UNDERGROUND POKER -- The Action Is The Juice...

"Fold and live to fold again." -- Stu Unger

INSIDE THE HUSTLE

Speakeasies, Backdoors, After-Hours and Underground Card Games.., we all like to be clued in on what's going on -- on the DL… It makes you feel special -- cool, knowing most of the people you pass on the street have no idea, that just about any night of the week they could pop into the Gramercy Park Hotel (one of the lower floor rooms) to play a few hands. All over town -- 24/7.., you could always find a little action, one infamous poker game went on for over a month, they just kept shuffling in players and dealers -- nonstop.

From multi-millionaire hedge funders, hustlers, knock around guys, celebrities and drug addicts.., there is an illegal game going on 24/7 in not just NYC but cities across this country. The mere knowledge of a game.., is like -- an offer you can't refuse… Because unlike other, more trendy addictions that rely on some form of outside chemical.., a gambling addiction is already inside of you -- just waiting for some action.

They were (and are) in essence, to many people (more than you'd think), just like the neighborhood bar, the social aspect was not only undeniable -- it was alluring. It sucked you right in.., and called you from a far when too much time had passed since your last fix. Almost like a secret society, a sub-culture, that welcomed all that were "in the know." And once this "underground" world gets ahold of you, it's hard to escape. before you know it you are trapped in a life that feels like some surreal dream, only all too often turning into a reoccurring nightmare.

"What makes it illegal.., is the rake -- when the house takes their cut."

The mere knowledge of a game.., is like -- an offer you can't refuse… Because unlike other, more trendy addictions that rely on some form of outside chemical.., a gambling addiction is already inside of you just waiting for some action. After all, playing in one of these games is not illegal… The players do not get charged, but they do lose whatever cash they had already changed for chips -- it's the House that gets busted.., and they get busted for "the rake..," the percentage they take off the top for putting on the game. Plus, most of the time the cops have plenty of other things to worry about, besides cracking down on a lousy card game. And if you were hip to one of these underground games, you could walk out with a few hundred more than you walked in with, if you knew the score. If you went there with the sole objective to win a few stacks, stayed cool, played your game and knew when to walk away -- Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner!

ACTION IS GOOD…REALLY GOOD

After the movie Rounders, by Brian Koppleman and leading up to the early 2000's, illegal card games sprung up like wildflower (there actually was a place named Rounders in the Flatiron District).., and now instead of 2 or 3 tables in a place that used to serve goulash on the Lower East Side, or a hotel in Gramercy Park that was famous for backgammon turned to poker -- they now inhabited huge loft spaces in the "tony" parts of town, with 15-20 or more felt tables, just waiting for the likes of Alex Rodriguez or some other hotshot to ante-up.

"If you can't spot the sucker in your first half hour at the table, then you are the sucker."
-- Rounders

Besides all the money changing hands, the atmosphere itself was addicting… Italian Social Clubs were always a magnate for some sort of illegal activity.., and a friendly (well maybe not so friendly) card game, seemed like a match made in heaven. With porn or sports on the TV, cigarette smoke in the air, the booze flowing freely usually delivered to you by some rather attractive scantily clad female, the typical seedy characters you'd expect to find at an illegal card game and sprinkled with a few celebrities.., and the best damn marinara sauce (gravy) you ever had for 5 bucks -- it was a scene right out of a movie, only you got to be part of it!

But make no mistake -- where's there's darkness, there's danger.., and these joints were filled with darkness. Whether you were at a high-stakes games on the Upper East side or just a the regular game at the social club, when there's money involved -- people do stupid shit… And even though, spending the night in jail was off the table.., the bigger threat was an armed robber. Underground card games were a huge target for a skilled thief, knowing that the cops would not be called… It did take a big pair of balls to rip-off one of these joints -- since much of the time, these "illegal" card games were run by the mafia.

Even with all the collusion -- the cheating, underground card games had a free run from 2003 until 2007.., and even though these places were completely lawless -- the law pretty much left them alone. They might shut down a well known joint for the photo op and the pretense they were doing their job, but they would just reopen a few weeks later… Besides a few high profile robberies, some of these places were rumored to be making over a million dollars a year, just hosting the game. But then, when a guy from New Jersey -- a normal, regular guy was shot and killed when a robber dropped his gun and it went off, killing its victim.., things all of a sudden took a more serious turn…

It's easy to romanticize these illegal, underground, back room card games.., the reality is quite darker… Even if you are sitting next to A-Rod, there will be players walking out of that room completely destroyed, losing money they didn't have in the first place and on the hunt to borrow more… While gambling can be fun and exciting.., it can also be seedy, dangerous and addictive. But where there is a desire, there is someone out there to meet it. Who's in.., ante-up…

P.S.,
I know I used a quote from the move Rounders… But if you ever find yourself at one these illicit gambling dens in some city.., try and refrain from reciting any at the tables -- it's just old!


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