Clubbed Out?

I did not think it would come to this given the number of new clubs that have sprung up, but the immediate future of NYC club poker seems in doubt.

In addition to the latest wave of busts, my current club last night had a sign outside saying they were closed for renovations. At 7:30. On Friday. Without warning (I was there on Tuesday). I don't think they were shut down, I think they shut themselves down. Not sure if it's temporary or what. I do think the heat has been turned up. I also heard of another club that shut itself down.

It is not 100% clear to me that the cops are on solid ground in shutting down the clubs as a legal matter but for now, no one has challenged them since the standard operating procedure seems to be arrest all staff and offer deals that encourage no one to contest the arrest.

Oh, and hit the till.

Funny how the cops even publicly announce that the players are doing nothing wrong and the same time they seize the money with the bullshit claim that they're taking the club's money not the players'. When you grab 50,000 from the till and there are 45,000 in chips on the table, it ain't the club taking the hit. Furthermore, I am supremely skeptical at the figures that hit the papers for example in the Playstation bust. That one they claimed was 56k a hit. Given the number of players inside Thursday night at prime poker time, it had to be significantly more than that.

The whole thing looks like a series of vice squad shakedowns to me. Hell, grabbing the low-hanging fruit really makes sense: what other underground activity has so much loose cash around without artillery?

FTrain and I had a chat about what could be done about this, whether we could challenge an actual arrest or work to change the law. We may even put the lawyer hats on and see what could be done. If any law student reading this page has done some note or memo on the topic, or any other preliminary research, I'd love to get a copy or a reference--I have free Westlaw and Lexus at work but can't really use it for the purpose and would not mind the leg up. Maybe we find some dealer who is willing to take a stand (I doubt this given the cost-benefit analysis even with free representation) or some procedural ground for declaratory relief. Or with more difficulty but more certainty, perhaps we consider a revision (clarification?) of the law.

Anyway, this is probably all going to go nowhere, but if nothing else for purely selfish grounds, I'd like to have access to regular live play.

Say, anyone know of any good 1-2 or 2-5 home games in New York or Jersey City/Hoboken looking for a new fish?