Austrian police will take extra security precautions for the European Poker Tour. After the armed robbery of the EPT in Berlin earlier this month, the Austrian government has tightened security.

The EPT in Austria will be held at the Hotel Alpine Palace Card Casino at Saalbach-Hinterglemm in Salzburg’s Pinzgau region next week. At the event, Austrian police will have plain clothed police officers sitting in as spectators. “The situation at the Alpine Palace Hotel is not comparable to what the situation at the Berlin hotel was. There will not be a large sum of money on hand. The hotel will be well protected” local police chief Arno Kosmata said.

Poker players do not seem to be concerned after the robbery in Berlin. None of the over 500 players have withdrawn from participating in the EPT Austria event. Locals have noted that this event will be held in a valley that would present difficulties to any armed gunmen. Their are only a few easy ways out of the valley and police will definitely have those covered if anything happens.

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Post tags: austria poker, ept, european poker, european poker tour, online poker, poker, security

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Masked gunmen raided the European Poker Tour in Berlin last weekend to snatch a prize
pool of roughly €3.68 million. The gunmen entered the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Berlin
with their identities concealed and brandished pistols and machetes. A hotel
security guard attempted to stop the gunmen and brought one of them down to
the floor until he was threatened by the remaining gunmen to release him.

The gunmen got away with roughly €100,000 to €300,000. They were unable to get away
with the total €3.68 million in cash that was on location for the poker tournament.
Their were only a few minor injuries. The gunmen focused solely on collecting the
cash and getting away as quickly as possible without causing harm to anyone. The
raid was captured on live cameras that were being broadcasted over the Internet
as part of the European Poker Tour’s global coverage of the German poker event.

Their were 945 players that participated in the poker tournament. It was the biggest
poker event in Germany, and it gave German poker players a chance to catch one of
the largest cash prizes offered at European poker tournaments. The poker tournament
was won by Kevin MacPhee an online qualifier that took home the €1 million prize.

© Felicia for Casino News Authority, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: ept, european poker tour, gunmen, online poker, poker, poker tournament, robbery

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