In upper Manhattan, officers donning bulletproof vests handed the underground poker scene a blow. The team entered without announcing at 11 p.m. detaining dealers, matching up piles of cash and dispatching dozens of card players home with no money with them. Two clubs called Downtown and Playstation were shattered. The police arrested 39 employees and confiscated $100,000.  The raids have sent alarm bells ringing through the city's clandestine poker scene. 

People who go regularly to the Manhattan clubs that include card player, Phil Hellmuth, have raised questions on the crackdown. At the same time he predicted the popularity of poker make it unlikely the chips would be down for long. Hellmuth said that people want to play poker, and since there’re no legal clubs in the city, they go for underground clubs. Hellmuth is a former champion of World Series of Poker.

A Mexican restaurant owner that held a Texas Hold'em tournament was arrested in an undercover investigation in Palmer Lake.  In Baltimore, 80 poker players were arrested in the biggest raid in the city since Prohibition.  In Manhattan, clubs with names like High Society, and All-In, once operated many tables in rented offices, back rooms and other locations, according to the regulars.  The clubs don’t take a percentage of the pot. People from many professions used to come and play poker. They included Wall Street brokers, and other professionals. The Daily News has come out with a report that A-Rod has been cautioned by Yankee officials. His agent denied this. 

No alcohol is served in the clubs but other perks are provided. Playstation serves Oreo cookies, offered valet parking, and a plasma television featured in the Broadway Club. It is a evocative of the 1998 movie Rounders that was set largely in underground poker clubs of New York and is credited with jump-starting the poker craze. Hellmuth said that he was shocked that anyone's making deal over the poker scene of New York, which is a reaction that’s shared by a lawyer for the operator of a club who was arrested.

Michael Rosen, a lawyer said that this isn’t the crime of the century. Playing poker is not a criminal offence. Meanwhile, it is not legal to make profit by promoting it. Authorities were of the opinion that the clubs could be funneling lots of dollars to drug traffickers or mobsters. The police said that the cash flow would definitely entice armed robbers.  Lt. Pasquale Morena said that they aren’t aware where the profits from the gambling are going.