For someone who’s played a lot of poker at casinos all over the world, murder suspect Joran van der Sloot hasn’t done much winning, at least not in major offline poker tournaments.
According to professional poker player databases maintained at Poker Pages (www.pokerpages.com) and Hendon Mob (www.hendonmob.com), van der Sloot, 22, has NEVER finished in the money in any significant offline poker tourney.
Both websites keep up-to-date records on all major (and many minor) offline poker tournaments around the world, and there are no listings of van der Sloot’s name for an in-the-money finish in any offline poker tournament of note ever.
He has played big-time offline tournament poker.
The Miami Herald reported the other day that van der Sloot participated in a major poker tournament in China in 2009.
The tourney, a stop on the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) that was held in Macau, China and that is officially called APPT-Macau, was held at major casino.
A tournament participant named Noah Acre who sat at the same poker table as van der Sloot during the tourney and chatted with him, told the Herald: "I am pretty good at sizing people up quickly and he (van der Sloot) seemed like all he cared about was partying and getting girls."
Dutch thug and wannabe poker pro van der Sloot–who was suspected of killing American teen Natalee Holloway in Aruba in 2005 but was never charged due to lack of evidence–allegedly killed a Peruvian woman, Stefany Flores, in Lima, Peru last week, and reportedly has confessed to the murder, according to a Peruvian newspaper.
The young Dutchman was in Lima for LAPT-Lima, but only as a fan–the San Francisco Chronicle reported he wasn’t registered to play in the event (he likely couldn’t afford the buy-ins, as he was staying in a $40-a-night rooming house).
He did play some in some "ring" or cash games at the Atlantic City Casino in Lima, where the tourney was held and where he met Flores.
He has also previously been seen playing poker at casinos in Aruba and the Netherlands.
He is also believed to play online poker, and has had some success–he reportedly won $12,000 recently in an online poker tournament.
By Tom Somach
Gambling911.com Staff Writer
tomsomach@yahoo.com
