Close to two weeks passed with little leads regarding the March 6th heist at the European Poker Tour (EPT) Berlin, where four armed robbers ran off with over €242,000 ($329,000) from the tourney’s prize pool. Like a CSI episode, everything came together in the last five minutes, and in just a few short days last week, all the robbers were in police custody.
The still unidentified first suspect, a 20-year old man from Istanbul, turned himself in to German police early last week. Up through the weekend, the other three men were detained after he squealed like a stuck pig and identified all of his accomplices. German residents Ahmad el-Awayti, 20, and Jihad Chetwie, 19, as well as Mustafa Ucarkus, a 20-year-old of Turkish descent, were all detained over the course of Saturday and Sunday. I know when I think of names like Ahmad, Jihad, and Mustafa, the first things I think of are bratwurst, lager, and Saab.
It was previously reported that this score was masterminded by an Arab crime family, members of which allegedly were caught on camera staying at the Grand Hyatt hotel just days before the robbery took place. Sunday night marked the most recent arrest in the investigation, a 28-year-old Lebanese man believed to be the brains behind the brazen heist, as well as the getaway driver. Whether he part of the Arab crime family previously stated remains to be released to members of the media.
Although all members of the poker robbery have met the heat, the stolen money remains outstanding. The unnamed assailant explained to authorities that it was split evenly amongst the four culprits, so it’s only a matter of time before it’s recovered.
The recent arrests mark an end to a fast-witted investigation by German authorities and should bring a collective sigh of relief to European Poker Tour officials and players across Europe.
You no longer have to listen to some idiot on a forum rattle on about their personal list of the top 10 poker players in the world because ESPN has started releasing a legitimate monthly list. Called “The Nuts”, this list of the top 10 poker players in the world does a good job of figuring out who is currently playing the best poker out there.
Mclean Karr, who I had previously reported as coming back from just 10 chips to reach the final table of the Shooting Star Bay 101 tourney, wrote his Cinderella storybook ending last weekend, when he took it down and put on his $878,500 glass slipper. Along the way, he eliminated pros Erik Seidel, Greg Mueller, and “Miami” John Cernuto for an extra $15,000 in bounties at the price of an upscale used car. This, however, wasn’t the main attraction.
It stands to reason that you have a much better chance of being a successful poker player if you are able to dedicate your total attention to what’s going on at the table. Unfortunately, this is a lot easier said than done when there are good TV shows on, text messages coming in on your phone, phone calls, great Internet articles to read, and a whole lot more waiting to steal your attention away from the game at hand.
Sit and go’s are already an extremely popular poker tournament format because they’re quick and lots of fun to play. But sit and go’s only become more fun when you throw a monthly leaderboard race into the mix that rewards a total of $10,000.
When I was 8 years old, I was mostly worried about people seeing me pick my nose, or wondering where my bike was. This is a much bigger/more interesting problem.
Do you have the luck of the Irish? Test it out at the CarbonPoker $500 Added Freezeout Tourney this March 17th. Play in our greenest MTT of the year against the rest of Carbon players.
After 15 hours of day three play, the World Poker Tour (WPT) Bay 101 Shooting Star tourney has finally reached its final table. Of the 333 entrants, six remain, but when you consider the self-proclaimed greatness of Phil Hellmuth, who sits second in chips, there are essentially 27 people left.
Think you’re a man? Think again. If you’ve watched Milwaukee’s Best Light’s commercials, official sponsor of the World Series of Poker (WSOP), you’ll see that you’re only a man if you enjoy drinking cheaply produced, sudsy piss in your hoo-rah women hating, poker playing man den of a garage with you and the rest of your trailer trash pals.
