Johannes Strassmann Poker
Written by Teemu - Sunday, June 29, 2014, Live poker Johannes Strassmann. German poker professional Johannes Strassmann has been found dead in Ljubljana, Slovenia. German poker pro Johannes Strassman, who went missing this week in Slovenia, has been confirmed dead following a DNA test. A body was found in the water in the Slovenian capital Ljubljana, and Police have confirmed it was the 29-year-old. Jul 16, 2014 As explained by Slovenian authorities on Wednesday, toxicology tests revealed that on June 21 German poker pro Johannes Strassmann fell into the Ljubljanica river in Ljubljana, Slovenia, while. Johannes Strassman, a German poker pro whose lifeless body was recovered from a Slovenia riverbank late last month, may have been under the influence of a hallucinogenic drug. Further details have been released and a write up at Bild.de references eyewitness accounts declaring that the 29-year-old and three Slovenians had ingested. Tags: Alessandro Alviani, death, Hallucinogenic Drugs, Johannes Strassmann, Ljubjanica river, Slovenia. Posted on 17 July 2014 by 'T'. After carrying out an autopsy, Slovenian authorities reported on Wednesday that poker player Johannes Strassmann fell into the Ljubjanica river in Ljubljana, Slovenia, while under the influence of hallucinogenic.
Sometimes we get lost in the frivolity that is the poker world. The outrageous prop bets, the antics of players and, yes, sometimes even the tournaments themselves like the World Series of Poker. News has emerged on two continents to give all of us a moment of clarity amidst the fun we all seem to have.
In Europe on Saturday, a body found in a river in the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana was determined to be that of German poker professional Johannes Strassmann. DNA tests conducted by Slovenian authorities made that determination after finding the body of a then-unidentified male in the Ljubljana River on Friday. “The National Forensic Laboratory has identified by DNA test the man who was found dead in the Ljubljana River as a 29-year old German citizen who had been missing,” an official statement read from Slovenian authorities, while PokerNews.com quoted Slovenian police officer Vinko Stojnsek as confirming the identity, stating, “The body we have found on Friday is of Johannes Strassmann.”
The case regarding Strassmann is an odd one, although police do not suspect foul play and are awaiting toxicology reports to determine if that played a role. On June 21, Strassmann was in the Slovenian capital with friends and was expected to meet with some players he was coaching to play some poker. Around 10PM while walking with his friends, Strassmann suddenly broke away from the group and vanished. Police issued a European-wide search for Strassmann on Tuesday in an effort to find him before his body was found on Friday.
Strassmann compiled an enviable record in only seven short years on the international tournament poker circuit. Strassmann earned seven lifetime cashes at the WSOP and earned ten more on the European Poker Tour, with his final cash coming at the EPT Grand Final in April of this year. Although he never won a major championship (his best finish was a third place run at the EPT Snowfest in March 2010), Strassmann earned $1,558,402 from tournament poker and was highly respected for his cash game play also.
As the news slowly sank in regarding the death of Strassmann, the poker world was hit with another punch Saturday. Poker pro Chad Brown, who has been battling cancer for the last few years, had entered into hospice care. As of early Sunday morning, Brown continues to fight in New York at that hospice facility but, according to reports from his family, is in dire straits.
When news of Brown’s condition broke in Las Vegas at the WSOP, officials there decided to do something that, in the history of the WSOP, has never been done before. During the bracelet ceremonies to honor the previous days’ winners, the WSOP decided to honor Brown with a special honorary WSOP bracelet. WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel stated during the ceremony, “Winning a WSOP bracelet in one of the ways a poker player can create their legacy, to make sure they will be remembered by their peers. But it is not the only way.”
“Sometimes there are special people that come around and transcend the traditional poker score card,” Effel continued. “(They are) a person who stands for something, like integrity, honor and friendship. A person who is positive, warm and respectful. A person who always made the game better just by being around the table. A person like Chad Brown.”
“It now seems a certainty that Chad will never again play in the World Series of Poker or any tournament setting,” Effel concluded. “Today, the World Series of Poker family would like to award Chad Brown an honorary bracelet.”
A highly successful model and actor before he entered the poker world, Brown displayed excellent talents on the felt. Starting in 1993, Brown has earned 38 cashes at the WSOP (including two runner up finishes), 10 cashes on the World Poker Tour and a range of other cashes around the world. He won the 2006 Bluff Magazine Poker Player of the Year award, commenting at the time that “winning Player of the Year is like an actor winning an Oscar.”
While on the way to racking up $3.6 million in tournament poker earnings, Brown also served as a face to bring new players into the game. He was the host of the Ultimate Poker Challenge, which aired in the mid-2000s in syndication and brought many of poker’s luminaries on the felt into people’s homes. He was also married to fellow Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso until 2012, when the duo amicably divorced.
Poker News Daily would like to offer our condolences to the Strassmann family in this difficult time and wish Chad Brown and his friends and family peace and comfort as they battle onward.
After receiving the results of a DNA test, Slovenian police confirmed that the body found in the river Ljubljianica on Friday is the one of German poker player Johannes Strassmann.
Strassmann, who was in Slovenia to meet with some local high-stakes players, was reported missing on Saturday, June 21, when he disappeared from Ljubljana's old town.
Since then, the local police had tried their best to find him, carrying out numerous operations across the whole country involving a large number of agents, helicopters, and search dogs.
On Friday morning, police found a body on the banks of the Ljublianica River in Ljubljana and performed a DNA test on it as the body was reported to be in too poor of a condition to proceed with an immediate identification.
Twenty-four hours later the test results came in, and authorities confirmed to PokerNews that the body was the one of 29-year-old Johannes Strassmann.
Slovenian police officer Vinko Stojnsek confirmed the identity match. 'It is very sad to say that, but it is true,' Stojnsek told PokerNews. 'The body we have found on Friday is of Johannes Strassmann.'
Update: 10:30 a.m.
Here is the full statement issued by the Slovenian police about Strassmann's case:
On June 22, 2014, Police directorate Ljubljana got the report about a missing person, a 29-year-old German citizen. The German citizen had been missing since 10 p.m. on June 21, 2014.
Gornji trg [street] in Ljubljana was the last location where the 29-year-old German citizen had been seen. The Slovenian police started to investigate immediately.
Report: Hallucinogenic Drugs May Have Caused Johannes ...
During the investigation, the police officers checked several different locations in Ljubljana (hospitals, hotels, abandoned buildings, Ljubljanica River...) with a help of a helicopter, police dogs, and police boat. At the same time, we promptly checked all the information gathered from our citizens.
A male body was discovered yesterday (Friday) morning in the Ljubljanica River.
National Forensic Laboratory has identified (by DNA test) the man who was found dead in the Ljubljanica River as a 29-year-old German citizen who had been missing.
Johannes Strassmann - Poker Player
The criminal police investigators excluded a violent criminal offence. The laboratory tests of bodily fluids are still ongoing.
We'll continue to follow this story as it develops. Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!
Tags
Poker PlayersHigh Stakes PokerPokerNews UpdatesRelated Room
Full Tilt