New York Busts Hit the News

[shipitfish]

There is finally a News Day story up about the poker busts. [Update: There are now also stories in The New York Times, The New York Post, an AP Story, and another News Day story. One story played at 11:00 PM on a local news station that now has the AP story up. They have a picture of blackjack and said last night that these clubs had blackjack games, which they didn't.] It is really funny: for weeks, I've been trying to get the address of Play Station, which is not an easy club to get into (compared to the New York Players' Club (which I have been calling the Upper West Side Club until now). So, now I have Play Station's address, but it won't do me much good.

I find the cop's comment interesting: "It's not illegal to play poker, only to profit from it". Do they mean, to profit from the running of the game, or to profit period? Does that mean if you are a losing player, and have records to prove it, you aren't committing a crime but those of us who win are criminals? [Update: Later articles have said it isn't illegal to play regardless, although the situation is still unclear. All the stories are reporting that no players were arrested; they just had their names checked for outstanding warrants.]

Frankly, the most exasperating thing about this is it is not clear in the least where one crosses the criminal line. I have googled my brains out trying to find what the law actually is, and it just is unclear whether or not I am committing a crime by just playing, or if both the proprietor and I are committing a crime together.