/ Editor / 20 August 2007 / Leave a comment

Assassination by rattle snake! Another poker nightmare in America. Why play poker offline - it's way too dangerous?

Herb Beck is arrested in Raton, Colorado. He tells investigators he has invested $36,000 in a company that stages Texas Hold'em style poker tournaments.

Beck claims a certain Matthew Sowash, owner of Amateur Poker Tour, owes him more than double that.

So you can imagine what happens next. That's right. It is alleged that Beck, aided by one Christopher Lee Steelman, does attempt to assassinate Sowash with a rattle snake.

The plan was to build a wooden box to hold the snakes and ''the lid was to be built to allow Sowash's legs to be put inside but not pulled out,'' according to the affidavits.

Herbert Paul Beck, 56, and Christopher Lee Steelman, 34, are charged with suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit kidnapping and extortion.

Bail for each has been set at $500,000.

Might it have been easier to have won the money back, or tried to?

Have you ever tried to recover a debt, or not paid up. Tell us your best stories.

Tags: poker, rattle snake