British Columbia Poker Championship Winner Sophon Sek Arrested
Less than a day after winning this year’s British Columbia Poker Championship and earning the first place prize of $364,364, 30 year-old Sophon Sek was arrested on charges of manslaughter and breaking and entering. As a result, his prize money is being held at the casino at the request of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and there is a chance it will be confiscated from Sek altogether.
Sek is the sixth person arrested in connection with the Surrey Six murder case. In October of 2007, six people were shot in the head and killed in the Surrey area high rise apartment building Balmoral Towers. The murders are believed to be an act of gang violence, as four of the six victims were known to be part of the British Columbia drug trade. The men suspected in the murders are members of the Red Scorpions, one of the largest and most influential gangs in British Columbia. The Surrey Six slayings are considered to be one of the worst instances of gang violence in modern British Columbian history.
The Vancouver Sun newspaper reported that Sek is believed to be an associate of the Red Scorpions as well. Statements from Corporal Dale Carr of the police force gave little insight on why Sek was arrested and faced lesser charges than the other five men previously detained in the killings, but the Sun reported that Sek is not believed to be one of the murderers. According to the paper, the RCMP believe that it was Sek who let the perpetrators into the high rise, though it is still unclear whether or not he was aware of their intentions.
Howard Blank, Vice President of the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, reported that the RCMP requested Sek’s winnings from the $2,700 (CDN) buy-in event. Sek outlasted a field of 679 players including poker pros Gavin Smith, “Yukon” Brad Booth, Mike “SirWatts” Watson, Tiffany Michelle, Maria Ho, Greg “FBT” Mueller, and Scott “BigRiskky” Clements, who made the final table, finishing in seventh place.
Sek was set to return to River Rock Casino in Vancouver, the site of the event, to pick up his winnings Monday, but his arrest prevented him from doing so. He is currently being held in custody until his trial date on November 30th. His lawyer, Alan Ip, spoke to the British Columbia Globe and Mail about the seizure of Sek’s winnings. According to Ip, unless the money was taken as evidence in the case, it was unjustly seized. Carr told the Sun he was not aware of the RCMP’s request for the casino to hold the funds and could not provide an explanation as to why the money would be seized in relation to the case. Ip also emphasized how saddened his client was at the prospect of losing his tournament earnings, as he planned to pursue his love for poker and play in other events in the future.
One of the five other suspects in the case, Dennis Karbonavec, has already pled guilty and was sentenced to life in prison. Following his admission of guilt, three others were arrested in relation to the case in April of 2008 and have been in pretrial custody ever since. The charges against the men include first and second degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and various firearms-related charges.
This is not the first time Sek has had a run in with the police. He was previously charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm in July of 2008.
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Casino poker language:
- DEAD MAN'S HAND - Generically: two pair, aces and eights. Specifically: the black aces, black eights and nine of diamonds. The hand Wild Bill Hickok was holding when he was shot to death.
- FULL OF - Describes a full house. "Fives full of queens" is 5-5-5-Q-Q.
- POT ODDS - The amount of money in the pot divided by the amount of money you must bet in order to call. Often used to determine if a pot offers enough reward to play on the come.
- DOYLE BRUNSON - In Hold'em, 10-2 in the hole. So named because Doyle Brunson won two straight WSOPs (q.v.) in 1975 and 1976 with 10-2 on the last hand. (Suited (spades) in 1975, unsuited in 1976).
- ASSAULT RIFLE - In Omaha, hole cards that are A-K-4-7 of any suit(s).
- TOURNAMENT - A highly structured game involving potentially dozens of tables where all participants pay an entry fee and obtain a fixed number of chips. Once a tournament has started, additional players may not enter. As the game progresses players bust out and are eliminated until only one winner remains.
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