Bomb Threat and Arrest Sees WSOP Main Event Hit by Temporary Lockdown

The opening day of the World Series of Poker Main Event was thrown into chaos when the Rio Convention Center was placed on lockdown after a rumoured bomb threat, with police seen tackling a suspect to the ground...

Just saw a guy with a WSOP lanyard get tackled by 5 undercover on break of WSOP main event. The placed him under arrest and emptied his pockets. No idea if he was staff or why they arrested him. Intense.

— Johnnie VIBΞS (@JohnnieVibes) November 5, 2021

Apparently unrelated to the Series itself, police reportedly chased a suspect into the parking lot of the WSOP venue where a “suspicious item” was discovered.
Lieutenant Jesse Roybal, of the Las Vegas Metro Police Department, explained:

“As a precaution, ARMOR [All-Hazard Regional Multi-agency Operations and Response] was requested to render the item safe. The parking lot was briefly shut down during the process."

That brief lockdown lasted two hours, with players and staff unable to access their vehicles.

100% lockdown for at least 2 more hours . U can not get your car pic.twitter.com/ZOdW58FIWw

— David (@TheColdStone) November 5, 2021

Moreno, who witnessed the police takedown of a suspect, isn’t sure if the two incidents were related, tweeting:

“It feels like the 2 incidents were unrelated. I could have sworn the guy that got tackled was wearing a pokergo red media lanyard.”

The casino itself was apparently unaffected by the incident, or incidents, although rumours of a bomb threat had players fearing the worst.

Readers may recall the 2019 Main Event drama when “naked bandit” Ken Strauss disrupted play by flashing his genitals and throwing a shoe at a dealer. Strauss was later arrested on terrorism charges after making threats against several Las Vegas casinos.

Strauss, who was clearly suffering some form of mental breakdown, was later declared unfit to stand trial and sent to a psychiatric hospital indefinitely.