NYC - BPC Club raided

There was NO searchwarrant...they claimed they had probable cause and they DID come in guns waving and claim that they were going to "blow peoples heads off"

I was told that the attitude was similiar at one of the two manhattan raids...guns out, where players initially thought it was a robbery. That was the scene in Brooklyn - players thought it was a robbery in progress. The Civilian Complain Review Board should be called in this case as well as in the Playstation and NYPC raids...the money confiscated was player property and as far as i know not one single voucher was given to any player for THEIR property....it the cops want to claim a rake was taken (which we all know is not true) then only the rake is criminal evidence...

It is time for NYC poker players to stand up for themselves...this is just the latest injustice

The officer in questions name was Kwan or Quan (rhymed with swan) if anyone wants to file complaints...

[TomBrooks]

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I was told that the attitude was similiar at one of the two manhattan raids...guns out, where players initially thought it was a robbery. That was the scene in Brooklyn - players thought it was a robbery in progress.

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While realizing that very few NYC citizens carry firearms due to the draconian anti-gun legislation in that city; if any of the players had been in possession of firearms, would there have been much chance they might have shot at the police, thinking they were robbers?

i think NWA put it best...

the number of players that said that exact thing about the police being lucky that no one was carrying was quite large. the police came through the door screaming with no id out and was quite lucky

[Durs522]

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the number of players that said that exact thing about the police being lucky that no one was carrying was quite large. the police came through the door screaming with no id out and was quite lucky

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I spoke to two players one of which is a dealer at the club. Both said that they thought they were getting robbed when the first cop came in. Pretty crazy if you ask me.

Durs

[The Ocho]

These poker games are illegal, right? If so, I don't really feel sorry for any player, dealer, club member, etc. who got arrested. Don't break the law (no matter how frivolous or unjust you may view it) and you won't get a gun waved in your face. This isn't a great social injustice being perpetrated by the NYPD.

[BottlesOf]

Illegal? Well what aspect? Playing in the game isn't. Owning the room in which the games is occuring is. Dealing the game may or may not be.

[The Ocho]

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Illegal? Well what aspect? Playing in the game isn't. Owning the room in which the games is occuring is. Dealing the game may or may not be.

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It's not illegal to play? Well, OK. If this is true (which it very well may be), then it sucks that people are getting hassled.

However, if you are playing in a game that is apparently not supposed to be happening (as evidenced by the illegality of owning a poker room and the numerous police raids of various clubs) then you shouldn't be surprised that the cops are hassling you. It seems odd to me that so many people seem to be in such an uproar over something like this. It's unfortunate that the cops don't understand or care about the fairly subtle nuances and grey areas of gambling laws in NYC. But I would figure most players would have figured this out by now, and adjusted their attitudes accordingly. When you step in that room, you are taking a risk of being nailed by the cops and having your money seized. That seems to be the reality of the situation, like it or not. If you don't like that risk, don't take it.

It seems to me that some people that don't live here or play here don't understand the "nuances". Poker is a game of skill. Just like bridge or pool or golf or bowling. All of these activities (and many more) ask that you pay to play them. A bowling alley takes no extra or less if you score a 300 or roll 10 gutter balls and niether do the clubs. And to follow the point of what is and is not illegal...if it is not illegal to play then why is the players money being taken? That is a constitutional issue of illegal search and seizure...

As for the stupidity of claiming that poker players deserve to have guns waived in their faces...i leave that to others to comment on