E. Club Robbed

[shipitfish]

I had waited until I had double-confirmed this, since my last news of a NYC club turned out to be inaccurate, but I now have confirmation from three sources that the E. Club was robbed this week. There had been a previous rumor of robbery there as well, although that was never officially confirmed.

The E. Club is one of two remaining well-known clubs that continue to operate. All other games have gone so deep underground such that if you aren't a very high stakes or an “every night” player, these are the only two games on the more beaten paths of New York that you can find easily aside from home games. Games seem to abound further out in the boroughs, but these are the two you can stop in for a few hours on your way home from work in Manhattan.

Robberies, of course, are more problematic than a police raid. Since the legal status of the club's operation is dubious at best, they can't easily get the protection of the police, unless they buy it. If they don't do such, getting robbed can happen easily.

I am starting to believe the risk of playing public games in New York might be too great. I am sure the high stakes games have better security, but they are games well above the standard recreational poker bankroll. If you are in the “in crowd” of NYC poker, there are other opportunities, but getting into that crowd fully requires more longevity of time in the NYC poker scene or other types of connections.