$30,000 Mugging After Aussie Millions

Life lesson: do not walk around with thousands of dollars in cash in your pockets. 

Twenty-two year-old Jason Potter, who is known in online poker circles as “JP OSU,” was mugged earlier this week near his hotel in Melbourne, Australia after cashing out his winnings from the Aussie Millions poker tournament.  All told, he lost $30,000. 

Potter, from Oklahoma, made the incident known by posting on the 2+2 message forums.  He said that he had $30,000 in chips in his hotel safe that he needed to convert to cash before he headed back to the States.  He walked from the Crowne Plaza Hotel to the Crown Casino at 4:30am, cashed in the chips, and then began the short walk back (only about three minutes, he said).  Potter stopped at a McDonalds for a snack and then, while on the bridge between the hotel and casino, heard footsteps quickly approaching from behind.  Before he had time to react, a male attacker knocked him down with a blow to the head, reached into his sweatshirt pocket and grabbed the money.  The man whipped out a knife, threatened him, but then ran away. 

Potter feels that the assailant had seen him make the transaction at the casino and stalked him on the way back to the hotel, as he knew exactly where to find the loot.  Potter said that he had considered fighting back, but since the man had a weapon, his life would have certainly been in danger. 

''No amount of money is worth that,” he said in an interview with The Age newspaper. 

While Potter wishes he had gotten the money in the form of a check, he feels fortunate that all he lost was money.  ''I am fairly glad that, you know, I'm OK and my health is all right,'' he said. 

The suspect has not been caught yet.  Police are working with the casino and have asked banks and travel agents to notify them if anyone tries to make a transaction with large quantities of $100 bills.