Two armed men staged a daring heist at a world poker tournament...

Two armed men staged a daring heist at a world poker tournament on the Champs-Elysees in Paris on Tuesday, making off with €76 000 (about R600 000) in cash after forcing players to lie on the ground, police said.

The pair, both wearing ski-masks, escaped by stealing a truck, officers added.

They stole the vehicle after losing the keys to the motorbike they had arrived on during the robbery, they said. The truck was later found in a poor suburb north of the capital.

The heist occurred early on Tuesday as about 20 players were sitting through the final day of a World Poker Tour tournament taking place in a chic private club on the Champs-Elysees avenue, which was lightly guarded at the time. No-one was injured.

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Police said it appeared the bandits had been "well informed" because they went straight to the points where the money was kept.

A taxi driver, seeing the police pursuit of the stolen truck, tried to run the robbers off the road but he quickly backed off when he saw their weapons. - Sapa-AFP