Re: NYC Poker Robbery and Shooting
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there's little incentive to invest heavily in security due to the uncertainty of the club's shelf life. That makes the clubs a perfect target.
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This couldn't be more wrong. I don't recall a single owner who didn't invest heavily in security, using much more security tools that most other cash businesses would use such as a bar, grocery store, or a nightclub. No matter what there is a certain point where security cannot protect the players, lives are far more important than money. What you fail to see is that security is a deterrent, it is not a solution. Security can also help identify robbers after the fact, but it cannot stop a robbery in progress. The other purpose of security is to identify after the fact - apparently the word on the street is that this component of security has succeeded.
Lets keep things in perspective. I used to own a nightclub in NYC, I saw more guns, drugs, shootings, etc in the nightlife biz than we will ever see at a poker club. At my club there was two shootings, and I was stuck up at gunpoint by two Mafia-wanabee, these are all things we never see in the NY poker scene. This is a risk that ANY cash-heavy business must take.
The poker clubs have a spotlight on them as a cash heavy business thanks to the media making ridiculous statements about a 100k or 200k bank. When this club was robbed there was a bit more than 30k on hand (this is confirmed) - less than many restaurants make in a day and this wasn't even profit, it was mostly the player's money. NY Post's exaggerations have hurt us all.
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