Friend's game robbed, your thoughts?

Acehater · **Posted:** Fri Feb 18, 2011 11:50 am

I have spent the majority of my day trying to piece together what happened last night at a friend of mine's poker game.

Here is what I have learned, just the facts:
This is a weekly private game that is held at one of two houses.
This game was supposed to be at House A but changed to House B around 24 hours before the robbery.
There are around 25 people who are sent texts about the game.
The game start time was 8:30.
The house was robbed around 9:15 by 4 men wearing hats, sunglasses and bandanas to cover their mouths and noses.
The robbers asked people to empty their pockets and took anything that was placed on the table. This was mostly cash and cell phones. No one was pat down.
The robbers were out of the house in less than 5 minutes. 1 was a lookout, 1 held the gun, 2 gathered cash and cell phones.
As they left, two of the players ran out of the house after them and one of the players fired 2 shots.
This is a $1/$2 game but plays more like a $2/$5 or $5/$10 game. It is round and round (NLHE/PLO) and there is always a lot of money on the table.

I have been speaking to several of my poker friends about the incident but I haven't had the chance to talk to anyone in the game because everyone, except the dealer, had their phones stolen. There are 2 games tonight and a bigger cash game tomorrow night that now have to change protocol, if not cancel. The game I am playing tonight is hiring security. It is the final regular season game of our WSOP poker league and someone is going to win a $5K seat and travel money. This doesn't include the money that we put into the game just to play.

I have some theories of my own but I would like to hear your thoughts. I am not posting my updates on Facebook tonight or tweeting about my event until after it is over.

pittpoker · **Joined:** Tue Mar 10, 2009 8:01 am **Posts:** 389

I would call Teddy KGB, he would get to the bottom of this. On a more serious note though I am sorry to hear about everyone getting robbed and it is too bad one of those two shots didn't connect with someone who deserved it. A few well known local games around me got knocked off about a year ago and after that, much better security measures were definitely implemented.

vookenmeister · **Posted:** Fri Feb 18, 2011 12:48 pm

I would go with the benefit of the doubt and assume that one of the players inadvertently tipped the robbers off (since it was obv a planned robbery). I'd review the situation and ask all the players to think about who they spoke with to share that the game moved and the location.

I don't know the legality of home games where you live but if I was involved I would report this to the police ESPECIALLY because somebody chased after them and fired shots. that was just stupid IMHO. I can't imagine the amount of money was worth dying for. Not to mention one of the robbers might recognize them and try to get even.

joshuatree78 · **Posted:** Fri Feb 18, 2011 1:00 pm

Is it normal for people in this game to be carrying a weapon? If not, I would put the 2 fellows who chased after the robbers on the top of the suspect list (they were probably firing blanks). If it is normal to have guns at the game I would be finding a new home game. Also, with all of the smart phones out there I would assume at least 1 of the stolen phones has a GPS tracker app on it. It would be real easy to figure out where that phone is.

zippyboy · **Posted:** Fri Feb 18, 2011 1:18 pm

This may have just happened, but in the days/weeks to come, more info will become available. It'd be hard for an event like this to stay secret for too long.

If this was an inside job, was one of the players conspicuously absent that night? (besides yourself) Or, if he was there, was he in the bathroom at the time? Why was dealer's phone not stolen? Since thieves may have had an inside-accomplice, watch and see if some player gets his cellphone and ID back in the coming weeks.

Just because they had bandanas on their faces and hats, you can still tell if they're black/white, tall/short, young/old, etc. How about tattoos? Clothing? They couldn't have been totally quiet during the ordeal, did NO ONE recognize a voice? If three thieves spoke, perhaps the fourth knew his voice was easily identifiable. Is there a regular with a drug habit who may have tipped off the thieves in return for free dope? Is someone in debt heavily? Did the thieves not shoot back? If they did, did you find the bullet? Maybe their guns weren't even loaded if they didn't pat anybody down because were afraid to get too close. When you say the upcoming game has hired security, what does that mean? That there will be guns there? Apparently there was a gun at the robbed game and that didn't help.

No offense, but if you are a regular at this game, and you weren't there the one night it was robbed, you may be a suspect, and not know it yet since you haven't talked to people.

zippyboy · **Posted:** Fri Feb 18, 2011 1:30 pm

joshuatree78 wrote:

Also, with all of the smart phones out there I would assume at least 1 of the stolen phones has a GPS tracker app on it. It would be real easy to figure out where that phone is.

It would be easy even without a GPS. If any phone is turned on, it can be located using triangulation with three cell towers. Phone company probably won't do this for just anyone though. Probably need a police report or subpoena.

Acehater · **Posted:** Fri Feb 18, 2011 1:42 pm

Everyone is raising points that me and others have discussed.

vookenmeister wrote:

I would go with the benefit of the doubt and assume that one of the players inadvertently tipped the robbers off (since it was obv a planned robbery). I'd review the situation and ask all the players to think about who they spoke with to share that the game moved and the location.

I don't know the legality of home games where you live but if I was involved I would report this to the police ESPECIALLY because somebody chased after them and fired shots. that was just stupid IMHO. I can't imagine the amount of money was worth dying for. Not to mention one of the robbers might recognize them and try to get even.

This was my first thought. A couple of the guys play at the local casino and probably were overheard discussing the sick action. The police were called and responded quickly.

joshuatree78 wrote:

Is it normal for people in this game to be carrying a weapon? If not, I would put the 2 fellows who chased after the robbers on the top of the suspect list (they were probably firing blanks). If it is normal to have guns at the game I would be finding a new home game.

I also wondered if there were blanks in the gun. Several have mentioned the guy with the weapon may have set it up since he is playing the part of "hero". 2 years ago I found out that at least 2 regulars have conceal and carry licenses and there are often cops that play in our games.

Acehater · **Posted:** Fri Feb 18, 2011 1:57 pm

zippyboy wrote:

This may have just happened, but in the days/weeks to come, more info will become available. It'd be hard for an event like this to stay secret for too long.

If this was an inside job, was one of the players conspicuously absent that night? (besides yourself) Or, if he was there, was he in the bathroom at the time? Why was dealer's phone not stolen? Since thieves may have had an inside-accomplice, watch and see if some player gets his cellphone and ID back in the coming weeks.

Just because they had bandanas on their faces and hats, you can still tell if they're black/white, tall/short, young/old, etc. How about tattoos? Clothing? They couldn't have been totally quiet during the ordeal, did NO ONE recognize a voice? If three thieves spoke, perhaps the fourth knew his voice was easily identifiable. Is there a regular with a drug habit who may have tipped off the thieves in return for free dope? Is someone in debt heavily? Did the thieves not shoot back? If they did, did you find the bullet? Maybe their guns weren't even loaded if they didn't pat anybody down because were afraid to get too close. When you say the upcoming game has hired security, what does that mean? That there will be guns there? Apparently there was a gun at the robbed game and that didn't help.

No offense, but if you are a regular at this game, and you weren't there the one night it was robbed, you may be a suspect, and not know it yet since you haven't talked to people.

The dealers phone wasn't stolen because he left it in his truck. I was told the race of the individuals but didn't see a need to point it out on here, afraid TBC may have more fodder. When dealing with poker players there is always someone who has a drug problem. All your points are great points and great questions. 3 of the players in the game will be at my game tonight and we will discuss this. Of course, if one of those is the guy that set it up, maybe I come off as "too smart"?

The security of the upcoming game is going to be an off duty police officer. He is going to park his squad car in the driveway and hangout.
I am not a regular in this particular game because the owner of the house doesn't really like me. I have taken so much money off of him, he doesn't want me in his house taking his money. This makes me sad. It is not like we are going to get into a fist fight or anything, he just thinks he "runs bad" or I "play bad" against him. I know 7 of the 9 players and the dealer. I am hoping that this was a case where someone overheard information and ran on it. The layout of the house makes me think they knew what they were doing before they walked in...like they had been there before.

Cashewz · **Posted:** Fri Feb 18, 2011 3:06 pm

Why was the location of the game changed 24 hours in advance? Who initiated the change?

When were the guys talking about the game at the casino? Before or after the location change?

How well-known to the casino staff are the guys who were talking at the casino?

How did the bandits gain access? Was the front door left unlocked?

Were the bandits wearing gloves? Any chance of fingerprints?

Do you use cash or chips? If chips, where is the cash kept from people's buyins? Did the bandits get that?

Same question re: GPS from me, too.

Make sure that the $5K from your league game is not physically present. Whoever is holding that money should put it in a bank account and write a cheque to the winner.

Unfortunately, you can't put too much stock in someone getting their phone back, as I expect that quite a few of your friends will simply go out and buy a new phone shortly, and I believe that they will be able to do so while keeping the same phone number.

Obviously, this wasn't a random robbery. Either it's an inside job, or someone overheard someone talking about the game (or got info from Twitter, Facebook, etc.). For this reason, be VERY CAREFUL about who you talk to about the situation. You never know which of your fellow players might have been involved. Sticking your nose into it too far could cause you problems of your own.

The guy who fired the shots would be banned from any future poker game that I ran; firstly for carrying a gun to the game (whether with the proper permit or not), and secondly for being the idiot who would fire shots and thus put his fellow players in jeopardy.

Zin · **Posted:** Fri Feb 18, 2011 3:33 pm

I would say there was plently of action! Wow was probably a scary situation for everyone except the one that knew it was coming down. Now is this game legal or illegal, also i would not want to be the person who fired the shot's, he might be in more trouble than what he think's. Also it's pretty dumb to let someone carry a gun at a poker game not a good idea imo.
As for the poker game tonight with the off duty officer parking his squad car in the driveway, is an officer allowed to drive a squad car while off duty using, won't the officer get in any trouble back at work for gambling illegally? Imho i would not play any home games till every thing blow's over or the game is a legal game.

Friend's game robbed, your thoughts?

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