By August Darnell | January 24, 2008

Jason Potter estimated that it was only about a three minute walk, but the distance between his hotel in Melbourne and the casino might as well have been a mile.The twenty-two year-old poker pro was blindsided and pilfered of $30,000 in winnings from the Aussie Millions tournament this past weekend, providing all of us a valuable lesson in personal safety.

Potter was staying at the Crowne Plaza Hotel and needed to convert $30,000 in casino chips to cash before his plane trip home after the Aussie Millions.At 4:30am, he made the quick jaunt across a bridge to the Crown Casino, where the poker tournament was held, and made the transaction.Heading back to the hotel, he made a short stop at McDonalds.As he continued to the hotel, he heard the sound of footsteps running up behind him, followed by a strike to his head.As he laid on the bridge, dazed and confused, the attacker reached into the pocket of Potter’s hooded sweatshirt and swiped the money.

Potter said he entertained the idea of fighting back, but after the mugger wielded a knife and threatened the poker player, he decided that the best course of action was to not take any chances.While $30,000 is a lot of money, it is still just money, far less valuable than his life.

Considering that the attacker went straight for the concealed money, Potter figures the man had cased him since he cashed out at the casino.Potter said the casino cage is in plain view for anyone to see, so it is not unlikely that the man was waiting for someone to leave with a large sum of cash.Potter readily admits that taking the entire amount in cash was a bad idea and it made him an easy target.

The suspect has not been caught, but police are investigating the situation.

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