Gunmen rob $1.1 million from poker tournament on live TV

iggs111 · #1 03-07-2010, 12:19 PM

Wow, this takes a lot of balls to try and pull off....On live tv lmao

When a World Series of Poker event reaches the final table, organizers dump piles of cash onto a table to display the tournament’s grand prize to the players and viewing audience.

But what if that money all of the sudden disappeared?

That exact scenario unfolded at a hotel in Berlin on Saturday where a 1000-player, five-day European Poker Tour event was being held.

"Several masked, armed individuals entered the Grand Hyatt Hotel and fled with a haul of money," German police spokeswoman Heidi Vogt said.

The robbers were armed with assault rifles and hand grenades, but no one was seriously injured during the attack.

"We didn't know what was going on,” said Tobias Reinkemeier, a player in the field. “Then there was panic and everyone jumped underneath tables before they tried to escape through the emergency exit."

The six assailants reportedly escaped with the tournament prize pool of $1.1 million. Despite losing the jackpot, the poker tournament continued four hours after the assault.