Berlin police say they have the mastermind behind the crime and he is a 28 year-old Lebanese man.  A spokesperson for the police department said, “According to the current state of our investigation, the suspect is thought to have been the organizer.  He also drove the getaway car.”  The getaway car was reported to be a fancy Mercedes that the robbers drove off in after legging it through a local shopping mall. 

The first suspect that police were able to arrest in the heist was simply named “Mohammed B”, and was supposedly the brains behind the robbery.  Eventually, police were able to extract enough information from the suspect so they could arrest the other three people involved in the robbery.  Ahmad el-Awayti, Mustafa Ucarkus, and Jihad Khaled Chetwie were all arrested thus bringing together all four suspects.

In the wake of the robbery, American poker player Kevin MacPhee was able to concentrate and still play his poker hands well enough to win the EPT Berlin event.  MacPhee took the largest share of the prize pool at €1 million and also earned an appearance on the CBS Early Show.  On the show, MacPhee talked about his experience during the whole ordeal and how he was able to remain composed.

Following the EPT Berlin incident, security is extra tight at the EPT Snowfest event in Austria.  Apparently the heightened security has made people feel more safe since 546 people bought into the event.

The robbers broke up the €5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event as they ran into the ballroom.  At least one of the men had a gun and another was holding a machete when they interrupted one of Europe’s biggest live poker tournaments.  When they entered the Grand Hyatt’s ballroom, players took off running towards the exits in a desperate attempt to avoid the robbers.  In their haste to escape, the players tipped over tables and chairs, which left some people with bruises and scrapes.

Luckily, those were the only injuries during the incident and no security guards were seriously injured either despite briefly scuffling with the gunmen.  There’s no word on whether the robbers have any idea how to play poker, but they did manage to grab a large share of the prize pool when they reportedly made off with over €250,000 of the Main Event money. 

As of now, Berlin police are still looking for suspects and the only lead they have is that a security camera caught one of the criminals with their mask off – but from behind.  Berlin’s police chief Reiner Wendt says that the organizers of the EPT event are at fault for not hiring enough security guards for the event. 

In any case, this scary incident might force many of the 1,000 players in attendance to stay at home and play online poker for a while.  Some of the players were so shaken by the incident that they were given back their €5,000 buy-in.