06 Mar 10
Armed robbery at EPT Berlin
The PokerStars EPT in Berlin has fallen victim to an armed robbery when several masked men stormed the tournament halls.
Our editor on site has reported that at around 14:00 local time several armed and masked men stormed the tournament halls at the PokerStars ETP in Berlin. At this point it is unclear whether the robbers were armed with guns or knives. Eye witnesses report hearing gun fire.
Panic ensued and players, as well as spectators, fled from the tournament halls, breaking a temporary wall in the process. Chaos still reigns and all games have been stopped. It is unlikely that play will resume in the near future.
The high roller event was taking place when the the robbery started. According to eyewitness reports, some of the buy-ins have been stolen by several attackers.
Update 14:50:
The hosts have announced that the tournament will resume at 16:00.
Update 14:57:
According to a first statement by PokerStars, three robbers armed with knives were involved. It seems that nobody has been injured.
Update15:01:
Initial information about stolen money (all buy-ins) seems to be incorrect. So far no particular amount of stolen money has been confirmed by official sources.
Update15:18:
Update 15:41:
The official statement from EPT currently is the following: "An armed robbery by six men took place today at EPT Berlin. Nobody was seriously injured. We hope to re-start all events at 4pm local time. A police investigation is under way. If you have video footage or photographs that could help the police, please contact the EPT organizers as soon as possible."
Update15:18:
The whole tournament area is still closed. Apparently the mass panic was exacerbated by the robbers who shouted "we have a bomb". Because of the panic that ensued, all the chips on the tables got mixed up.
Update 15:21:
Mad Harper told us that all side events have been cancelled because the tables have been flipped. An official press statement is set to follow, which we will publish here immediately.
Update 15:41:
The official statement from EPT currently is the following: "An armed robbery by six men took place today at EPT Berlin. Nobody was seriously injured. We hope to re-start all events at 4pm local time. A police investigation is under way. If you have video footage or photographs that could help the police, please contact the EPT organizers as soon as possible."
Update 15:45:
Bz-berlin.de is reporting that a total of €800,000 were stolen and 8 people from security have been injured.
Update 16:05:
According to the EPT, the tournament should continue at 17:00 CET. They will also attempt to continue the side events.
Update 17:10:
Tournament is still on hold as chips on the tables are mixed up and players try to find out how much they had.
Please note, that you will be able to find further updates in our live ticker thread in the forum!
The following video shows the scenes of about 14:00 o'clock:
#1
Anger86, 06 Mar 10 15:36
Interesting.Didn't expect something like that happen nowadays.
#2
antonin87, 06 Mar 10 15:41
fuck..real shit :D..happy that everyone is alright!!#3
MaliSunSeT, 06 Mar 10 15:49
I hope everyone is alright and nobody stole other chips =D#4
Rycka, 06 Mar 10 15:54
Wild west times back?#5
armitageshanks, 06 Mar 10 16:03
Wow, what maniacs. I really hope everyone makes a full recovery and the tournament proceeds as usual (as possible).Thanks for the updates.
#6
slowshow, 06 Mar 10 16:06
Yeah, hope everyone is all-right!#7
stefko321, 06 Mar 10 16:07
why they didn't secure the tournament, every event that has cash prices should have security.#8
Sinnology, 06 Mar 10 16:24
Madness !Hope everyone is alright
#9
Skeat, 06 Mar 10 16:25
@7"8 people from security have been injured."
#10
Hlynkinn, 06 Mar 10 16:30
they had security....#11
Tudazul, 06 Mar 10 17:22
sick :(#12
stevegold87, 06 Mar 10 17:39
Weird that somebody like that would happend...I thought a casino was a safest place ever to play. Wonder if the eight guys tried to stop them#13
Shevtshenko, 06 Mar 10 19:21
One more good reason to play online? That's unbeliavable, though.#14
gadget51, 06 Mar 10 19:34
Well I'm glad no-one was seriously injured at least.Oh, I had 8 000 000 chips by the way dealer. :)
#15
randomdonk, 06 Mar 10 19:56
ihufa goes to an ept and this happens.the ultimate troll !
:biggrin:
#16
roswellx, 06 Mar 10 21:53
@ #15 +1#17
LePokerMonster, 06 Mar 10 23:39
I think that it's really weird not to have armed security when there are over a million euros for someone to steal#18
cojonel, 06 Mar 10 23:50
Ihufa almost won the main event after he promised me he will ship it!take care tomorow he will be back for the others 200k!#19
simoska, 06 Mar 10 23:51
recessionary times... :D#20
Navrark, 07 Mar 10 01:00
You are correct LePokerMonster. I know that in sporting events police are always on site. I think that Poker events ought to have the same level of security.I also find it difficult to believe that they are going to continue the tournament. I think the remaining players ought to split the prize pool according to what they had and this should be over with.
Who knows if playing online is even safe. You may not get an armed robbery, but there are other ways you can be taken for all your $$$.
#21
Zemnieks11, 07 Mar 10 13:36
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3-sADcD0DY&feature=related some more full video! Like wtf unarmed security....is this for real? Like what they can doo to guys with guns..this is so lame, shame to EPT Berlin cos many people won'ty go there anymore!#22
Hahaownedlolz, 20 Mar 10 13:10
lol @ 13.. this was bound to happen with that much money. Sounds like they stole it pretty easily to me.Honestly 100's thousands of dollars there and they don't even have guns? come on..