World Poker Tour: High Drama at the Aviation Club

Tuesday, 27 July 2004

Aviation Club de France became the scene of record prize pools, armed robbery and British sang-froid last week, as the grand Champ-Elysees casino paid host to the World Poker Tour’s Grand Prix de Paris.

Aviation Club de France became the scene of record prize pools, armed robbery and British sang-froid last week, as the grand Champ-Elysees casino paid host to the World Poker Tour’s Grand Prix de Paris.
Excitement had been building during the week prior to the competition as ACF's Manager of Poker Operations, Bruno Fitoussi, announced that a record 205 players had registered the tournament, more than doubling the 96 who played last year. This allowed the Club to post the largest prize pool in European poker history: 2,050,000 Euros (£1,356,113).
Fitoussi may wished he’d kept his cards closer to his chest, however, when on the final two armed men burst into the Club and ordered some twenty competitors onto the floor. They were unable to get their hands on the big money, but managed to get away with 76,000 euros in cash. Thankfully no one was injured in the heist and play was able to resume.
Following the trauma of armed robbery, British poker ace Surinder Sunar managed to keep sufficiently cool to win the tournament – the forty-five year old netting the 679,000 Euros.



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