Confirmation on More Busts

Yes, it is as I suspected. The O Club was indeed busted. The rumor is that there was some sort of "altercation" at the place, to which the police were called, and decided to bust the club as part of the whole thing. I am somehow not surprised; since the club was not highly screened; anyone could get in there. It was the easiest one to discover and go to of all the city's clubs.

I learned too of another club, called Double Take, that was opened by the PlayStation crew for merely two weeks before again being busted. I assume that these guys are just a target that the police keep hitting.

The other clubs I know about have dropped further underground. There is one still running where I don't trust the management much (The L Club), one that struggles to get people in (The E Club), one that is pretty exclusive and well run but was mostly sharks at the table (The H Club), and one that is in a part of town I'd prefer to avoid at night (the K club). I am getting deeply frustrated by the whole situation. I wonder if it is really worth it to play poker in NYC anymore.

It's not that I don't want to confront the police about this — far from it. I don't really believe that it should be illegal and I am not really that afraid of being busted (other than the general inconvenience of it), especially given that it isn't illegal for players.

The difficulty is that one must be on top of things to play. I'm not deeply in the NYC poker scene. I know a few people who occasionally answer my emails, and that's about it. I am not deep enough in the scene to hear by osmosis that there have been busts, changes, or otherwise that the clubs I once went to are now gone.

I can only hope that the H Club has gotten better. I hope to go again this week or next, if it's still there. I was inspired again this weekend to begin reviewing clubs, but it seems somewhat pointless if they disappear so quickly. I'll keep thinking on it.

There are a number of important issues in the world today, and legalizing poker is probably not at the top of the list of urgent things needed. But, the missed tax revenue for the city and the waste of time for the police is not to be ignored here. It seems hopeless, though, given that the Atlantic City casinos would surely lobby to keep it illegal. The last thing they want is local competition.