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Some days you think you’ve seen it all at the poker table, then some days that’s so far from the truth it’s not even funny.
Today was one of those days. For those enjoying the APL Wild Turkey Grand Slam at Melbourne’s Crown Casino they would’ve been rather oblivious to the incredible storm which passed through the city this afternoon. Hail stones the size of golf balls made a mess of the city, before a torrential downpour flooded the streets. Of course those that know the Crown Poker Room would realize that the below ground location isn’t exactly ideal for flooding, as the players at the APL WTGS quickly found out. Play was abandoned just after the conclusion of opening flight and the room evacuated.
The second flight has been postponed until tomorrow, however no decision has yet been made on when the Crown Poker Room will re-open with Crown staff working tirelessly through the evening to drain the floors and repair the damages to carpets and surrounds.
Some of the photos posted by PokerNetworker “dalek” in the forums say it all:
All we can say to the APL crew, is at least you weren’t playing in Germany. We’ve just received news that the PokerStars EPT Berlin was, just minutes ago, raided by six masked intruders carrying weapons in an apparent attempted robbery. According to our sources, the intruders ran into the Grand Hyatt Hotel where the tournament is being held, and attempted to rob the cashier. This threw the players, tournament staff and media into a panicked frenzy with tables upturned as people dove for cover. Tournament chips were splashed everywhere and media locked themselves in the media room in fear for their safety.
Some of the panic was caught on the EPT live webcast stream which is fed across the Internet while other images are starting to surface. There are no confirmed reports at this stage as to whether the intruders were captured or if anything was actually stolen as we understand there was no cash kept in the tournament area. However the good news is that no shots were fired, and no one was seriously injured. The police are investigating the matter.
At this stage we have no further news as to what will happen to the tournament itself, which was deep into Day 4 of action. With tournament chips scattered around the room, it might be difficult to resume the tournament in its current state, but we'll keep you updated when an official statement comes to hand.
PokerNews' own Gloria Balding provided a recent update, live from the Grand Hyatt Hotel at the EPT Berlin:
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