An American poker pro, who won $30,000 in cash at a poker tournament at an Austalian casino Sunday, lost the money shortly afterwards in a mugging.

According to Australian media reports, Jason Potter, 22, of Tulsa, Okahoma, USA, had just finished in 31st place in the Aussie Millions, a poker tourney held at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia, and collected $30,000 in cash.

He went back to his hotel, but at 4:30 a.m. was hungry, so he walked to a nearby McDonald’s restaurant, carrying his winnings, the reports said.

On the walk back to his hotel room, he was confronted by a knife-wielding mugger who stole his cash, the reports said.

Potter told Australian media: “I heard someone running resolutely behind me. As I turned around, I just got knocked on the back of the head.

“I fell down and this guy reached immediately into my hooded pocket. I thought about trying to fight him, but I thought no amount of money is worth it.”

Potter also said he suspects his assailant was at the casino and saw him pocket the cash winnings.

The Aussie Millions tournament, the largest poker tourney in the Southern Hemisphere, attracted about 800 participants and was won by Alexander Kostritsyn, 21, of Moscow, Russia, who earned $1.6 million.

Potter, a portly college drop-out who has won over $300,000 playing poker profesionally, moneyed in two events at last year’s World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas, including a 14th-place finish in WSOP Event #3, a no-limit Texas hold ‘em tourney, that earned him $31,920.

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.)