Update: German Poker Robbery Included Machetes Too

Last Saturday, six men armed with machine guns stormed a poker tournament at the Berlin Grand Hyatt, and made off with one million Euros. It was the perfect plan save the part about the tournament being broadcast on live television.

Now more details have emerged from the robbery that led to masked henchman making off with at least €200k in 90 seconds. Bild.com has a timeline of events from Saturday, but I think this entry from 2:11 PM local time offers a nice summation: "THE ARMED ROBBERY BEGAN – AND IT WAS ALL OVER IN LESS THAN TWO MINUTES!"

And then there's this:

[Brawny security guard] Roman H. caught hold of the second gangster in a red pullover and wrestled him to the floor in a headlock. A gun and a money bag fell from the robber's hands.

The security guard later told BILD: "He didn't say a word. As a civilised central European one doesn't strangle such people straight away, so I tried to restrain him."

That victory was short-lived. A minute later "The robber dressed in black came back with his machete and freed his partner. The security guard let go straight away: 'My colleague and I were without weapons.'"

And then they were gone. Six minutes after that the police arrived, and some 48 hours since the heist the perpetrators are still at large. Quite remarkable, really.