08/03/2010, Poker Tournaments

At least six armed robbers entered the Grand Hyatt Hotel, located at Potsdamer Platz, Berlin, on Sunday. The hotel hosted the European Poker Tour.

Four of the robbers entered the hotel, while two others stood guard at the entrance.
The robbers, who were armed with hand grenades and assault rifles and they wore masks, went at the first floor of the hotel and they forced the employees to give them the money.

During the robbery, a member of the security service has managed to hold for a short period of time one of the criminals, but he was slightly injured after being attacked by the rest of the gang.
During this fight, the gang lost a bag which contained a part of their haul, whose amount was not disclosed and they run away towards a large commercial center.

According to the daily Berliner Tageszeitung (BZ), the six men stole 800,000 euros. The police launched an investigation.

The European Poker Tour gathered 945 players and it was the biggest poker tournament ever held in Germany.
The dramatic scenes were broadcast live by the private N-TV television station. Nobody was seriously injured.

Here is the PokerStars' statement on the incident:
“Yesterday at approximately 2.15pm, an armed robbery took place at the European Poker Tour (EPT) event in Berlin. Nobody was seriously injured. Four armed men were involved in the robbery which targeted the tournament registration desk outside the tournament area.
No shots were fired and the suspects quickly fled after a security guard intervened. The police investigation so far has shown that the suspects had a handgun and a machete. Contrary to tabloid reports, no Kalashnikov assault rifles or hand grenades were used. The suspects did not enter the tournament area and the money taken was substantially less than what has been reported.

The tournament resumed after a few hours and a police investigation is now under way. The tournament is taking place on the first floor of the Grand Hyatt Hotel at Marlene-Dietrich-Platz and is being held by SPIELBANK Berlin Casino.
The police are working closely with the EPT and SPIELBANK Berlin. Police are asking anyone who has information, video footage or photographs that might aid the investigation to contact them.”