European Poker Tournament In Berlin Robbed By Armed Men On Live TV

March 6th, 2010
YouTube
Mar. 06, 2010

Security guard takes on one of the masked robbers in Red, another one of the robbers appears to come back and help him get away.
http://forum.casinocity.nl/tm.aspx?m=73959

Video with comments from police.

From 2+2 Forum: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/29/news-views-gossip/ept-berlin-armed-robbery-728237/:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Webjoker View Post
I was just talking with some guys who were playing in the PLO event. Everyone was hiding under the table except for one Russian guy who stayed just sitting at the table playing with his chips. So cool lol

Quote:
Originally Posted by Webjoker View Post
I was doing the live commentary and of course there was chaos, especially after someone reported that there was a bomb (not kidding). So I rushed to my laptop, the thing is worth more than anything, and went behind the group of journalists.

Everyone was walking behind Alexander Kravchenko who looked like the leader of the pack. In a constant steady walk he marched to the door and explored every corner before we went on.

I felt so safe behind this old Russian guy who looked like he had seen this stuff like a thousand times before.

Note: Some people on the 2+2 Poker Forum are reporting the prize money was kept across the street, and only some of the monies were stolen.

Robbers hit €1 million poker jackpot
A gang of armed robbers are believed to have got away with a €1 million jackpot after storming a high-stakes poker tournament in a luxury German hotel.
By Colin Freeman
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/7387155/Robbers-hit-1-million-poker-jackpot.html

In scenes that could have been straight out of the Oceans 11 heist movie, a group of masked men armed with automatic weapons, machetes and hand grenades struck in broad daylight at Berlin's Grand Hyatt hotel.

The tournament's organisers declined to give details of how much money had been taken, but the jackpot the contestants were playing for stood at €1 million (Ł900,000), according to a website for the European Poker Tour, which organised the event.

German news website Spiegel Online quoted witness Claudia Sommerey as saying that panic spread in the room at the five-star hotel in the city centre. She said she hid under a table as "three disguised men with rifles" burst into the players.

About 400 participants started into the five-day long competition on Wednesday. Most of them, however, had already dropped out of the game by Saturday, among them former tennis star Boris Becker.

FLASHBACK: What if the security guards had guns?

"Once the door flew open, one of the robbers screamed, 'This is a robbery.' One of the patrons said, 'No, it's not,' and they started exchanging gunfire."

HT 2+2 Forum: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/29/news-views-gossip/ept-berlin-armed-robbery-728237/

'Blazing guns' wound two in Franklin County shoot-out
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/5021091/

Zebulon, N.C. — Gunmen dressed as police officers burst into a house in the Pilot community in southern Franklin County, sparking a shoot-out that injured two people late Wednesday, authorities said.

Investigators said that a man was standing on the front porch of a house in the 8300 block of N.C. Highway 39 making a personal call on a cell phone around 9 p.m. when two gunmen approached him.

"One had a police hat on, handcuffs and a badge, dressed in dark clothing," said Capt. Tim Strickland, with the Franklin County Sheriff's Office.

The gunmen held the man at gunpoint and then burst into the house, planning to rob those inside, investigators said.

"It's just like the old saying 'Guns blazing.' That's how they went inside," Strickland.

A surveillance camera over the front door, though, had already alerted those inside the house that gunmen were outside.

"The patrons on the inside can actually see what's going on on the outside, so they knew they were getting robbed," Strickland said. "Once the door flew open, one of the robbers screamed, 'This is a robbery.' One of the patrons said, 'No, it's not,' and they started exchanging gunfire."

One of the robbers was shot in the shoulder during the shoot-out, and the surveillance video shows the gunmen quickly running out of the house soon after they entered it.

They chased down one man in the parking lot and shot him in the buttocks, Strickland said. Authorities believe the gunmen made off with about $2,000 from that victim.

The victim was treated and released from at a hospital. Investigators contacted local hospitals, but none reported treating any other patients with gunshot wounds.

Investigators said that poker games might have been going on at the house. Tables were set up in the house when deputies arrived, but no cards or money were present.

"It's pretty secluded. We don't even know how they found out about the place," Strickland said.

Investigators said that they are treating the property owners as victims and that their priority is identifying gunmen posing as cops.

"This probably wasn't their first trip. These guys are dangerous. They're not afraid of firing a weapon," Strickland said.