Awww, No Fun: NYC Cracks Down Further On Underground Poker Clubs

Missed my chance to make millions:

On a busy night at the New York Players Club in upper Manhattan, vice squad officers wearing bulletproof vests and raid jackets dealt the underground poker scene a losing hand. The team entered unannounced at 11 p.m., detaining dealers, snatching up piles of cash and sending dozens of card players home with empty pockets. Downtown, another popular card club, Playstation, also was shuttered. In all, police arrested 39 employees and confiscated $100,000.

The raids on May 26 — dubbed "Black Thursday" by one poker Web site — and two more last month have sent a chill through the city's clandestine poker scene.

Several members-only card clubs closed their doors after 13 arrests on Oct. 16 at the Broadway Club in the Flatiron District, where the Yankees' $25-million-a-year third baseman, Alex Rodriguez, reportedly had played. On Oct. 28, a second-floor parlor on the Upper East Side, the EV Club, became the site of more vice squad arrests.

This makes it sound kinda lame:

The clubs typically ban alcohol but provide other perks: Playstation served Oreo cookies...

I always thought Rounders was financed by casino owners. Or, if it wasn't, then it should have been; it's basically a two-hour commercial for gambling.

It is a world reminiscent of the 1998 movie "Rounders," which was set largely in underground New York poker clubs and is credited with jump-starting the poker craze.

Thanks to Dave From It's Old.

posted by Ace at 02:44 PM

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