Poker robbery
March 6, 2010
Up to six masked men carrying guns entered a poker tournament at a five-star Berlin hotel Saturday afternoon, bagged a portion of the prize money and fled, according to police.
The robbery took place around 2:15 p.m. at the Grand Hyatt hotel on Potsdamer Platz, where the European Poker Tour had begun a few days earlier.
No shots were fired, although some visitors and players were lightly injured amid the panic, police said.
According to reports by the daily newspaper BZ, the robbers made off with up to 800,000 euros ($1 million) in prize money.
Some 1,000 players are to vie for the tournament's 1 million euro ($1.36 million) jackpot before its end Sunday. German tennis star Boris Becker was among the players, but he was eliminated before the robbery took place.
acb/dpa/apn/AFP
Editor: Andreas Illmer