necessarily correlate with the fact that GTA 6 hasn't been announced yet for the next generation. RDR2 was released just nearly 2 years ago, and game development is more complex then ever before. The reason why Rockstar was able to deliver yearly games was the fact that 3 of the 5 console releases of GTA were running on the same engine, from 2001. The GTA 6 discourse is less "discussion" and more "hate-jerking," therefore we see the topic as invaluable clutter discussion.

Miscellaneous overused memes.

-Finally in a list too large to cover in detail, here is an album of 30 unique images and submissions that have been circulated on the subreddit since it's inception. These memes are been beaten to death like our good friend Johnny Klebitz at the beginning of Trevor's story arc. A general rule of thumb for interested posters in our subreddit: If you see a gta meme on a platform that is not reddit, there's a 110% percent chance that meme has already been featured on gtaonline.

-Rule 1 Continued - Discussion Topics And Ideas That Will be Removed Immediately:
-Similar to the ban list above, many users on this subreddit love to engage in brain storming new ideas for the game, and while we actively encourage community engagement, this roundup of ideas and discussion topics have been done to death, and therefore we'll be seeking action to take them down.

"Rockstar should allow us to buy all our snacks at once."

-Won't happen.

"Rockstar should make a single player DLC for a 7 year old game."

-The Rockstar Games studio doens't have a big red flashing button on the wall that says, "Release GTA 5 Single Player DLC," content like that takes an entire studio to developm it's pipe dreams.

"Rockstar should finish construction of the Mile High Club."

-Many missions both in story mode and in online take place, under, inside, and on top of the tower, and while it wouldn't be impossible for Rockstar to remove these missions, the simple truth of the matter is that Rockstar wanted a construction set piece in Los Santos, it was never meant to be finished. Besides, in game story lore states that the tower wasn't being built fast enough because construction was purposely trying to get contract extensions to get more money out of the investors.

"Rockstar should increase Sharkcard payouts."

-Won't happen.

"Rockstar should change old missions payouts."

-Won't happen.

"Rockstar should sell police vehicles."

-Rockstar has stated multiple times that the what makes a GTA game a GTA game is the dynamic of criminal versus police, cops and robbers, and much less a cops and robbers DLC was explicitly stated by Rockstar to never happen because it conflicts with the core dynamic of the game.

"Rockstar should do map expansions."

-I'm unaware of how large GTA Online's dev team is; but it most certainly isn't large enough to add an entire fucking map to a 7 year old game, much less an online game. These are not realistic suggestions, it's all just the community hyping itself up for speculation, which is not valuable discussion.

"Rockstar should allow us to buy the nuclear sub/aircraft carrier."

-Fun ideas for sure, but these have been suggested multiple times, and will probably never occur.

"Rockstar should have a timer on the casino wheel."

-So help me god if one of you neanderthals suggest this fucking idea again i'll personally find you and rip off your head and shit down your neck. Either spin the wheel and remember when you spun it or not spin it at all because the sheer volume of these posts vastly surmount that of actual change on Rockstar's end of the bargain.

"Rockstar should make lobbies just for grinders/pvp etc."

-Rockstar has never even dabbled with servers dynamics before, what makes you think that they're going to change that now?

In Summary of The Rule 1 Discipline
-To round off the what the Mod Discipline will be for rule 1, if you don't want your posts removed or even for you to get banned, just use a little more brain power than what your using right now. There's plenty to talk about the game without having to conform to broad community topics.

Rule 2 - Be Respectful
-This is as simple as it comes, but it has to be stated, don't be a dick to other users on the subreddit. If for example you see someone posting a picture of the new car they won at the podium wheel, don't write a 5 paragraph essay on why they should have been aborted for posting their lucky break at the casino wheel. Instead, just report it and move on. And if you see anyone else giving another a hard time, do your duty and report toxic users, this is a safe community and we want to celebrate GTA Online for everyone, not scare people away for pedantic reasons.

Rule 3 - Use Appropriate Flair
-Use the correct flair, we never had a problem with it before, so lets keep it that way.

Rule 4 - Use Descriptive Titles
-Many of the posts that we have to moderate come in the form of questions, many of these question often lack any direction whatsoever, "Best Business?" or "How to do Casino Heist" leave lots to the imagination, and likewise people who are googling answers to their GTA Online inquiries also benefit from descriptive Reddit titles. In short, make good titles, otherwise your post is out.

Rule 5 - Suggestion Posts
-Suggestion posts must contain some initial discussion by the OP, preferably in the form of a text post. Images can be linked in the post content but cannot comprise the entirety of your post. "DAE want this vehicle" posts should be posted as comments in the Weekly Simple Question thread.

Rule 6 - No Promotion of Cheating
-Active promotion of cheating (the deliberate use of cheats, hacks, mods, exploits, glitches, and other methods to gain an unfair advantage over other players or at the expense of other players' right to a fair game experience) will result in a permanent ban. No asking for modded money or for help regarding cheating. Admissions of cheating may be removed at the moderators' discretion. Purely cosmetic glitches that do not affect other players are allowed.

Rule 7 - No Heist Recruitment
-Cream of the crop can be found here.

Rule 8 - Youtube Content
-Read this post to understand what types of YouTube content are allowed to be posted.

Rule 9 - "Looking For Players" Posts Should Include Relevant Information
-LFP posts should include platform information, in-game name, timezone, and other information where applicable.

Rule 10 - Questions Better Suited For The FAQ
-Do not make a post just to ask questions about the following topics:

Best [thing] in the game/"Is [x] better or is [y] better?"
"DAE want to see [this] in the game?"
"A hacker did something to me, what do I do?"
In-game discounts and updates
How to use a vehicle, weapon, properties, or other core game functions
Questions about the game servers
Making money and leveling up
Any purchasing decision questions

These types of questions must be posted in the Weekly Question Thread.

Rule 11 - Moderation Discretion
-Moderators reserve the right to approve, remove, lock or otherwise deal with any post or comment at our discretion. Moderators reserve the right to ban users at our discretion. Rules are enforced according to their spirit and not their letter. Users are welcome to appeal moderator actions with respectful arguments, but moderators have the final say in how rules are interpreted and actions carried out.

Closing Remarks
-We have long road ahead of us, so if we're going to make the subreddit a better place it requires a strong mod/user relationship, as the moderators, we're going to use every tool at our disposal to make sure that all the content on the subreddit is informative and enjoyable, and you dear user have the responsibility of reporting questionable content and making quality posts. Together we can make this subreddit a better place, and with a new update over the horizon there's no other better place for information, memes and the community than gtaonline!
-7DeadlyFetishes
--oh yeah and the rest of the mods

This is not mine, the creator of this is u/enderpiet

Since the Diamond Casino update, I have seen a large number of 12-year-olds posting Blackjack memes on this sub. As a parent, this has me very worried.
On top of that, I have seen some of the most trustworthy GTA Youtubers giving flawed gambling advice, which can have damaging impact on their gullible audiences.
So that's why I decided to write this up, to educate everyone on the subject, so there will be no more misunderstandings.
(2020 Update down at the bottom.)
If you're one of those Youtubers that wants to use this information in a video, feel free to do so. The more people (especially kids) that become educated about gambling, the better.
But then also please go back and review your own work, and delete or edit the videos that are giving out the wrong advice, like where you're saying you have "a good strategy for making money with roulette", or some other nonsense that I've heard this week. Delete that please.
Before I get into the individual games, I need to discuss a few concepts first, that will make understanding the rest a lot easier.
Expected return and variance
A game like Roulette or Slots has a fixed expected return on your bets. This is a percentage that you have no way of influencing. Say you are flipping a coin against a friend, and you both put up $1. The winner gets the pot. Since the odds are even at 50%, in the long run, you will expect to break even. Your expected return is 100% of your bet.
But imagine if you would play this coin flipping game in a casino against the house. On the "house rules" listed at the table they would probably say that you would only get 95 cents back for every win, while you are forfeiting a dollar on every loss. Would you still play?
Sounds stupid to do so, but still, everybody does it. Every bet they place on Roulette, every coin they put into a Slot machine, is based on the same concept.
Those few cents they take on every bet are their profit margin, and has paid for all the Vegas lights, the Mirage volcanoes, and the Bellagio fountains. Make no mistake - casino gambling games are not designed to make you lose, because sure, you can get lucky on a single night, but they are designed to make them win. That's the beauty of it. They can both exist at the same time.
Too many people that don't see how this works, are just destined for disaster. Just because you went on a lucky streak and won 8 games out of 10, does not mean that flipping coins is a profitable game, or that choosing tails is a winning strategy. Always be aware of the house edge, your true chances of winning, and just realize that you got lucky. There is no such thing as a strategy in flipping a coin that will give you a higher expected return, so it's just pure gambling, just like Slots and Roulette.
Most casino games are made in such a way, that your expected return is a little under 100%. This means that from every dollar bet at the tables, the casino expects to keep a few cents. For individual players, results may vary. Some will win, most will lose. But for the house, it doesn't matter. They take millions of bets each day, so for them, the expected average works out a lot sooner. In short: the house always wins.
When looking at the house edge, we're talking about the expected long-term result, based on the game's house rules. But for a player, it can take literally tens of thousands of hands or spins before you also reach this average number. Until that time, you can experience huge upswings and downswings, that are the result of nothing but short-term luck, which is called variance.
Some games and some bets have a much higher variance than others, which means your actual results will differ enormously from what you're expected to be at.
Take for example betting on red/black at the Roulette table. This is a low-variance proposition, because it has a high percentage chance of occurring, and a low payout.
Contrast this with betting single numbers in Roulette, which only win once every 38 spins on average. This bet has a much higher variance, meaning you can easily hit a dry spell, and not hit anything for 200 bets in a row, or you can see a single number hit three times in five consecutive spins. This is not a freak occurrence in high-variance bets.
Even though the expected return in both these bets is exactly the same, there's a huge difference in variance, causing massive differences in short-term results, which can go both ways. You need to be aware of this, before you decide what types of bets you are comfortable with placing.
Gamblers' Fallacy
Another thing to realize, is that each individual game, hand, or spin, is completely independent from the one(s) before it, and after it.
Gamblers tend to believe, that the chance of a certain outcome is increased, based on previous results.
The most famous example comes from the Casino de Monte Carlo, where the Roulette wheel managed to land on black 26 times in a row. Gamblers lost many millions during that streak, all frantically betting on red, believing that the odds were in favor of the wheel coming out on red, after producing so many blacks. This is not true. Each round is completely independent, and the odds are exactly the same.
You will hear people say things like a Blackjack table being "hot" or "cold", which is completely superstitious, and should be ignored. The exception was when Blackjack was being dealt from a shoe. It made card counting possible. But with the introduction of shuffle machines, and continuous shuffling like is being used in GTA, this no longer exists.
This is also why "chasing your losses" is a very bad idea. After being on a losing streak for some time, many gamblers believe that now it's their turn to start winning. So they will often increase their bet size, believing that when their predicted winning streak comes around, they will win back their losses, and more.
The reality of it, more often than not, is that people will indeed start playing higher and higher limits, until they are completely broke. Nobody is ever "due for a win". There is never a guarantee that you're about to start winning. In fact, the opposite is more likely to be true. You are, after all, in a casino.
Betting systems
Some people like to think that they have a fool-proof betting system, like the Martingale system. Simply increase or even double your bet when you lose, and keep doing that until you win. In theory, this system will always win. So that's why table limits were introduced, and where the system fails.
If you start at the Roulette table, playing red/black, with a small 750 chip wager, and just double your bet every time you lose, you only have to lose 6 times in a row, before you will be betting the table limit of 48,000, just to get that 750 chip profit.
Sure, you can go on all evening without this happening, winning 750 chips each time, but this losing streak only has to happen once, and you're bust. Any betting system like this is ill-advised, because you are hugely increasing your so-called "risk of ruin", and that's what we were trying to avoid.
And even if your starting bet is only 100 chips, after only nine straight losses, and nine doubled bets, you are betting the table limit at 50,000 chips. If you lose that bet, you're 100,000 chips in the hole, with no way to recover that with your 100 chip base wager.
So don't believe anyone that says this is the perfect system to always win in the casino. Sooner or later they will understand why they were wrong, when they're asking you for a loan.
Set your limits BEFORE you start playing
One final point before we get into the games, a general tip for people that head out to play: money management.
Just like in real life, before you go to the casino, decide on a maximum amount that you are WILLING TO LOSE.
Bet small enough, so that amount can last you through the entire evening, and you will not be tempted to run to the ATM to continue playing.
Considering GTA money, some people will be comfortable losing 1% of their GTA bank balance, some people will be comfortable with gambling away 5% of their total GTA savings. It's up to you what you can handle. Decide for yourself where it will start to hurt, and don't cross that line.
But whatever number you decide on, as soon as you lost that amount, get up and walk away. Don't chase your losses, stick to your limits, and accept that this has not been your day. There is always another game tomorrow. Always agree with yourself on a simple stop-loss rule, how much you would want to lose at most, and simply stop playing when you get there.
Same goes for winning. You can decide on a number, how much profit you would like to take away from the casino. You can go on a hot streak and be up half a million in a short period of time, but if you would continue to play longer, looking for more, chances are that you're going to lose it all back.
Most people are happy with doubling their daily casino budget, for example. Others are looking for 10 bets profit in Blackjack. Whatever you choose, when you hit that number, you can stop playing and bank your profits, or you can continue playing if you're still enjoying the games, but then only just play minimum bet sizes. Then you're just playing for fun, not for money. You've already made your profit, so simply keep it in your pocket, and don't risk losing it again.
Either way, decide on what your money management strategy will be, and STICK TO IT.
Casino games in GTA Online
Now, I'm going to dive into the games that you can find at the Diamond casino, ordered from worst to best.
6) Slots
Generally the rule is this: the less strategy a game has, the worse it is for the player. And with slots, this is definitely the case.
The only influence you have, is choosing what type of machine you're going to play. Basically, there are two types of slot machines:
-high frequency, low payout slots
-low frequency, high payout slots
In the first type, there is no huge (progressive) jackpot on offer, just your average selection of prizes that don't go up to crazy amounts.
This will result in a player having many more spins resulting in a win. The amounts that you win on the bigger prizes, will be smaller, but they do come around more often. This type of slot machine has a lower variance, which means that your money should last you longer, winning many smaller prizes along the way to keep you going.
The second type of slot machine lures you in with the temptation of a huge jackpot prize. Even though the long-term expected return on these machines is the same as the previous type, the prize distribution is hugely different. The large jackpot prize weighs heavily on the scale of expected return, but the chance of it hitting is extremely small. This results in a much higher variance on this type of machine. Usually your money will go down very fast, because the smaller prizes are less rewarding than on the other type of machine.
At the Diamond, the info screen says the player return at slots is set at 98.7%. This means that, on average, for every maximum bet of 2,500 chips, you expect to lose 32.5 chips.
This might not seem like a lot, but the danger of slots is that the game is extremely fast. You can spin about once every 6 seconds, which would result in an expected LOSS of about 20,000 chips per hour of playing.
But again, in this long-term expected number, the large jackpot awards are also factored in, and as long as you don't hit those big prizes, you'll see your money go down a lot faster.
In any case, thank heavens the max bet is only set at 2,500, or else we would see more players go bankrupt at alarming rates.
Optimal strategy for slots:
There is none. Because after betting, you have no more influence over the outcome. The only choices you have, is what type of machine you want to play at, and how much money you are going to risk. And those are all personal preference. As long as you stick to your loss limits, as discussed above, there's no harm in having a go every once in a while, hoping to get a lucky hit. Just realize that you don't have a high chance of scoring a big win, so as soon as you do, get up and walk away.
5) Roulette
Roulette is also a game where you have no influence over the outcome. There is zero skill involved. You place your bet, and that's it.
In traditional French roulette, a table has only the single-zero, but of course, for American casinos that wasn't enough of a house edge, so they simply doubled their profits by adding a second zero. The house edge was increased from 1/37 to 1/19, which is huge.
This makes playing on a double-zero roulette table by definition a sucker's play.
The payouts scale evenly, which means that a bet on a single number, and a bet on half of the numbers, and everything in between, yields the same expected return. The only difference, again, being the variance that you are willing to subject yourself to.
The player return for double-zero Roulette for all bets is 94.74%.
Except for the 5-number bet, which can only be made by placing a bet on the two top rows that contain 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3. The expected return on this bet is lower: 92.1%. This is because it only pays out 6-1. Why? Well, the number 36 isn't divisible by 5, so the greedy people that came up with double-zero Roulette had to round it off someway, and as expected, it wasn't going to be in the players' favor.Just remember that that 5-number bet is the worst bet at the table, and should be avoided. All other possible bets have the same expected return.
So it really doesn't matter how you spread your bets, if you bet only one chip, or if you litter the entire table with a bucketload of chips. Each chip you put out there, has the same expected return, so there is no strategy that will improve your long-term results.
Assuming that you're betting the maximum table amount of 50,000 chips, you will be looking at an expected loss of about 2,630 chips per spin. Considering that a round takes about 45 seconds to complete, your expected LOSS at the GTA Roulette tables will be around 200,000 chips per hour of playing.
Optimal strategy for double-zero roulette:
Stay away. Stay far away.
4) Three Card Poker
With Three Card Poker, we come across the first game where there is actually some strategy involved. You get to look at your cards, and then decide if you want to fold, and surrender your ante, or double your bet.
Additionally, you can choose to place a side bet on "Pair Plus", which offers progressive payouts.
There are some websites out there that ran all the numbers with computer simulations, and even though I would like to quote the source here, these websites are understandably littered to the max with online casino ads, so that's why I have decided against doing that.
Optimal strategy for Three Card Poker:
For this game you only have to remember one strategy rule: Always bet on any high card queen-six-four or better, and fold any high card queen-six-three or lower. That's it. Just don't forget to double check if you're not folding a straight or a flush, and you'll be fine.
This strategy will result in an expected return of 96.63%.
The Pair Plus sidebet, with the payout table that is used at the Diamond casino, gives you an expected return of 97.68%, which is actually a bit better than the main ante bet.
So by playing both wagers, you're reducing your expected losses per bet, but since you're betting more, you're also increasing your expected loss per hour.
My advice would obviously be to not play this game at all, but if you do, put as much of your bet as possible on the Pair Plus, while making our Ante bet as small as you can.
To be able to compare it to the other games at the Diamond, let's stay on that 50,000 maximum wager, meaning making your ante bet 35,000, and your pair plus bet 15,000, if the table would allow it.
This results in an expected loss of about 1,525 chips per hand, and with a round taking about 45 seconds, this adds up to an expected LOSS of around 120,000 chips per hour of playing. In comparison, if you would only play the ante bet for 50,000 per hand, you expect to lose 1,685 chips per hand, which means an expected LOSS of about 135,000 chips per hour. So the more out of that 50,000 wager you can put on the "Pair Plus" sidebet, the better.
Even though it may be fun to try out this game for a bit, since there's only one simple strategy rule to follow, you'll soon find yourself robotically grinding down your bankroll until it has vaporized. You're not missing out on anything if you skip these tables, there is no real challenge.
Just like with Roulette and Slots, if you want to try it out nonetheless, you can just bet the minimum amounts and only play for fun, so it won't matter if you win or lose.
3) Blackjack
Blackjack is the most complicated game by far. Simply because the player has to make a series of decisions, which will largely decide the outcome. Luckily, there is such a thing as an optimal strategy, which will be outlined below.
However, the strategy is also dependent on the house rules. These not only affect your expected return, but in some places also your decisions.
Here are the house rules at the Diamond casino:
-The game uses 4 standard decks, and a continuous shuffle.
-Blackjack pays 3 to 2, dealer checks for early blackjack.
-No insurance offered, no surrender.
-Dealer stands on soft 17.
-Double down on any two cards.
-Player can split only once, but doubling after split is allowed.
-Seven-Card Charlie.
Under these rules, and following the "basic strategy" chart, your expected return at Blackjack is a shade under 99.6%, which is extremely good for a casino game, that's why Blackjack should be your table game of choice.
But it comes at a price: you are going to have to memorize the relatively complicated strategy chart, or at least stick it to your monitor until you have it in your head. But in case you ever stumble into a real-life casino, you won't regret having this table memorized, so I would definitely advise you to work on that.
The strategy chart might look complicated at first, but you will be able to notice certain patterns. Your decisions are mainly based on the dealer's upcard, which is basically divided into a weak card (2 to 6), and a strong card (7 to ace).
When a dealer shows a strong card, you will be hitting more often with the risk of going bust, but when a dealer shows a weak card, you're not taking that risk, and you will be standing more, but also doubling and splitting more. You want to increase your bets when the odds are in your favor, and get out cheap when they're not.
But it also helps to take some time to think about why a certain advice is given. For example, why does it say that you always have to split two eights, even against an ace. Well, that's because two eights equals 16, which is the worst total you can have. It's better to split them up, and give yourself a chance of finding a 17, 18 or 19 with the next card. Once you see the logic in that, you'll have one less thing to memorize.
The playing advice in the basic strategy chart is a result of computer simulations that ran all possible outcomes against each other, and produced the most profitable decision for each situation. So you can't go wrong following it.
Optimal strategy for Blackjack with Seven-Card Charlie
The added house rule of Seven-Card Charlie, adds a small advantage for the player, and it does influence a few strategy decisions. For example, you might have a 14 with 6 cards, against the dealer's 5 upcard.
Normally this would be an automatic stand, but if you're only one card away from the Seven-Card Charlie, meaning an instant win for the player, regardless of the dealer's hand, it turns it into a hit.
Here's the most optimal strategy chart to follow for the Diamond Casino house rules:https://prnt.sc/olct6g
You'll see that two fives are missing from the chart, and that's because you never split them. You treat them as a regular 10. You also never split tens. Just stand on 20.
If you follow this strategy religiously, even with a maximum wager of 50,000 chips, you only expect to lose about 215 chips per hand, and with rounds taking about 30 seconds, that amounts to an expected LOSS of 26,000 chips per hour, which is only half a bet. A small price to pay for an hour of entertainment.
But since the expected return is so extremely close to 100%, you will see more positive short-term results than with other games. But obviously it can also swing the other way. Again, this is supposed to be the game where your money lasts you the longest, but always set your loss and win limits before you sit down. That rule simply always applies.
Still, even with optimal strategies applied, all these games are expected to lose you money in the long run. So betting any kind of large amounts is not advised. If you simply want to enjoy playing these games, there's nothing wrong with betting a minimal amount. Playing these games for a longer period of time will already cost you money anyway, since your daily property fees will still be charged while you're playing in the GTA casino. As long as you can play for fun, there's nothing wrong, but when you see yourself betting insane chunks of your entire bank balance to try to recoup some unfortunate losses, you're doing it wrong.
As the commercials in Britain all correctly say: when the fun stops, stop.
2) Virtual Horse Racing
Now onto the good stuff. I ran some numbers, and I believe Rockstar has made a mistake with the horse racing game. Because as it stands, and if I read the numbers correctly, this game is actually profitable for the player. You can actually make money with this, at least, until Rockstar figures out their mistake and patches it.
If anyone wants to jump into the math and double check this to make sure, please do so. I will add any corrections to this post. This is one of those "to good to be true" things, so I keep thinking that I might have overlooked something. So please verify it if you can.
The setup is this. There is a pool of 100 horses, each with their own attached payout. These are divided into 3 groups, ranked by their odds. From each group, 2 horses are randomly selected to provide a pool of six runners for you to bet on.
Now it's not an actual race you're looking at. You are looking at a raffle. This is important to realize.
Each horse gets awarded a certain number of raffle tickets. The favorites get awarded more tickets than the underdogs, and therefore, have a higher chance of winning.
If this distribution works like it does in the real-life casinos, then the raffle tickets are awarded according to the betting odds.
Example 1: imagine a race with 3 runners, all have 2/1 odds, representing a 33.3% chance of winning. (Because 2/1 means 2 AGAINST 1, so 3 total.) In this case, each horse gets one third of the raffle tickets, giving them an equal chance to win.
Example 2: imagine a race with 3 runners, one has 1/1 odds (or EVENS), representing a 50% chance of winning, and the other two horses are marked up as 3/1, with a 25% chance of winning. The favorite gets half the tickets, the other two get a quarter of the tickets each.
A ticket is drawn, and you'll have a winner.
It doesn't matter in this game which horse you bet on, because the expected return is always the same: 100% or break-even, for the above examples.
Now, what happens if the percentages don't exactly add up to 100%?
They must add up to 100%, because there will always be a winner. And only one winner.
So when this is the case, the actual winning chances of the horses are adjusted to meet the 100% requirement, using their payout odds to determine the scale.
So, if the represented percentages add up to more than 100%, the actual winning chances of the runners will be DECREASED, resulting in all bets becoming losing propositions for the players.
Example: In a 6-horse race, all runners are listed at 4/1, representing a 20% chance. Only with six runners that amounts to 120%. So all chances are scaled down by 1/6th, to end up at 100%.
This means your horse's chances are reduced from 20% to 16.67%, turning it into a losing bet: 5 times you will lose your bet, and 1 time you will win, but only get 4 bets back in this instance, instead of 5. A losing bet in the long run.
This is the type of odds that you find in regular casinos, with fields as large as 15 runners to bet on, where the assumed winning chances always add up to more than 100%, therefore are decreased for all runners, resulting in a house edge.
But in GTA Online's Inside Track, there are other scenarios, because of the small field, and the way that they are put together.
In some cases, the represented percentages when added up, are LESS than 100%, meaning that the actual winning chances of all runners, are INCREASED.
This creates profitable bets for the players, because in the long run, you're expecting to win more money than you lose. This is a gambler's dream, pure and simple.
So, according to the in-game information, the three groups of horses are divided as follows:
-Favorites: EVENS to 5-1
-Outsiders: 6-1 to 15-1
-Underdogs: 16-1 to 30-1
Let's take the two most extreme examples to show what's happening.
The worst possible field to bet on: two runners at EVENS, two runners at 6-1, and two runners at 16-1.
EVENS represents a 50% chance, 6-1 is 14.29%, and 16-1 is 5.88%. Add those up and you land on a total of 140.34%.
This means that the actual winning chances of the horses are decreased by 28.75% (to get that 140% down to 100%), which makes betting on this field extremely unwise.
A horse at EVENS will only come in as a winner 35.63% of the time, instead of 50%,
a horse at 6-1 will only win 10.18% of the time,
and an underdog at 16-1 will only win 4.19% of the time.
The expected return on a bet on any of the horses in this field is only 71.26%, so a maximum bet of 10,000 chips on any of these horses holds an expected LOSS of 2,875 chips.
These returns are the same, because the winning chances are scaled equally, according to the payout numbers. So it really doesn't matter which horse you bet on, in the long run, you expect the same results.
But as explained before, it does influence variance, and therefore your short-term result, which can swing both ways.
But now, the best possible field to bet on: two runners at 5-1, two runners at 15-1, and two runners at 30-1.
Odds at 5-1 represents a winning chance of 16.67%, 15-1 odds means 6.25% chance, and 30-1 odds means a 3.23% chance of winning. Add these six horses together, and you only get 52.285%.
This means that, to get from 52% to 100%, the actual winning chances of these horses will be almost doubled! Multiplied by 1.91 to be exact.
So the 5-1 favorites will now win 31.88% of the time, instead of 16.67%,
the 15-1 runners will win 11.95% of the time,
and the underdogs at 30-1 odds will still win 6.17% of the time.
When betting on this field, the expected return on your bet is 191.25%!
This means that a max bet of 10,000 chips will result in an expected PROFIT of 9,125 chips.
This is printing money, if there ever was such a thing.
Optimal strategy for Virtual Horse racing
So all you have to do, is only bet high on the games where you have an expected positive return, and bet the absolute minimum on the games where your expected return is negative. Or back out of the racing game to refresh the field.
If you don't have a way to quickly add up all the percentages, and until somebody shows up here with a neatly formatted table, just use a few general rules of thumb:
-Always bet the maximum on a race with favorites at 2/1 and 3/1 or higher in it.
-Simply skip all races with two favorites at EVENS in it, and at EVENS and 2/1. Or bet the minimum, if you can't skip or refresh the field.
-To decide if you should play races with other favorite combinations EVENS and 3/1, EVENS and 4/1, EVENS and 5/1, or two favorites at 2/1, the payouts on the other four runners determine whether or not it's profitable to play them. The results of betting on these fields vary from an expected 1,330 chip loss (worst-case) to an expected 1,680 chip win (best-case), with a max bet of 10,000 chips.
But if you're not looking for another strategy chart, you might just want to skip these borderline cases, and just cherry pick the best ones, which are easy to recognize, and with which you can never go wrong.
It's difficult to put a number on an expected win-rate, because it all depends on which fields you get presented with, but it's not unreasonable to state that you can maintain a steady win-rate of around 200,000 chips per hour, with about 50 seconds per race.
Remember, you're not trying to win every race. You're trying to win the most money per hour. So don't sweat it when you bet on a 4/1 favorite, and lose a couple of races in a row. It will still be more profitable in the long run. You have the math on your side.
To reduce negative variance, always bet on the favorite, when betting on profitable fields. We're not gambling anymore, we're grinding out a steady profit. We want to keep the swings to a minimum.
I contacted Rockstar support to verify if this is indeed how it works, but the only reply I got after 6 weeks is that they were "looking into it".
User u/Garsant made a useful Excel-worksheet, available for you to download, where you can quickly type in the payouts on the horses, to see if it produces a profitable bet or not. You can find it in his post here: https://www.reddit.com/gtaonline/comments/ekp8na/gta_online_inside_track_odd_calculato
1) Wheel of Fortune
The number one profitable casino game in GTA Online is obviously the Wheel of Fortune, because it costs you nothing to play.
Unfortunately, you only get one free spin per day, but it holds great value, so make sure you do it.
With a chance to win a super car, vehicle discounts, expensive mystery prizes (which also can be vehicles), and a lot of cash and chips, the expected return on a single spin is around $100,000 in value.
So don't forget your daily spin, it's definitely worth your time.
2020 Update:
As of the Diamond Casino Heist update, the Inside Track horse racing is confirmed to still be as profitable as outlined above.The only thing that seems to be changed, is that you can't refresh the field anymore by backing out of the screen. This does affect your hourly rate in a negative way, but does not change the fact that this game has a huge positive expected return, and should be your go-to when you're trying to take money from the house, without having Lester's nagging voice in your ear. That should also be worth something.
And with that, I conclude my 5,000 word essay on gambling in GTA. Questions, comments, feel free to add your input to this guide.
Cliffs:
-Gambling games should only be played for fun, not for big money. You should expect to lose in the long run. The house always wins.
-A casino game doesn't have a memory, and betting systems don't work.
-Set your limits before you start, how much you are willing to lose or win, and then walk away when you get there.
-Don't play slots, roulette, or three card poker.
-Only play blackjack following a basic strategy chart (https://prnt.sc/olct6g).
-Inside Track betting can be played profitably, if you only bet on fields WITHOUT a heavy favorite.
-Wheel of Fortune is always your best bet, because it's a free bet.

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