Poker News

Two poker players were among three Melbourne, Australia men who appeared in court on Tuesday facing drug charges. David “zanderfish” Saab, Robert “remo_04” Reemeus, and Darren Hughes remain in custody and have not applied for bail.

According to authorities, Saab and Reemeus attempted to smuggle 21 kilograms, or just over 46 pounds, of cocaine into Australia on January 17th. Customs and Border Protection Officers intercepted a sea cargo shipment when it arrived in Sydney from Vancouver, Canada and found the narcotics hidden in machine parts. One week later, Hughes allegedly received the drugs from Saab and Reemeus.

The three men have been charged with importing a commercial quantity of cocaine and attempting to possess a commercial quantity of cocaine. If convicted, they could face up to 25 years in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines. They will return to the same court in May. The street value of the cocaine has been estimated at more than AUD $4 million.

Saab has had some success on the live tournament circuit, although nothing approaching the top players in the world. With $550,720 in lifetime winnings, he ranks 1,368th on the all-time money list. The vast majority of his winnings came in 2008 from two tournaments. The first was in May, when he won the Manila stop on the Asian Poker Tour, a $2,500 No Limit Hold’em event, and took home $280,000. He followed that up in July with a deep run in the World Series of Poker Main Event, finishing 46th for $135,100. Of his other 11 live cashes, 10 of them have come in tournaments in his home country of Australia.

Online, Saab hasn’t fared too well. According to PokerTableRatings.com, Saab, playing under the screen name “zanderfish,” has lost over $75,000 in cash games on PokerStars since September 2008.

Reemeus is also a poker player, focusing his game on the virtual felts. Known as “remo_04,” Reemeus is currently ranked 7,779th worldwide on the PocketFives.com Tournament Leaderboard. According to PocketFives.com, Reemeus has won a combined $44,338 from tournaments on Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars, and Cake Poker. Most of it came in February of last year, when he took down Full Tilt’s $75,000 Guaranteed for $39,015.

Both Saab and Reemeus are members of a team of poker players called “The SAAB Squad.” According to the team’s Facebook page, “The SAAB Squad is a team of exceptional poker players from Australia that will be traveling the globe in search of success on the felt.”

The page also says, “The Squad focuses on learning the game, living the dream, and loving every minute… Well except for those times when we can all hate the game!”

Other members of The SAAB Squad include Aaron Nicastri, Tristan Bain, Rhys Gould, Jesse MacGuire, Kel Beattie, and James Broom. It should be noted that only Saab and Reemeus have any connection to the drug bust.

The last time Saab was seen playing poker was earlier this week on Day 1A of the Aussie Millions Main Event in Melbourne. Saab failed to advance to Day 2, although even if he had, he would not have finished the tournament considering the recent developments. He played in preliminary events at his home casino, but was unable make the money in any of them.

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