This is why I’ve always taken my WSOP winnings as a check rather than cash or chips. From the Sydney Morning Herald:
“A professional poker player who was robbed of about $30,000 in winnings in Melbourne’s CBD this morning believes he was targeted by his assailant.
American Jason Potter, 22, was walking to his hotel after cashing in his chips when he was attacked on Spencer Street Bridge about 4.30am.
Mr Potter, who had come 31st in the Aussie Millions tournament at Crown Casino in his first tournament outside the US, said he was hit from behind then confronted by a man wielding a knife.”
I played with Potter, who’s known as JP OSU on the 2+2 forums, at the Bellagio in December. He was a strong player and a nice guy who ended up final tabling that event. I’m very sorry to hear about this, of course, but I am confident that he’s got the poker skills to recover it. Hopefully it will be a lesson to other players, especially the younger ones, about being too blase when handling large amounts of cash.