Poker pro Sues Florida Cardroom After Double Shooting in Parking Lot

A Florida poker pro is suing the owners of Derby Lane Poker Room for $30,000 after being shot in the stomach while walking to his car after a highstakes cash game in 2019...

Thirty-year-old Filipp Khavin filed the lawsuit this week claiming that the Derby Lane owners, St. Petersburg Kennel Club Inc, knew of the dangers at their venue and their negligence contributed to his shooting.

Khavin, who can boast of more than $1million in tournament winnings, was leaving the cardroom along with fellow pro, Chad Pease, at around 2am on November 20th, 2019, when the attackers struck.

The players had been playing in “Chad’s Game”, a cash game that Pease organises and described in the lawsuit as “the highest stakes poker game on the west coast of Florida”.

As they walked through the parking lot at the Derby Lane Club, which is attached to one of the oldest greyhound racetracks in the world, an “assailant ran from his hiding location in the adjacent area ... toward Mr. Khavin and Mr. Pease ... This assailant used a gun to shoot both Mr. Khavin and Mr. Pease.

The lawsuit reveals that “Mr. Khavin was shot twice in the lower abdomen” while “Mr. Pease was shot in the hand,” though Pease was able to start his car and drive off. The attacker fled the scene and neither poker player suffered life-threatening injuries.

The lawsuit brought on behalf of Mr Khavin, however, claims that the owners knew how dangerous the area could be and “despite Mr. Pease’s repeated requests for increased and better security,” they refused to provide it. The valet parking service was noted as ending at midnight, whereas games would regularly run as late as 4am.

Khavin’s wife Charis is also suing the cardroom’s owners, claiming “loss of consortium”, and they are seeking a trial by jury, which could see much higher sums awarded than the $30k claims.

The poker world has seen many such incidents, with Tom “3betPanda” Steinbach lucky to escape with his life after a robbery gone wrong at the Texas Card House in 2018.

Steinbach was shot in the back and suffered “potentially life-threatening injuries” that prompted Bill Perkins to offer a $10,000 “no questions asked” reward for the gunman’s capture.

Two men were later arrested, 41-year old Jermaine Spirlack, believed to be the shooter, and 24-year old Charles Clines-Martinez, believed to be the inside man at the casino who sought out potential victims.

A year later, at the 2019 World Series of Poker, poker pro Joe Salvaggio was robbed in the car park of the Rio in Las Vegas.

Just got robbed at gunpoint at @wsop Pavilion parking lot of the Rio.Guy jumped out of car in camouflage, shoved a gun in my face and demanded my backpack with thousands in it and the keys to my car. scariest moment of my life #wsop2019#wsop@CaesarsEnt retweet for awareness.

— JoeySal (@JoeSalOG) July 1, 2019

Salvaggio wasn’t too impressed by the police response, saying:

“The cop literally said 'this isn’t CSI' yet they said they have evidence of a person leaving Rio and getting into the car that he got out of." He added: “The gun clip fell out when he was shoving it in my face. I can’t see any possible way on earth they can’t get him."

Blackjack players rather than poker players were the target of an armed heist last year, with masked gunmen following the victims – who had over $40k between them at the blackjack tables – from the casino car park and 20 miles by car to the victims’ homes before attacking them.

One victim was struck in the head 20 times before being shot in the arm while the second victim also had a gun pulled on him and forced to lie on the ground.