Scott Montgomery, 2008 November Niner … he has a bracelet now, but presumably wasn\’t wearing it this weekend when he says he got accosted by a knife-wielding bandit inside a Bellagio bathroom. (While taking a leak? That could make a difference in this sitch.)
With all due respect to Montgomery\’s 5th place WSOP main-event finish and his donkament bracelet this summer, he\’s clearly no Greg Raymer. Montgomery declined his assailant\’s implied invitation to brawl for money, and instead simply handed him $2,000 in cash (mo chips?) … yeow, what does it say about the economy when Bellagio doesn\’t have armed shoe-shine guys on duty?
Montgomery was at Bellagio to play in a Festa al Lago preliminary event and went to the bathroom on a break from the tournament. As he described it on his Twitter account, “Got mugged today at Bellagio. Black guy pulled a knife on me in the restroom. I gave him the $2k in my wallet and he left.â€
“I called security, but they took like 15 mins so they didn\’t catch him. They are useless twits. Didn\’t even ask me to look at camera footage,†Montgomery continued. “Security pretty much just said oh well, life sucks, have a nice day. I\’m pretty annoyed.â€
Bellagio Poker ≈ Binion\’s Self Park?
Though two instances (that we heard about) over the span of nearly 6 years hardly constitute a trend, you just don\’t expect certain kinds of violence in luxe resorts with multiple guards outside the parking garage looking for casually waving through possible Al Qaeda terrorists. I mean what is center-Strip, not dark-alley downtown Vegas or daytime Berlin!
But it was indeed at Bellagio — during the 5-diamond — where armed robbers discovered not all bracelet-winning poker players were easy marks. In that situation, December 2004, Greg Raymer, poker\’s newest big world champ, fought off two attackers with guns. According to reports, they got away, too (as security let them pass) … however, were caught some five months later in California, and brought back to Las Vegas for trial. (I believe sentenced to something like 3 years, not sure though …)
Pokerati PSA: Remember, next time you\’re being attacked in the Bellagio or anywhere in Vegas really, you can tweet for help @LVMPD, hashtag #911.
