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The EPT Berlin poker tournament was left rattled Saturday following a brazen armed robbery that had players hiding under tables at the city's Grand Hyatt Hotel. Some 800,000 euros was taken from the million dollar tournament. The armed thieves stormed the event while it was in progress during broad daylight. Footage of the raid had also become available.
Police said that seven people were slightly hurt and the robbers lost a large part of their pot during the ensuing scuffle.
Interviewed in the Tagesspiegel daily, the security guard who managed to grab a bag full of money from the robbers said: "I just wanted to protect the money.
"You don't think of anything in that situation, just your duty."
He said the attack had happened while two of his colleagues were away on a break, "which suggests the thieves planned the attack very precisely".
PokerStars, which sponsors the event, released an official statement about the incident: "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 underway. If you have video footage or photographs that could help the police, please contact the EPT organizers as soon as possible."
Ace King, Gambling911.com
