Poker true crime: attacks and armed robberies of professional players

Poker has long since escaped the illegal clubs run under the wing of the mafia and has become a big, popular industry. However, players to this day often become targets for criminals, since they carry large winnings with them after tournaments. Even the legendary Doyle Brunson fell victim to robbers, and a whole gang once operated near a casino in Houston. And then there are those who resort to trickery and use such stories to cover up their own fraudulent scheme. 

What happened to Greiner?

Let's start with the most recent story. Jared Greiner posted on his X account on 13 July that he had been robbed right after playing his last tournament at the World Series of Poker. At WSOP 2026 he managed to cash four times and earn more than $78,000. According to the player, he collected his winnings at the cashier's desk, put the money in a backpack, and drove to a house he'd rented through Airbnb.

The poker player told the robbers that the bag with the money was in the car. After that they dragged him into the living room and tied his legs and arms even tighter with tape, and also placed plates on his back. The criminals told him that they'd hear the clatter of the dishes if Greiner tried to move. 

Some time later Jared realised that the attackers had left the house, and after 10-15 minutes he managed to free himself from the tape. The player ran to his neighbours and asked them to call the police. Law enforcement officers and forensic specialists soon arrived at the scene. Police tried to track down the robbers while the trail was still fresh and even brought in a helicopter, but this didn't bear fruit. 

Greiner said that the criminals took all his money, but he didn't specify the amount. He also suggested that they had been following him at the WSOP and knew the code to the rented house, since they arrived there 10 minutes before he did. 

Some social media users doubted the truthfulness of the poker player's story and suggested that he simply didn't want to pay his stakers. However, Greiner assured them that he had already settled up with his backers. Doubts were also raised by the fact that surveillance footage from the neighbours' camera showed a large chain still hanging around the player's neck after the attack. The investigation into the incident is ongoing, and the poker player himself has stopped talking to the press.

Janssen's scam

Now here's someone who really did stage a crime for his own benefit — George Janssen. The car dealer and holder of four WSOP Circuit rings disappeared in November 2023. His family reported him missing after his car was found abandoned. Several $50 bills were scattered on the floor of the car's interior.

In December, one of Janssen's relatives handed the police a letter from the poker player in which he had encoded the word "KIDNAP" using the first letters of the names of six fictitious family members (Kirby, Iggy, Daisey, Noah, Anthony, Parker). Shortly afterwards the player was found on a rural road in Michigan with a bloodied face and his hands tied.

Janssen claimed that he had been held captive for 33 days by a Mexican cartel, and that before that he had been blackmailed for two years, being forced to leave money at drop-off points. However, the investigation established that the kidnapping had been staged.

It turned out that Janssen and his accomplices had organised a fraudulent scheme. Using fake cheques, he obtained around $3.9 million from several banks in the form of auto loans for cars that didn't exist. Notably, the poker player had lost his working licence shortly before the "kidnapping", in October 2023.

In August 2025, George Janssen pleaded guilty to fraud, and in April 2026 he was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay more than $900,000 in compensation. While awaiting sentencing, the poker player still managed to win a $400 buy-in tournament at FireKeepers casino in Michigan, earning $18,556. 

Doyle Brunson's best bluff

Doyle Brunson said he had been the target of robbery attempts at least five times in his life. Perhaps the most famous episode occurred in the spring of 1998, when the "Godfather of Poker" was returning home after one of the World Series of Poker tournaments.

Armed robbers attacked Brunson right outside his house. They struck him in the eye with the butt of a gun and dragged him into the house, where they handcuffed him to his wife Louise. According to the 10-time WSOP champion, the criminals demanded he hand over the money from the safe and threatened to kill the couple if they refused.

Brunson then faked a heart attack to confuse the attackers. This worked, as they left the house without taking anything of value except $4000 in cash and $80 000 in chips that the WSOP champion had brought with him from the casino. After that, the poker player called the police, but they arrived long after the attackers had fled.

Brunson was convinced that someone had been watching him at the Horseshoe and told the robbers that he was heading home. In addition, the Poker Hall of Fame member said the criminals would find it hard to cash out the stolen chips, joking: "If they call me, I'll buy them back for half price." Later, the legendary player warned on his Twitter that he always carries a gun with him in case of attacks.

The Houston Gang

In the summer of 2025, attacks on poker players became more frequent in Houston. Most of the incidents, around 17, were linked to the popular room Lucky J's Social Club. According to police, the crimes were committed by the same group. 

In early August, security cameras at the DoubleTree hotel captured an attack on a poker player who had won a large sum at Texas Card House and was returning to his room in the early morning. Two men, one of them wearing a mask, entered the hotel without meeting any resistance from the security guard at the entrance. 

The robbers attacked the poker player near the elevator, punching him in the face and knocking him to the floor. They then tore his wallet and bag away from him and ran outside. There, they jumped into a car where an accomplice was waiting, and fled the scene of the crime. As a result of the attack, the player suffered facial bone fractures.

Later, four attackers followed a 70-year-old poker player from the room to his home, where they attempted to attack him, but were scared off by the victim's wife's loud screams. At the end of August, police detained four suspects, one of whom was on probation after having pointed a gun at his girlfriend.

The Ex-Girlfriend Informant

Another victim of robbery was the 2010 WSOP Main Event champion Jonathan Duhamel. Moreover, the attack on the poker player was organised by his ex-girlfriend. The incident occurred in the winter of 2011 at the player's apartment in a Montreal suburb.

On the evening of 21 December, a stranger rang Duhamel's doorbell, posing as a courier. The poker player opened the door for him, and at that moment the attacker burst into the house, followed by his accomplice. The robbers beat the Canadian regular and demanded he open the safe for them, threatening to kill both the player and his family. 

Fearing for his life, Duhamel opened the safe. The criminals took the WSOP Main Event champion's bracelet, a Rolex watch that the poker player had received from his sponsor PokerStars, and a large sum of money in various currencies. According to different reports, they stole between $115 000 and $150 000. Duhamel was hospitalised after the attack but was discharged from hospital the very next day.

The case was solved within a week. Police detained four people. The crime was organised by the poker player's ex-girlfriend Bianca Rojas-Latraverse. She later pleaded guilty to kidnapping, unlawful entry into a dwelling, and conspiracy to commit armed robbery. The woman was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison but was released on parole after 2.5 years.

The perpetrators turned out to be Anthony Burke and Jean-Stéphane Clark-Lemay, who each received four years in prison. In addition, Clark-Lemay's cousin André-Robert Perron was detained while wearing the stolen Rolex watch, and a few months later police arrested the robbers' driver, Andres Valderrama. 

The police managed to return the watch and most of the stolen money to Duhamel. The WSOP bracelet was found several months later near a rubbish bin. It was badly damaged, and the engraved name of the Canadian poker player had been worn away. The World Series later made a new bracelet for the champion. 

A poker player tried to rob a WSOP champion

In March 2019, four-time WPT champion and WSOP Online tournament winner Darren Elias went through a genuine nightmare. The American pro's house was attacked twice within a week, and the second time his two-year-old daughter was put in danger.

On the evening of 21 March, Elias took his wife out for a romantic dinner. Their daughter was left with a 19-year-old babysitter. During this time, an armed intruder broke into the poker player's house. He pressed a gun to the girl's back and led her around the house, demanding she show him where Elias kept his money and other valuables.

The robber then locked the babysitter in one of the upstairs rooms, separate from Elias's daughter. While he searched for loot, the girl managed to climb out of the house through a window and call for help. The criminal fled without harming anyone. It was also not reported whether he managed to steal anything.

The intruder was arrested the very next day. He turned out to be a 24-year-old low-stakes player named Shannon Soroka. Darren Elias suggested: «I think he knew what I do for a living, and expected to find valuables in the house». Soroka was charged with robbery, aggravated armed assault and illegal weapons possession. The court sentenced him to 13 years in prison. 

Bergart's tragedy

In April 2024, online regular Matthew «Mysterious Canadian» Bergart was killed during an armed robbery in Toronto. According to the police, the poker player was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, as the target of the attack was not him, but the owner of the house he was visiting.

At night, three men in balaclavas broke into the house and demanded all the valuables. Bergart got into a struggle with one of the attackers, as a result of which he received several gunshot wounds. He was taken to hospital, but doctors were unable to save the poker player's life. 

One of the robbers was arrested several months later, following a major shootout believed to have involved members of two rival criminal gangs. After it, the police arrested 23 people under the age of 30. Among them was a 16-year-old teenager involved in Bergart's murder. At that point, he was already banned from carrying weapons due to other offences. Two accomplices in the robbery remain at large.

In conclusion, we'd like to wish that such incidents happen as rarely as possible. Be careful, and remember that a big score is a reason not only for celebration, but also for increased vigilance. Stick to important safety rules: don't carry a lot of cash on you, vary your routes from the casino to home, limit the circle of people who might know where you keep your valuables, and protect your personal information carefully. And, most importantly, take care of yourself.