At one stage in his career, professional poker player Van Marcus was described as one of the luckiest punters in the game.

But that good fortune deserted him at Crown Casino last night, when his top-of-the-range Ferrari F430 Spider was stolen in a valet parking mishap.

Marcus, a friend of poker World Series winner Joe Hachem, was believed to be inside the casino about 12.30am today when a man wearing a flannelette shirt and tracksuit pants was handed the car keys to his bright red, high-performance V8 supercar.

Six hours later the luxury vehicle was recovered at the Caltex service station in Barry Road, Coolaroo, on Melbourne's outer northern edge.