NYC Poker Clubs: Is Craig’s List The Narc?

READ MORE: Craig's List, New York City Poker Raids, Poker

All encompassing “listings” site Craig’s List may have a little bit of a loose lips problem when it comes to the New York City poker clubs. Each time a club has been raided in the last month, there has been commentary about it.(Just type in “poker” into the search engine under New York and you’ll get the gist.)

However, it seems that inadvertently(or not) some posters are “outing” poker clubs on the board which is causing a stir among some NYC club regulars. Currently, one suspicous poster asks this question:

“HOW COME SEAN O’BRIANS PLACE IS THE ONLY ONE THAT HASN’T BEEN RAIDED?”

This sparks a furious debate from various posters along the lines of “thanks a lot” and also reasons as to why the club hasn’t been closed(“because it sucks”). So, there you have it. For now, probably best to stay away from Sean O’Brian’s (if, uh, such a place were to actually exist) over the next few weeks. Thank Craig’s List for the heads up—or hate them for it. Either way, somebody’s gonna get beat up. Remember not to shoot the messenger.

Poker Clubs Getting Raided [Craig’s List]
Police Bust Poker Club After A-Rod Stops In [Poker News]
New York City Poker Raids: Celebrities In the Cross-Hairs [Oddjack]

NYC Poker Raids: Celebrities In The Cross-Hairs

READ MORE: New York City Poker Raids, Poker, Robert Iler, The Sopranos

We’re declaring a state of emergency in NYC, as yet another illegal poker room got busted yesterday. This one had the balls to dub itself “Ace Point Backgammon Club & Chess Studio,” which leaves us with imagery of old men discussing the virtues of the Winawer Variation in opposition to the Nimzo-Indian Defence. Not so much. And, in a gleefully reported bit of bad luck, a celebrity had the ill fortune to walk into the club mid-raid. The New York Post reports:

“”SOPRANOS” bad-boy Robert Iler was almost dealt a bad hand early yesterday morning when he strolled into an illegal Upper East Side gambling den looking to play some poker — only to find the NYPD in the midst of busting up the game, cops said. Seven card dealers were nabbed for allegedly promoting gambling, but Iler — who plays Anthony Soprano Jr. on the hit HBO series — and about 30 others were let go after officers ran their IDs for outstanding warrants. Cops stumbled on the high-stakes poker room after receiving a 911 call complaining about “a disorderly crowd” in the fifth-floor apartment at 328 E. 61st St. that houses the Ace Point Backgammon Club & Chess Studio. They found card players huddled around seven gambling tables, police said. As they placed the dealers under arrest, Iler and two friends — in a case of exceptionally bad timing — walked in, presumably to try their hand at lady luck, police said”

Marijuana possession, jacking Brazilian tourists for $40, and now illegal gambling? Insert-Sopranos-related-thug-joke-here.

Gossip [New York Post]
Robert Iler [Wikipedia]

NYC Poker Raid: NYC Players Not Fans of Mayor Michael Bloomberg

READ MORE: Broadway Club, New York City Poker Raids, Poker

After this past weekend’s raid of the popular Broadway Club in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, many poker players are obviously aggrieved after another one of their clubs has been shut down by police. The Broadway achieved notoriety in recent weeks for attracting such luminaries as New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez and notorious loudmouthed poker pro Phil Hellmuth. Police arrested 13 dealers and other workers and about $56,000 in cash Friday night. Now, the New York players love their private poker clubs. And after the two other clubs were raided over the spring, many poker players vented their frustrations on Craig’s List. Once again, the poker players unleash their displaced fury against Manhattan’s police force and raid-happy mayor:

LOVE YOU JEWBERG YOU MIDGET AND YOUR INEPT POLICE FORCE WHO MAKE FEEBLE ATTEMPTS AT TRYING TO CLOSE DOWN THESE POKER CLUBS.YOU’RE A BUNCH OF CLOWNS.HOW DOES IT FEEL TO LOOK UP TO EVERYONE IN THE WORLD?WHAT’S A COP MAKE THESE DAY’S,60K TOPS?MY CHEAPEST CAR IS 78,000 AND I HAVE 5 CAR.IM A CONVICTED FELON,NEVER SPENT A DAY IN JAIL FOR MY CRIMES ANDI NEVER HAD TO PAY THE $500,000 + RESTITUTION THE COURT ORDERED OVER 10 YEARS AGO.CRIME DOES PAY!YOU COPS ARE LIKE SHEEP FOLLOWING THE ORDERS OF A 5’5 MIDGET.GET REAL CAREERS.I GOT MY MASTERS AND YOU STILL CAN’T TOUCH ME WITHOUT FIRST NOTIFYING MY LAWYER’S. ALL THESE COPS WERE PICKED ON IN HIGH SCHOOL AND FIGURED CARRYING A GLOCK 19 GIVES THEM POWER.I HAVE A GLOCK 22.FUNNY THING IS THAT YOU HAVE THE HIGHEST SUICIDE RATE,EXPLAIN THAT?YOU’RE ALL CLOWNS WORKING FOR THAT JEW PRICK.I DO LOVE THIS TOWN..THE CITY OF BLINDING LIGHTS

Ah, the misguided rants of a displaced poker player. When will the injustice end?

Bust folds ‘em at A-Rod Poker Spot [NY Daily News]
Bloomberg and All His Inept Police Force [Craig’s List]