Police in Melbourne, Australia, have charged two men in connection with the armed robbery there last month of an American professional poker player.

On January 20, Jason Potter, 22, of Tulsa, Okahoma, USA, competed in and finished in 31st place in the Aussie Millions, a poker tournament at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, and collected $30,000 in cash. Later that night, while walking back to his hotel after grabbing a bite to eat at a nearby restaurant, Potter, still carrying his winnings, was confronted by two knife-wielding muggers, who stole his cash.

Potter, reporting the incident afterwards, told police that he recalled seeing only one mugger, who hit him in the head and grabbed the cash from his pocket.

On Thursday, however, Australia media reported that Melbourne police had arrested two men and charged them in the robbery.=A0

Charged were Dwayne Johnstone, 32, of St. Albans, Australia, and Vhyharn Arumughasamu, 27, of Wheeler’s Hill, Australia.

Johnstone was charged armed robbery, assault and possession of marijuana, while Arumughasamu was charged with armed robbery.

Both men remain as jail as neither has yet posted bail.

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.)