Cops Arrest, Release Suspect in Poker Heist

Police still looking for EPT poker bandits. (photo courtesy of DPA)

After proclaiming that the poker bandits had left “mountains of evidence” behind during last week’s dramatic robbery of the European Poker Tour Berlin tournament, German police arrested their first suspect on Friday night. Unfortunately, they released him today, citing a lack of evidence connecting him to the crime, as well as some new information that proved he wasn’t involved in the crime.

He first got on the police radar due to his physical resemblance to one of the bandits seen on the video footage of the heist. As well, the suspect had served time in prison for his involvement in a somewhat similar robbery back in 2004, when his gang attempted to rob another German casino. But after a search of the man’s apartment, and extensive questioning, detectives released him.

All this means that, so far, this armed gang is still at large despite the fact that they were filmed by multiple cameras, seen by dozens of witnesses and were, according to the police, completely amateurish. Maybe that 242,200 Euro jackpot they made off with was enough to buy them all plane tickets to somewhere warm, tropical and far away from German law enforcement.