To ALL players and owners in New York City - PLEASE READ

For many years poker has been played in New York with out any problems. The Mayfair club operated for a long time. People were not open about were these places were, they were protective. Now these places have websites. They have tried to take an underground game and bring it into the “sunlight”. Well its time for these clubs to go back into “the shadows”. No more websites, no more email marketing. Do it the old fashion way. Word of mouth and keep it small. If you are not referred by an existing active member then you should be denied access to club. Lets remember that it is still illegal to run a club in Manhattan, however it is also illegal to deal drugs. I make this analogy because drug dealers do not advertise through email marketing. Its marketed very quietly and underground.

To all players I say continue to support the places that are still in business but PLEASE KEEP YOU MOUTH SHUT about where they are.

To the people who run the websites and posting services I say STOP mentioning the clubs by name and by location. Just STOP talking about them. All this is doing is flaunting in the face of the cops what illegal activity is going on.

And to the club owners, STOP marketing through websites and emails. This is the fuel that drives the cops to your clubs. Try to find a few good players and reward them for bringing you new players, but you also need to think about limiting the number of players that you allow. If you keep it small, you wont flaunt it in the face of the police.

[JFB37]

I agree with the sentiment but the history isn't entirely accurate. The Mayfair used to adverstise in the Village Voice and NY Press.

[DrSavage]

[ QUOTE ]
I make this analogy because prostitution is not advertised through email marketing. Its marketed very quietly and underground.


[/ QUOTE ]

You gotta be kidding me.

So how is a potential player who is not "in the know" find out about these places. Do you go up to a complete stranger on the street and ask about any cardrooms?

"So how is a potential player who is not "in the know" find out about these places. Do you go up to a complete stranger on the street and ask about any cardrooms?"

Actually the way I found the underground cardrooms where I used to live was by talking about poker with people. "So what did you do this weekend" "Well I drove three hours to the casino to play some poker"

Eventually that lead me to meet other people who played poker. This got me an invite to a home game, someone at the home game invited me to a game at a "social club" and from that game I heard of of ther games etc.,etc.

I actually think the clubs should develop a "secure cashier" system, where chips are paid for (and redeemed) offsite from the actual club where play occurs. (Think Japanese Pachkinko parlor approach.)

You go to location A and give the cashier $500. He makes an electronic entry that authorizes you for a rack of reds. You then go to location B and pick up your rack of reds. After pummelling the monkeys for 4 hours, you now have two racks of reds. You take them to the cage at location B, and the cashier there makes an electronic entry authorizing you to pick up $1000. You walk to location A, show ID, and pick up your money.

If the cops ever come to location B, the cashier at location A leaves with the money. The floor at location B takes a chip inventory. Players redeem later.

Granted, there are some security/embezzlement risks with this approach, but if it were done correctly, bankrolls would be a lot more secure.

[swede123]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I make this analogy because prostitution is not advertised through email marketing. Its marketed very quietly and underground.


[/ QUOTE ]

You gotta be kidding me.

[/ QUOTE ]

I like it how he edited in drug dealers instead of prostitutes.

Swede

[ QUOTE ]
You go to location A and give the cashier $500. He makes an electronic entry that authorizes you for a rack of reds. You then go to location B and pick up your rack of reds. After pummelling the monkeys for 4 hours, you now have two racks of reds. You take them to the cage at location B, and the cashier there makes an electronic entry authorizing you to pick up $1000. You walk to location A, show ID, and pick up your money.

[/ QUOTE ]

This approach would only matter in the unlikely case that the police accidently stumble onto the game. If the police actually get info about the game in advance and go out and get warrants they are likely to hit hit your cashier too.

[ QUOTE ]
I agree with the sentiment but the history isn't entirely accurate. The Mayfair used to adverstise in the Village Voice and NY Press.

[/ QUOTE ]

They were also listed in the phonebook, and either the Diamond or the Mayfair had an early weblisting with a phone number.

Remember the Mayfair was a legit backgammon club originally. Why it's legal to charge table time for a backgammon game that's being wagered on is legal and a poker room is not is another issue entirely.

If this is in fact true, and you're really concerned about that, you could have the money taken from Location A regularly to a secret location C every few hours (location known only to a small number of people). When you go to redeem, if there isn't enough cash at location A, you have to wait around while the money is brought from location C.

Certainly this approach would work VERY well for something like a tournament. It is more cumbersome with cash games where redemptions are happening all the time.