A nightmare scenario unfolded for an unnamed poker player in Houston earlier this month after he bagged a big win at one of the area’s poker rooms.

That poker player was followed to the DoubleTree hotel from the Texas Card House by several men driving a white four-door car around 5:50 a.m. Two of the men then climbed out the back of the car, walked into the lobby and surprised the man with violence as he was waiting for an elevator to come take him to his floor. They quickly tore his wallet out of his pants and a bag from his grips and ran to the getaway car idling in the carport to make their escape.

Police say they were aware that the player won a significant amount playing poker, and although they did not name the card room, the address matches the Texas Card House.

Details and hotel surveillance video of the Aug. 1, robbery were released by Houston police who have turned to the public for help identifying the suspects.

There’s a $5,000 cash reward for anyone who can give police information leading to their arrest. Those who may know something should call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477) or leave a tip online at www.crime-stoppers.org.

Easy targets?

Being followed home after a big win and attacked is unfortunately a sort of working hazard for poker players. While rare, it only takes one or two desperate men to find their victims at the public casinos and card rooms and use violence to take what they want.

World Series of Poker champion Greg Raymer famously fought off two armed men who followed him back to his hotel room at the Bellagio in 2004, the same year he won his Main Event bracelet. They were after the $150,000 he said he had on him.

A player in Pittsburgh was followed home by a man on a crime spree and was pistol-whipped and robbed in front of the door to his home a few years ago after he showed-off his bankroll at the poker table, and a woman was followed home and robbed after winning a $10,000 jackpot on slots in Iowa.

While players everywhere should always be cautious, that seems to be particularly true for those who play in Texas. In 2022 , a security guard nearly lost his life after a man armed with an AR-15 barged into the Legends Poker Room in Houston. He wrestled the weapon away from the suspect, but was grazed by a bullet when the gun went off during the struggle.

And in 2018, four men were indicted for robbing a poker game in Abilene, Texas, of $8,000.