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The European Poker Tour made its latest stop at Berlin last week. While in many respects the event was another huge success — attracting a whopping 945 entrants to the €5,000+€300 buy-in Main Event — an armed robbery took place on Day 4 (Saturday), garnering international headlines. The New York Times has reported that the robbers made off with approximately €240,000. Luckily no one was seriously injured, although as of this writing the suspects remain at large.

The Russian player Ilya Gorodetsky was one of 20 remaining in the Main Event that Saturday afternoon when the robbery occurred. Gorodetsky had had some success on the EPT already this season, finishing 19th at the EPT Kyiv Main Event last August, and taking third in a £2,500 buy-in event at EPT London. He also made the final table of the Betfair LIVE! event at Kyiv back in December. I spoke with Gorodetsky this week to learn more about what it was like when the tourney was so unexpectedly interrupted.

I started by asking him to describe the first three-and-a-half days of his tournament. Gorodetsky characterized the field at EPT Berlin as being a bit stronger than he’d encountered at other EPT events, though perhaps not quite as unpredictable (generally speaking). The first three days of the tournament all followed a similar trajectory for Gorodetsky, starting slow then ending well. Entering Day 4, Gorodetsky had amassed nearly one million chips, putting him at 13th with 24 players left.

Short-Stacked Shamus: So what were your thoughts heading into Day 4?

Ilya Gorodetsky: When I saw my table draw, it was clear it would be my first big live TV table. I had once been at a feature table during a Russian Poker tour event, but I only played two hands there… so it was quite a short stay.

SSS: How did the day start out for you?

IG: I won one big pot early, then lost a couple and was back to my starting stack when… well, that’s when the main topic of our interview came into play!

SSS: I’ve seen the footage from the EPT Live streaming broadcast. A hand is being played, and then suddenly everyone runs away from the table.

IG: Yes, it was like that. The hand was at the river, and a player was thinking about what to do when screaming started. We didn’t see anything, though, because we were behind the big screen that surrounds the feature table. Also, the doors to the ballroom were closed, so even those who weren’t playing at the TV table couldn’t see what was going on in the corridor which is where the robbery took place.

SSS: This event was at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Berlin, yes?

IG: That’s right. A lot of EPT events are held outside of casinos, which is usually a nice thing because I am not a big fan of casinos at all. I am not a gambler, so I just don’t like the atmosphere. But, of course, from the point of view of security, casinos are really well secured

SSS: So the screaming started — the first indication something was up…

IG: Yes, the screaming was the most scary thing. Then came the running. People were trying to escape through the emergency exit. That’s when the backdrop started to fall down on the feature table, so I had no choice but to move. I saw a lot of players running to this emergency exit, so I went there, too. For a couple of minutes there were so many people it was like a traffic jam, but then it opened up and we went out to the street through some kitchen or something.

SSS: So you didn’t see the robbers, because they were out in the corridor?

IG: Yes. As soon as we were in the street, there was a lot of discussion about what was going on. Then there were some people who saw the robbers — they had been in the line to register [for a side event] when the robbers came.

The ballroom was on the second floor, so [apparently] the robbers had just entered through the main entrance in their usual clothes, then put on their masks. They were trying to be as quick as possible, so they were running up to the second floor and they were also screaming. Probably they read something about how when you scream at somebody it frightens them even more.

SSS: It sounds frightening.

IG: One woman told me that at first it felt like it was some kind of silly joke. I mean, besides guns they also had these big machetes — not the usual thing to have for a robbery, as far as I understand. I’m not an expert…

SSS: Ha, yes. A machete would seem a little inconvenient.

IG: Absolutely [laughing]. But the woman said when she saw the eyes of one of the robbers, she understood immediately that it was not a joke, because he was kind of crazy — maybe because of some drugs or something like that, or just the adrenaline rush or something, I don’t know.

SSS: So how long did you wait outside?

IG: A lot of police cars came, and after about 15 minutes we were allowed to come back into the building. But we were not allowed into the ballroom as there was probably some sort of criminal investigation going. So the Main Event was on a break for more than three hours.

SSS: I understand there were problems with chip stacks getting knocked over.

IG: Yes, the tables for the Main Event were right on the way to these emergency exits, so when people were running over, some shook the table or something like that. It was a weird situation, but thanks to [EPT Tournament Director] Thomas Kremser, it was all sorted out.

SSS: What was the mood like once the chip stacks were restored and the tourney restarted?

IG: [As I mentioned,] at our table a hand was in progress, but the pot was not so big. The guys involved decided just to split the pot, and instead just made a €50 side bet on who had the best hand. But at one of the other tables there was an all-in situation between an Italian player [Luca Cainelli] who was short-stacked and a very nice Finnish guy [Ilari Tahkokallio] who eventually took second in the event, and who was also an excellent player.

The Italian guy was all in with A-Q versus the Finnish guy’s A-10. The flop and turn were all blanks, [and the river had yet to be dealt]. Thomas [Kremser] told everyone that he should have cancelled the hand, because he couldn’t guarantee that nobody had changed the deck. The only way they could finish the hand was if they both agreed to do so.

[Cainelli,] who was all in with the A-Q, was ready to complete the hand, so all the pressure to decide was on the Finnish guy. It was a huge moral dilemma for him. There were 20 players remaining, and we were playing for 1 million euros for first prize, which is like life-changing money for everyone.

SSS: That is a dilemma.

IG: [Tahkokallio] asked if he really had to make the decision, and Thomas [Kremser] told him he could say he didn’t want to make the decision, but it was clear that would be the same as if he were saying “no” [i.e., they would have to restart the hand].

He thought for a couple of minutes. Then he found, I think, I pretty nice way out of the situation. He asked the Italian guy what he would do in his shoes.

SSS: That’s inspired.

IG: The Italian guy was a very nice guy also, and he told the Finnish guy that if they’d had similar stack-sizes, he’d say let’s play this hand over. But since [Tahkokallio] had a much larger stack, [Cainelli] said he would probably let the hand play down to the river. The Finnish guy asked him “Are 100% sure?” And he answered “Yes, I am 100% sure.” And at that very moment [Tahkokallio] said “Okay, let’s play the hand down to the river.”

Then [Cainelli] went around the table and embraced the Finnish guy and told him that they would see the river together and that if it were a 10, it would be okay with him. It wasn’t a 10 and the Italian guy doubled up, but good karma came to [Tahkokallio] as he won a lot of pots at the end of the day, and finally busted out [Cainelli] in 11th place.

It was really a very touching and amazing scene. There were a lot of like people who were rooting for [Tahkokallio] and a lot of applause for his gentleman-like behavior.

SSS: Yes, that kind of relates to something I’d noticed when reading all of the reports. I read how everyone had come back — the players, reporters, tourney staff — and I got the sense that after going through something like that everyone appeared to have come together afterwards. I liked reading about how everyone seemed to have helped each other handle the situation, and I was glad the tourney was completed, too.

IG: Yes, of course people are feeling closer to each other after such an event. But I’m not sure that it was the right decision to play this day, to tell the truth. Not because I didn’t have my full TV table [laughing]…

SSS: That’s right. They decided to stop the coverage for the day.

IG: I mean, that was okay with me. I’ll have some other chances. But the problem was that definitely there were some players — including Kevin MacPhee, who was the chip leader at the time — who were not, you know, in the mood to play at all. He was feeling very uncomfortable. [I don't think] a guy from Idaho [MacPhee's home state] is really used to this kind of stuff!

But this proves what a good player he is, because even though he seemed shaken up, immediately after the game restarted he started raising and reraising a lot and building up a stack and finished the day a very big chip leader. And he held the lead almost through the entire final table.

SSS: So you think perhaps they might’ve waited until the next day to restart the tourney?

IG: Yes, I’m not sure it was the right decision, but I was okay with it. It was no inconvenience for me — I was fine. Unfortunately, I got very unlucky a little later [and was eliminated in 16th].

SSS: So the robbers remain at large.

IG: Yes. From the videos I have seen online and the discussions from guys over there, it seems pretty clear it was not some group of organized robbers but just some random guys who have maybe, like, dealt with criminals. They might have seen how the system [for collecting money] was organized… [and] they just decided to take a shot. I think there is a big chance that they will be caught. I read that they found some traces…?

SSS: DNA. And I think one of them left fingerprints, too.

IG: Yes, so either they were very silly criminals, or they were just inexperienced — not professional. But I do want to mention the amazing courage of one of the guards who was fighting with them without any weapons. And also the guy who filmed everything. I heard an interview with him, and they asked him “Everyone was running away from the place… why did you decide to go out from the ballroom and just to make some recording?” And his answer was “I’m a cameraman!”

SSS: Just doing his job, he said.

IG: Of course, it’s kind of unpredictable how this or that person will behave under such circumstances. But it is really nice that there are brave people who are not afraid or cracking under pressure.

There were some funny stories involving some of the Russian guys there who are probably more used to this kind of stuff than anybody else. For example, there was a story on 2+2 where the guys explained how when some were hiding under the tables, there was one Russian guy who was just standing and playing with chips.

The fact was, there were some guys from Russia and Ukraine playing in this event who had previously played a lot in undercover clubs during Soviet times, where there were thieves or criminals. So those people were not as frightened by this kind of situation.

SSS: That kind of makes me think of Doyle Brunson’s autobiography (reviewed here) in which he tells several stories of being in situations with thieves and guns pointed at him. And he obviously learned to deal with it and persevere.

IG: That’s why Brunson is so popular in Russia — unbelievably popular. They like these kind of stories he’s telling, and people really think he has something in common with them.

I heard about another Russian guy who was trying to stop the panic when everyone was running around. I heard he hit one of the running guys who was in complete hysterics. He punched him in the face just to stop the panic! You need to do it when somebody is just completely out of his mind…

SSS: Right.

IG: I don’t know whether it was true or not — usually after this kind of situation there are a lot of stories, partially true, partially not.

Much thanks to Ilya Gorodetsky for taking the time to tell us his story!

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