Thursday, April 30, 1998 | 10:23 a.m.
Gamblers at the 29th annual World Series of Poker expressed shock over the attack and robbery of legendary poker player Doyle Brunson at his Las Vegas Country Club home last weekend.
Some of that shock Wednesday was over the fact he had left Binion's Horseshoe hotel-casino with so much money -- $80,000 in large denomination chips and $4,000 in cash which the bandits took from him -- instead of leaving it in a safe-deposit box at the casino.
"You should never go home from a casino with (a lot of) money in your pockets," Frank Henderson, a veteran poker player from Houston who in 1987 was runner-up to world champion Johnny Chan, said.
"I was really surprised to hear what happened to Doyle because he is such a smart person. But I also would have given the gunmen everything I had in my pockets and, if that wasn't enough, I would have asked them if I could write them a check. You can always get more money, but not another life."
Brunson told the SUN in a story published Wednesday that he had left a World Series of Poker event in which he had finished in 10th place.
"I was really mad that I had gotten knocked out of the tournament, and maybe I wasn't as careful on the way home," he said, noting that the robbers surprised him as he was putting his key in the door.
Brunson, 64, the 1976 and '77 world poker champion, was struck in the head with a gun and handcuffed to his wife of 36 years, Louise, while the thieves robbed him and repeatedly threatened to kill them, he said.
Henderson said he thought that Brunson had been marked long before Saturday night as a target, and that sophisticated thieves seized the moment.
"They probably found out where he lived some time ago, and they were keeping an eye on him," Henderson said. "In incidents like this, they watch you go to the (casino cage) safe-deposit box and look to see whether you put the money in the box or in your pockets.
"That guy then calls his buddies who are waiting for you to arrive home to rob you."
Brunson, who faked a heart attack that sent the bandits fleeing, has told authorities he was not followed from the Horseshoe. He does believe that someone who was watching him at the casino tipped off the robbers that he was heading home.
Such incidents have happened to noted female gambler Barbara Samuelsen.
"I've been robbed three times, but they didn't get a whole lot because I make it a point never to leave the casino until I have put my money and valuables in my safe-deposit box," Samuelsen said, noting that she believes women gamblers by nature are easier targets for thieves.
"And I get a security escort to my car if I think someone is watching me."
Samuelsen, a Las Vegas resident, said that where she lives is "my closest-guarded secret." During major tournaments, she stays in hotels instead of traveling to and from home.
Paul "Eskimo" Clark, an on-and-off Las Vegas-area resident who calls Louisiana home, says he has long made it a policy as a gambler "to try and not let anyone learn where I live."
Clark said he does not believe the publicity generated from winning World Series events, such as Brunson's victory last week in the $1,500 buy-in 7-card razz event in which he won $93,000, increases a gambler's chances of being robbed.
Clark and Henderson noted that anyone can walk in off the street and see the huge amounts of money wagered in the games by all of the players.
Hans "Tuna" Lund, who has won nearly $1 million in World Series tournament play over the years, admits he is not a stickler about security.
"I am very lax in that area, probably because I have never thought of myself as becoming a target because of my size," the 6-foot-5, 320-pound Sparks resident, who placed second in the 1990 championship, said.
"I use a safe-deposit box, but I will keep (an amount of money) on me, so that if I get robbed, the guy will be satisfied that he got something and won't kill me. But these days a guy walking down the street will kill you for just $10."
Many gamblers and officials at the World Series say the crooks who robbed Brunson will have a difficult time trying to cash in the large-denomination chips they stole.
"These chips generally are given only to known gamblers -- they are very well guarded," longtime tournament director Jim Albrecht said, noting that it is policy in casino cages throughout Las Vegas to question nongamblers as to where they obtained such chips and confiscate them.
Albrecht, cardroom manager for the Horseshoe, declined to discuss what security measures, if any, were changed in the wake of what happened to Brunson.
"All I can say is that it is a huge concern for the Horseshoe, but that what happened is a very rare thing," Albrecht said. "Over the years we have paid out $120 million in prize money at the World Series and this is the first incident of this type that we have heard about."
The men who robbed Brunson were described as white, 20-25 years old and 6-feet tall. They wore ski masks and were dressed in black. They remain at large.
Metro Police are investigating the robbery.
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