Panic swept over Berlin's Grand Hyatt today when a group of burglars carrying Kalashnikov assault rifles waltzed into a European Poker Tour tournament and made off with $1.2 million, before a live television broadcast. UPDATED

Four robbers burst into the hotel while two stood guard by the entrance on Potsdamer Platz, a major public square, AFP reports. Apparently some of the footage made it on the air. Here, horrified gamblers run screaming from their table. They are so scared, they don't even peek at their competitors' cards.

The five-day tournament had 1000 competitors and a jackpot of one million Euros. [AFP] [AP]

UPDATE 1: German website Bild offers photos of the robbers, wearing masks and wielding huge knives. Click "fotogalerie" on the left-hand side to see photos from the "Überfall auf promi-poker-turnier," which I am told is German for "holy crap this is scary." [via Gawker.TV & blackdevil]

UPDATE 2: A second video purportedly depicting the heist has emerged. [via Gawker.TV & blackdevil]