10 Poker Players Who Shockingly Got Robbed

15 Nov 2024

One of the perils of becoming a successful poker player is the unwanted attention of people wanting a share of the cash. In this topic, we look at 10 instances when poker players were shockingly robbed. 

#1: Jonathan Duhamel Got Robbed

On December 2011, the poker world was shocked to find out that 2010 WSOP Maid Event champion Jonathan Duhamel had been bound, beaten and robbed at his Montreal home. According to Duhamel's account, the robbers forced their way into the house early in the morning, then started to attack him. 

Eventually, they tied him up and began hitting the poker pro repeatedly until he told them where the valuables were. Duhamel was forced to give them access to his safe, where the thieves absconded with his Main Event bracelet, a Rolex Submariner watch that had been presented to him by PokerStars and approximately about $115,000 in cash. 

Shortly after winning the WSOP Main Event in 2010, Jonathan met Rojas, who allegedly posed as a medical student in order to impress him. She moved in with him in March of 2011, but the relationship would end in August following a spat. This wasn't the end of the story between the duo, however.

In early December, Rojas spoke to a female acquaintance, and the genesis of the robbery was discussed. Duhamel immediately suspected Rojas was behind the incident and told the police the day after the robbery. Authorities obtained text messages from Rojas' acquaintance, which cast her as the mastermind of the attack. On Christmas Eve, Rojas was taken into custody, and she almost immediately rolled over on her co-conspirators. Two men, John Stephen Clark and Anthony Bourque, were apprehended shortly thereafter in a Montreal hotel after apparently spending large amounts of money on partying. 

Much of the money stolen was recovered, and a few months later, a badly damaged WSOP Main Event bracelet was recovered near a dumpster with Duhamel's last name scratched off. WSOP officials later gave Duhamel a replacement bracelet. 

#2: Scott Montgomery Mugged in Restroom

In October of 2010, former WSOP November 9-er Scott Montgomery was robbed by a man in the restroom during a break from a tournament that he was participating in. Montgomery became a well-known poker player when he was part of the 2008 November 9 in which he finished 5th in the Main Event for $3.1 million. It seems that the mugger picked his victim well, targeting the poker pro while he was alone in the bathroom. 

According to the player's Twitter account, a guy pulled a knife on him while they were in the restroom, and after he emptied the $2,000 out of his wallet and handed it to his attacker, the man left. 

Scott told his Twitter account followers what he was told by the security, saying that they basically told him: oh well, life sucks, have a nice day. Many players pointed out that the Bellagio should take some responsibility for the incident, considering they took the security almost 15 minutes to show up at the scene. 

#3: EPT Barcelona Incident

In 2010, professional poker player Carter Phillips was involved in a bizarre and frightening incident during the 2010 EPT Barcelona stop. William Reynolds, a professional poker player and a friend of Phillips, who grinds on poker stars, took to the TwoPlusTwo message boards to explain the strange event that apparently gave Phillips reason to reconsider his current line of work. 

According to Reynolds, he and Phillips and a fellow player, Kavian Payman, had gone to a bar in Barcelona during the time off between the events of EPT Barcelona. When leaving the bar, Payman was hit by a trio of thieves who held themselves to €4,000 from his pocket, then took off. The group of poker players, never once to give up without a struggle, gave chase. 

The pickpockets escaped into a subway entrance near a restaurant and slammed on the security gates, leaving Payman, Reynolds, and Phillips stranded on the outside. Desperate to get to the crooks, they started banging the restaurant's metal door, hoping to get some help from the workers that were inside. In his frustration, Payman punched the window. The consequence of this last action was far from the desired outcome, as two Spanish men soon emerged through the door, carrying a frying pan and an 18-inch machete. 

Payman apparently took a smash to the head with the frying pan, but the Spaniards retreated soon after realizing the trio of poker players meant no harm. Phillips has been the target of a lot of criticism since the story came out on the forums. Many commenters, while being sympathetic about Payman's loss in the initial robbery, feel that the three players acted foolishly and put themselves in a dangerous situation, which wasn't necessary. 

#4: Darren Elias Home Break In

Four-time World Poker Tour champion Darren Elias and his family were given quite the scare in March of 2019 when a man with a gun broke into his New Jersey home. The robber focused his attention on the 19-year-old babysitter who was minding the couple's kids because Elias and his wife were not at home at the time. 

The suspect, identified as 24-year-old North Philadelphia resident Shannon Soroka, allegedly forced entry into the house and led the babysitter around with a gun to her back, looking for cash and other valuables. Soroka eventually locked her in the bathroom. 

The teenager apparently escaped from a window and called 911 from a neighbor's house before Soroka fled the scene by car. Soroka was later arrested after investigators received a tip. It does appear that Darren Elias was specifically targeted in this incident. Soroka, meanwhile, was a part-time poker player who had a few small scores of his own, cashing for $19,000 since the start of 2017. It turned out that he had ran up serious debts, totaling tens of thousands of dollars, through gambling.

#5: Antonio Esfandiari's Things Stolen

In August of 2020, an Arizona woman was arrested for allegedly stealing about $1 million in cash and valuables from poker pro Antonio Esfandiari. Antonio and his father reported a number of things missing from their Panorama Towers condo on July 14. 

However, the accused woman left several clues behind that quickly led to her arrest. Esfandiari informed police about a rumor that he had heard that the woman, who works as a poker dealer in Arizona, had been to Las Vegas to play in a private poker game. The game's host kept track of the players and their buy-ins in a ledger. The woman, Svetlana Silva, bought in for $5,000, signing her name in the record. After she busted, she ponied up another $20,000. She lost twice more, each time buying in for another $30,000. So right there was a huge red flag. 

After running out of cash, police said that someone drove her to a Las Vegas apartment from where she got a safe. She then went back to the poker game and bought back in with $100,000 worth of Aria chips. Silva lost again and used $200,000 in Bellagio chips to keep playing. She finally won some money, cashed out, and left. 

Before Silva left the game, another player cashed out and was given some of the cash and casino chips she bought in the game. She then actually sent the guy a text telling him that the chips are marked and will be flagged by a casino's computer to prevent someone else from cashing them out. She offered to buy back her Aria chips. When Silva was arrested in the Aria parking garage, police found multiple $25,000 Bellagio and Aria chips and large amounts of cash on her. 

#6: Theo Jorgenson Attack

In December of 2012, Danish poker pro Theo Jorgensen was shot in a home robbery. The attack occurred at about 10 p.m. on Sunday, December 2nd, as three men forced their way into Jorgensen's home about 21 kilometers south of Copenhagen. 

Theo and his wife were just relaxing at the time. Three men wearing elephant masks barged in and demanded money. Obviously not wanting the terror to escalate, Theo directed the intruders to the money they had on the premises. The day in Folktat would amount to $6,200 in cash. However, the robbers were unhappy with this amount and one of them shot Jorgensen in the leg three times. 

His wife, who witnessed the entire scene, called the police immediately after the robbers took off. They arrived too late to catch the criminals, but Jorgensen was quickly driven to the hospital. Luckily, he recovered in a few weeks' time. All three suspects were male and no one was apprehended according to reports. He later pointed out that he was a cautious man and had taken precautions against such a theft, including installing alarms. He, however, conceded that his efforts had unfortunately proved not to be enough. 

#7: Doyle Brunson Dangerous Encounters

The godfather of poker Doyle Brunson had also many incredible and life-threatening incidents. In an interview with PokerStars, Brunson said that he was once playing poker when a man burst in and shot the man beside him in the head. Brunson once said: I remember the guy's head falling off. 

Doyle's description of the general poker scene would make most modern pros balk at the thought of even sitting down to play. Brunson used to play on a street called Bloodthirsty Highway where thieves, robbers, and killings were commonplace, and everyone was somewhat of an outlaw. 

In another incident back in 1998, two masked gunmen robbed him on the doorstep of his then Las Vegas County Club home. Brunson and his wife Louise were handcuffed together as the armed robbers threatened to kill him if he didn't hand over the contents of his safe. Brunson eventually gave them $4,000 in cash and $80,000 in Binion's Horseshoe Casino chips knowing that if he did not give them any money, they would be awfully mad. 

A year later, Brunson was one of the lucky high rollers who avoided an armed robbery at the Bellagio Casino. Doyle and his fellow nosebleed players were playing in Bobby's room for the big game when the inept robber decided to target the cashier's cage some 10 yards away. The $35,000 was chicken feed compared to the $200,000 or so in cash the big boys of poker had between them.

CCTV footage of the robber was quickly released by Las Vegas Metro Police, although they still didn't find the robber to this day. Brunson said that he also had a knife held to his throat, was threatened with a baseball bat, beaten and was robbed so many times that he can't even remember the number. 

#8: Chad Power's Stolen Safe

On February 10, 2021, PokerPro Chad Powers' phone went off with an alert from his home security system. By opening the alert, Chad was able to watch from afar as two men walked out of his house with a safe on their shoulders.

According to the police, Chad did not recognize either men. He could be sure of this fact because, as the police put it, both suspects had lowered or removed their face masks at this point and their faces were visible. The safe was an impressive haul for the two criminals. 

Chad Powers believed he was followed home from the casino and the robbers waited until they left home before carrying out their operation. Thanks to the mask slip-up, police were able to match the perpetrator's face to Chad Powers' surveillance footage. 

One of the perps, named Brewer, was a suspect in one case that saw $15,000 stolen in a similar raid and the CCTV footage from Chad Powers' home matched Brewer and his known gang associate, Trevon Battle. Brewer's phone records also placed him near Powers' house of residence on the date of the robbery. He was connected to the purchase of two new cars in the last few months that were bought in cash and registered in his mother's name. Police arrested him two months later.

#9: Amarilo Slim Was Beaten Up

Amarillo Slim was a victim of a savage attack on January 2009 that forced him to check into the hospital with multiple injuries. Slim was owed $3,000 for a gambling debt and had agreed to take a four-wheeler as collateral. He was lured to a field where he thought that he would be going to collect his collateral. Instead, he was beaten and robbed. 

During the vicious attack, Amarillo Slim suffered multiple injuries, including a broken hand, thumb, and jaw. He was also robbed of $8,000 in cash as well as a diamond ring worth $85,000.

#10: Secret Story About Chauncey Monk

Our final story is one of Chauncey Monk who was robbed and then banned from a poker room for being robbed. This story is so bizarre and insane, it deserves a topic of its own, so we’ll prepare it for you next week. Good luck and have a great weekend. And, by the way, if you’re looking to improve your game level, check out our Poker Coaches section. Probably this is the best place to learn how to win at poker from actual high-stake coaches, so welcome everyone!