The Billiken's Bluff

Two poker clubs frequented by the likes of Yankees All-Star Alex Rodriguez, and certain NYU Alumni were raided by police late Thursday night. 39 employees were arrested. Police officials described the raid as part of a campaign to counter the growing number of illicit poker establishments in the city.

In coordinated sweeps, more than a dozen police officers stormed two Manhattan poker casinos: Playstation at 4-6 West 14th Street and New York Players Club at 200 West 72nd Street. At the time of the raids, about 11 p.m., there were between 100 and 150 players at each casino, the police said. Only employees of the parlors, however, were arrested. Prosecutors said it was not illegal to play poker in New York State, only to profit from promoting it.



The New York poker parlors raided on Thursday night: Playstation on West 14th Street, left, and New York Players Club on West 72nd Street.

The casinos were members-only establishments that drew thousands of players weekly, among them men and women including cabdrivers, businessmen and actors. The management kept records of who came to play and new members could join only if they were referred by current members.

Neither establishment served alcohol. At Playstation, members were served Oreo and Chips Ahoy! cookies. New York Players Club offered its customers valet parking and massages. Games would go until 7 a.m. or around the clock on weekends, the police said. Tournament prizes could be as much as $10,000. The most popular game was Texas hold'em, a version of poker that many say requires the most skill and the least luck.

Lt. Pasquale Morena, who oversees special investigations in the Police Department's vice squad, said the parlors would bring in between $20,000 and $30,000 a night in fees that they charged their players to play. The police, he said, recovered $100,000 in Thursday night's raids.