This is what Google Images come with for 'Prisoner' - Not Edward Donnel Hendricks

A couple of days ago, the trial started for a man who was accused of robbing a poker game in San Antonio. This man, Edward Donnel Hendricks decided to  defend himself, and it turns out this probably was not the greatest idea in the world. The parolee will land up with a sentence of three 99 year sentences for his role in the poker related robbery.

Its seem the clever criminal will have to serve at least 30 years of his aggravated robbery sentences before he will be able to be eligible for parole. The jurors took just under an hour to determine for the juror to determine the sentences and only 10 minutes for the panel to decide his guilty status.

Hendricks explained “I’m in way over my head,” as sentence was passed down on the convict. He also apologized to jurors, saying he was “one of the few convicted felons who really do have the desire to become a productive member of society.”

“No one was hurt physically in the crime. Everybody got their property back,” he said. “I'm not as bad as I am being painted. I have a conscience, and I know it's hard for you to believe it, but I am good.”

This from a man who landed up robbing a poker game, wielding a shotgun and a revolver in a house with children in it.

Eight poker playing buddies got a surprise home visit by North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement officers on Thursday, who then proceeded to arrest them and confiscate their assets.

Many states in the US allow social gambling as long as no entry fees are collected or any entry fees taken are  paid out as winnings.

However, many US states will not tolerate any social gambling whatsoever, including Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. And, of course, North Carolina.

The eight men arrested were therefore deemed to be in violation of North Carolina’s gambling laws, and as well as their poker table, cards and chips being seized, $23,700 in cash was also taken away.

Seems a little bit overboard for me.. almost like arresting grandmothers for playing bridge

Carrying on with our blogging theme of private poker parties being robbed, it happened again on Thursday. One poker game ended with no winners when Five hooded suspects with bandannas covering their face robbed a high-stakes poker game early Thursday morning leaving with $15,000 in proceeds, jewellery and electronics.

Police went out to 11 Avalon Gardens Drive after receiving a 911 hangup call at 12:30 a.m., Clarkstown police Sgt. James Fay said.

The homeowner and eight other men who were playing poker told police they were ambushed by five Hispanic males wearing hooded sweatshirts and bandanas, Fay said.

They had surrounded one of the poker players, Fay said, after he had stepped outside for cigarette and forced him at gunpoint to let them into the home.

The robbers stole $15,000 in cash, a large amount of jewelry and some electronic items, Fay said.

This never happens on PokerTime.

 It was a seemingly lucky night for Thomas Gigliotti until the moment he pulled into his driveway.

Thomas Gigliotti, 74 and his wife Josephine 71, were returning home to their house from the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood after a lucky night on to the tables.  According to Police, several masked bandits robbed the couple of their winnings in their driveway of around $4,000 in cash. The masked men rushed towards Gigliotti, pulled him from his car knocked him to the ground and stole his cash, credit cards and mobile phone.

However, this was not the end of this crime tale. Rather than being shaken up after being robbed and assaulted, the feisty senior citizen jumped back in his Lincoln Navigator and took off in a almost Hollywood-esque chase after the bandits. He spotted the bandits jumping into a white getaway car near an intersection not too far from where the robbery occurred.

Gigliotti tailed the robbers through the streets of Plantation and at one point even attempted to ram the smaller getaway vehicle in an effort to make force the car to spin out. Gigliotti bumped the car twice from behind in a scene that  could only be reminiscent of a Jason Bourne movie. “The chase was one of the greatest chases you've ever seen, they took rights and lefts, rights and lefts. They couldn't shake me. They just couldn't," Thomas said.

Eventually at speed of around 65mph, he rammed the getaway car sending the vehicle out of control and the bandits skidded off the side of the road.

The suspects bailed out of the vehicle and abandoned the car, "I put my high beams on and reversed to see the vehicle, it looks like there's nobody in the car.' Gigliotti said he as he cautiously approached the vehicle but the men had fled by this point.

Although, in the meantime his wife has said that her card –playing days are over. “I’m not going back there she said. “I don’t ever want to go back there.”The senior bravado was however not on the same opinion, and believes he was not tempting lady luck; “I like to go down to the casino” he said.

And this is why I play online. This same sort of robbery seems to happen far too often. 

A couple of months ago, that Ocean 11 type robbery escapade shocked the poker world, with the robbery of the EPT in Berlin. Slowly, more and more of the culprits were caught and finally it seems that have apprehended the mastermind behind the robbery, a man who played in the tournament himself.

Mohammed Abou-C, as identified by German authorities as such because of the countries privacy laws., apparently observed where the money was kept as he took part in the poker tournament and then apparently passed the information off to his accomplices.

As brave and ridiculously confident that these guys, even going so far to having a McDonald’s meal a couple of hours before the tournament, it seems the long arm of the law did finally catch up with them. Personally; If I was involved in such a heist I’d have gotten out of Berlin, but it seems that Mr Mohammed Abou-C decieded that Berlin was the safest place to stay, which ultimately lead to his arrest.

This brings the total number of people involved in the robbery to 6.

                                 Does Not Happen on PokerTime

Most of you already know the advantages of playing online poker, but one that has been constantly coming to mind over the past couple of weeks has been the fact that us online poker players and poker rooms do not constantly get robbed at gunpoint. I’ve yet to be sitting on my living room, multi-tabling a couple of games, when suddenly masked men break through my front door and demand my poker winnings and other valuable belongings.

A group of 24 poker players playing at underground games in Texas this week had this unfortunate situation happen to them. It might sound like something that happens in the Wild West but it seems to be a regular occurrence constantly.

The latest heist Happens during a poker gaming in Austin, Texas. During the early hours of the morning an armed gang stormed the building armed with AK47s, and started firing their weapons into the air. Players were forced to lay face down as their belongings were lifted from their pockets before making their getaway.

A witness told the Pokerati website:

“Gunshots were fired inside. They kept yelling at us not to look up or move, so we didn’t know if people were shot.

Joseph saved our lives. He obeyed them, rationalized w/ them, showed them closet w/ money, but had no key, they harassed him, they shot or kicked doors in,

Over 9 cops were arriving as we drove away. They stopped us and interviewed us individually, were very concerned for our safety and catching criminals, not even a question of poker game. Helicopters, forensics, detectives and K9 were all there lining the street.”

Plus if you do play online poker at work, hope there is no camera pointing at your screen in case you do get robbed.