Illegal and underground poker rings are all over the United States as they usually run a very profitable operation. One such illegal poker ring is in Midtown and even though the NYPD raided them and filed a lawsuit, they refuse to shutdown or backdown.
During Feb 2014, the NYPD raided Wendy’s Club located on the West 46th Street building and found an illegal poker ring where players were spending large amounts of cash playing no-limits Texas Hold ’em. The charges brought against these players included illegal gambling and using drugs as well.
This is not the first time that Wendy’s Club has been raided by the NYPD. The club was also raided on the 25th of Sep 2013 and has been a part of a number of investigations. The raid on the 25th of September was done by NYPD’s vice squad and officers discovered over 20 people playing poker. During this raid, 6 people were arrested for promoting illegal gambling.
In the lawsuit, NYPD attorney Evan Gluck stated
Since September 3, 2013, inclusive, the subject premises have been the site of at least four separate investigations of illegal gambling, in addition to the execution of the search warrant. The individuals operating this establishment and gambling participants appeared to have evinced a ‘business as usual’ attitude in the subject premises.
Yet these encounters with the law have not scared the club organizers. They are committed to running these illegal games and are prepared to deal with whatever consequences arise. The club organizes know that there is a huge demand for underground poker events where big money gets passed around. They are determined not to give up this lucrative business and will instead look at ways to counter the lawsuits filed.
The club’s organizers do not deny that they run an illegal poker ring and even admit that drugs are often part of these games. However, their contention is that the business brings in a lot of profit while the punishment has a relatively small consequence. They are prepared to face the consequences as the upside makes it worthwhile.
Jason is the main organizer at the club. He said
The reward is much greater than the risk. If I get arrested, it’s not going to bother me because they’ll just charge me with promotion of gambling and it will be charged as a misdemeanor.
