by James
8. March 2010 08:35
In something that was seemingly straight out of Hollywood, The high-rollers games was underway at the European Poker Tour in Berlin when masked men burst through the doors with more than poker on their mind.
The men, armed with numerous pistols, a machine gun, and strangely enough a machete burst into the poker tournament in the Hyatt Hotel just after 2pm and announced in true Hollywood crime style “This is a hold up!”
They were not bluffing either – video stream caught the action on the robbers which landed up turning the ballroom into chaos as tables were overturned, people scurried out of the way, those watching ran for the exits, and generally fled causing several injuries. In one of the videos one can see a security guard taking on of the masked robbers but he escapes by his fellow com-padre. This initial footage was caught on live television but was quickly cut off as people ran from their tables.
The men forced security staff and hotel employees to hand over a part of the tournaments jackpot money which according to police could be as high as $1.36 million. It had been previously reported that the figure was $272,000 however as the news travels the figure has risen to the million mark. During the incident the security guards tried to fend off the attackers, and a substantial part of the money was lost in the scuffle.
Following the brazen daylight heist the robbers escaped on foot through a nearby shopping mall – not wearing black masks any longer – and finally fled in a getaway car.
According to Olaf Wagner, photographer for Germany newspaper Bild, ““When I entered, I saw a number of security people struggling with three masked men, One guy stood in the corner stuffing 500 euro notes into his backpack, while a second man pinned down a security man with his machete.”
The tournament began March 1 with 945 participants who together paid nearly €3.7 million in entry fees.