EPT Berlin Interrupted by Gunmen

This year’s EPT Berlin was witness to a little more excitement than usual as six gunmen stormed the venue, intent on separating players from their winnings on the fourth day of the event. Initial reports stated that the masked men made off with approximately 800,000 Euros while rumors that some of the money was recovered surfaced a while later. The latter has not yet been confirmed.

The EPT had a live webcast feed that caught some general chaos as participants and dealers dove under tables, overturning them in the process with chips flying all over the place. However, none of the perpetrators were caught on camera. Later, though, photographs appeared on the internet showing a security guard chasing down one of the perpetrators and catching him in a choke-hold.

There are reports that the men had guns, knives as well as machetes and threatened the crowd with hand grenades. However, thankfully no one was seriously injured barring some scrapes and bruises from the commotion.

The mishap occurred at approximately 2 P.M. and play resumed somewhere around 6 P.M. but only for the main event. The 1,000 Euro and ladies side events were postponed with the former being cancelled and participants being given the option of a refund.

Luckily, it appears that the prize money for the main event was safely locked away in the safe but all the funds for the high roller event were available inside the casino. Until further reports no one is exactly certain how much was stolen and if anything was recovered.

PokerStars made an official statement in which they requested that anyone who has additional information should contact them or the police as an investigation is already underway.

The 2010 EPT took place in Berlin, for the first time in the tournament’s history, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Quite a spectacular first EPT for Berlin.