A Scoop on the Berlin Poker Robbery
March 9, 2010
Ever since the incident happened last Saturday, news about the robbery at the Grand Hyatt Hotel has been going viral all over the internet. But none of the information was substantial, most of it merely hearsay. But now, the German news outlet, Spiegel, has finally released a statement from the Police chief Rainer Wendt about the incident at the EPT Berlin.
Small-Time Crooks, he says
According to Police Chief Rainer Wendt, the four armed gunmen who raided the Grand Hyatt Hotel were mere ‘small-time crooks’. The police investigation showed that the culprits held nothing more than a handgun and a machete. The tabloids were just all over the case, grossly overestimating the story by saying that the four men had Kalashnikov assault rifles and hand grenades. Well, everyone knows how much they love to juice up a story, anyway, so it’s really no surprise there. Furthermore, rumors about the amount of cash stolen by the thieves were an over-estimation. In fact, according to the police, the amount they mulched off of the casino was ‘substantially less’ than the numbers circulating in cyberspace. Another news article, however, hinted that more than 800,000 Euros were stolen from the casino, which is not exactly a paltry amount, especially compared to the standard rakeback earnings of the modern poker player, such as Only Poker Rakeback. Still, there’s no way for us to verify, as the official statement from the casino and from the police are really the best we can go by in terms of truth.
Tightening Casino Security
Still, despite the small-time nature of the crime, the police were putting a great emphasis on revamping the casino security in the city. There were no injuries that happened during the incident, but it could have easily turned into a disaster had the crooks been more inclined to pull the triggers on their guns. Spiegel said, “A Few guards and a hotel intern are not enough. That was really quite negligent.” Indeed, the security force at the casino was not armed, and was thus relatively powerless against the attackers. However, most of the blame should be laid against the door of the tournament officials. They asked the security not to be armed during the said event, and though the guard could have used other, more physical means to subdue the culprits, they sensibly reiterated that it’s not that simple to ‘break a person’s neck’. They did, however, respond with much resourcefulness, subduing the culprits not by using the ropes used for the visitor lines. Still, the culprits were able to escape. It was fortunate, however, that the police managed to lift a DNA sample from one of the suspects and that a casino employee managed to find a bag containing 500,000 Euros, probably abandoned by the thieves in their haste and panic.
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