High stakes poker player and businessman, Bill Perkins, has raised the reward on any information leading to the identity of the shooter outside a Texas Poker Club. It’s been several weeks, and still, there has been no new developments in the case. After hearing the story, Bill Perkins decided to help find the attacker offering up his cash.
Tom Steinbach was shot during a robbery outside an Austin Poker Club on April 30th. He was injured with a gunshot wound in the stomach leaving him in critical condition and the hospital for several days. The assailant got away unidentified. The robbery happened on the Club’s property, and many wonder how the club’s security was unable to help.
And there are many wondering how the club’s cameras failed to get enough video of the incident or Tom Steinbach’s attacker. Some media have reported the club has as many as 26 total security cameras and feeds. The police have stated one of the cameras was able to get video but haven’t said if it was of the incident or even an image of the assailant. No arrests have been made, and there has been little other information from the police.
According to Austin’s Crimestoppers Twitter account, Perkins is offering $10,000 of his own money to identify the shooter. And that is on top of the CrimeStoppers $3,000 offer for information that leads to the attacker’s capture and arrest. Perkins, in a Tweet of his own stated, “We need to protect our community from all threats.”
The Austin poker community has also chipped in to help find Steinbach’s attacker. A GoFundMe page has been created to aide in medical bills and all the other costs Steinbach has racked up due to the unfortunate incident. The account was opened May 4 and is well on it’s way to the $25,000 goal.
The whole incident is something of a lightning rod in Texas. Underground poker clubs have a long history in the state. Today, there are hundreds of clubs operating in the grey area of the law. Some are calling them casinos. Unlike a casino poker room, the clubs themselves do not have any rake from the games. Which is the whole business model of the poker room.
Instead, the clubs charge membership dues and seat rental fees to allow players access to their tables. Many other see these clubs as simply illegal. They are legal in some jurisdictions but not in others. Incidents like this are enough to bring the whole situation into the political discourse. Finding the shooter could help calm the situation, and Bill Perkins is all in to help.