NY Poker Club Raid Yields 13 Arrests

Thirteen people face criminal charges, including promoting gambling, as the result of a police raid at a Manhattan poker club Friday night. Marijuana and $56,000 were also seized from the Broadway Club on West 25th Street.

The bust comes five months after authorities shutdown the two largest clubs in the city, the Players Club and Play Station, as part of a crackdown on illegal card rooms. There is a chance that the Broadway Club may have gone unnoticed if it weren’t for a complaint from a patron that someone had displayed a gun at the club.

The club, which saw poker pro, Phil Hellmuth, and New York Yankees star, Alex Rodriguez, visit in September was said by customers to be a fine establishment. It contained six poker tables, as well as glassed-off room for high-stakes or private games. Players were able to order food, although on some nights the club provided free food to its players. Plasma television screens were mounted on the walls and a cashier sat in an office, ready to sell chips to willing players. Smoking was allowed in a separate room, but alcohol was off-limits.

Officials said that playing poker for money is not strictly illegal in New York State, but taking profits from running the games most definitely is. The Broadway Club allegedly charged players by the half hour, anywhere from $3 to $8. Poker club owners have attempted to defend this practice by claiming that this charge was used only to recoup their costs of renting the space, but prosecutors still say that this is illegal.

The bust occurred at 11:00pm Friday night, after the owner admitted at least a dozen officers into the club. The officers assured the players that the employees were the only targets of the raid. Even so, the players were asked to place their hands on their heads, produce their driver’s licenses (presumably not in that order), and were asked questions about the club and other gambling locations. No players were taken into custody.

In a scene reminiscent of prohibition, officers with a sledgehammer and crowbars went into a back room, whereupon some banging was heard. After the noise stopped, one officer announced, “We got the piggy bank.”

Originally published October 17, 2005