A suburban Dallas card room abruptly shut its doors last night amid threats of police incursion. Two full tables of 1/2 NL were running strong at about 2:40 am when management informed players that cops were in the near vicinity and the game was over. \”This is a precautionary measure,\” the night-shift boss announced, at which point players lined up at the window to cash in their chips.
\”This probably means we\’re done\” said one dealer, scrambling to get out of his staff T-shirt. \”They know where we are!\” But another member of the staff more calmly erased the Bad Beat jackpots and other information off the white boards before explaining to the players what was going on.
Apparently police had pulled over two players en route to the poker game right outside the small office building where it was located, and when asked where they were going, they said to play poker. Then, shortly thereafter, two players came to the card-room door (not sure if they were the same two) and when being let in, a squad car flashed its spotlight on them. Understandably spooked, the doorman refused to allow them entrance and quickly locked the deadbolt.
I happened to be sitting at a table with Sweet Texas Jimmy and Sang when it all went down …
While several players made semi-laughy jokes about being arrested and how funny it would be if cops came in to find us all playing Monopoly, I figured a true raid was not coming, because Dallas police have shown they don\’t usually ring the doorbell when fighting poker … and knew at this point, even if cops did come in, with all the chips picked up and cards put away, they hardly had enough evidence to write a ticket for any particular person. Still, just in case a SWAT team did burst through the walls with all its machine-gun-wielding glass-smashing glory, I moved toward the big windows so I could get an up-close view of the spectacle and improve my odds of sustaining a shrapnel injury that could set me up sweetly for a bankroll-building lawsuit!
Alas, no heavy artillery … all it took was some major candlepower to break up this game.
Buy-in: $200
Cash out: $430
Net: +$230
STRATEGY NOTE: Before management unlocked the doors and asked us all to leave together, the guy who erased the white boards instructed us on what to say if we got stopped and asked any questions: \”Just tell them you were at a private meeting that ended at 2:30. That\’s all you need to say.\” He then reiterated that the shutdown was just precautionary and said, \”Be careful leaving tonight, and please don\’t let this stop you from coming back.\” Oh, you can bet I\’ll return. After all, as someone who wouldn\’t mind getting ticketed for the sake of research, the declaration that \”police are outside\” provided me tell after tell on what real fear looks like on many of the players!
