Four-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner and 2018 WSOP Player of the Year Shaun Deeb reported early on Sunday that his hotel room was invaded during the early-morning hours while he slept inside. Deeb posted on Twitter about the unwelcome intruder, who appeared inside his room at roughly 6 am Las Vegas time:
Deeb is one of a couple hundred players who make the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino a virtual 24/7 home during the series. It suits his WSOP plans, as he's widely known for grinding as many events as possible. As he noted, he was unharmed during the room invasion.
Many of Deeb's followers quickly commented on the incident. Roughly a third of them cast aspersions toward the Rio, which has had numerous incidents of this type occur over the past two decades. However, there's also some reporting bias at work. The reason so many players are aware of these occurrences at the Rio is because so many of the players spend so much time on the property during the WSOP. This creates something of a feedback loop that may amplify the situation as it pertains to the Rio specifically.
Room invasions a problem beyond the Rio
The larger truth is that such room invasions are a widespread Las Vegas problem, one that all visitors should guard against. One of the most famous involved two men who trailed Greg Raymer to his hotel room at the Bellagio in 2004. Raymer successfully fought off his assailants, who were later arrested and served prison time for the attack. Raymer was specifically targeted in that attack. However, there's currently no evidence that Deeb was similarly targeted, despite large numbers of poker players currently staying at the Rio -- a fact that might have enticed a would-be burglar.
The Rio is no longer a Caesars Entertainment property. In September 2019, Caesars sold the off-Strip property to Dreamscape, a New York-based real-estate investment entity. Dreamscape's stated hope was to "breathe new life" into the property, but evidence of such a resurgence for the property is hard to see. Caesars rented the Rio Convention Center space from Dreamscape in order to host the WSOP for its 2021 edition. This is expected to be the last WSOP at the Rio, with the series moving to Bally's and Planet Hollywood next summer.
Deeb admitted that he'd forgotten to set the latch on his hotel-room door, though expert room invaders can foil that secondary prevention measure. It's also not clear -- but it seems the likeliest explanation -- that the room invader had a master pass key or some similar way of gaining quick access to his room. Should further details emerge, Poker.org will bring you the latest.
Featured image source: Haley Hintze
