Any of you guys played live poker with a (possibly unbeknownst) criminal? Here's two of mine:

MiddleAgedFunnyGuy was a hoot at the tables, laughing, joking around. Sometimes challenging to play against, but not usually a winner. His hygiene seemed to suffer the last time I saw him. Probably sleeping in car at that point. But lo and behold, a bit later we see his picture in the paper, arrested for grand larceny. He evidently moved in with a girlfriend, DRAINED her retirement and bank accounts of several tens of thousands of $$$ over several months. Yikes! No wonder we kinda liked him at the table.

YoungQuietGuy was a passive slow loser at the tables, easily faded into the felt, not very noticeable. Played with him for a couple of years. Then he got arrested for stealing from his very large machinery manufacturing company. He took heavy expensive tools etc home and sold them on Ebay. Made tens of thousands. Till he got caught. Thanks for donating the proceeds to the poker economy, guy, but don't do it for our benefit.

Anyone else?

Played with a fairly distinguished looking gentleman at a poker room in Jacksonville. Sounded intelligent, apparently was a doctor, but blew through maybe 5 BIs at $1000 a pop in a few hours.

After he leaves the table, one of the players gets on his phone, pulls up a video, and says "Check this out". It was that guy in a video, in the back of a cop car, beating his head against anything in reach screaming that someone stole his money. Dude was bloody, high or drunk, and out of his mind. Crazy.

I played with a guy at bellagio a couple of weeks ago. He had a trial set and was talking about how they were gonna put him away. He showed me his ID and said "look me up" so I did. He had been a leader of drug distribution and money laundering ring and was in big trouble. He donked off a couple k at the table and left in not too bad of a mood.

I've seen people sell drugs at the table. And I've dealt to a pimp. Do those count?

Poker brings a wide range of people from all backgrounds together that would ordinarily would never interact. In the past, poker players were considered no better than criminals, so nobody really minded much. TJ Cloutier has several stories about playing with some notorious criminals. In one case, he was planning to play in a big game that was a long drive away. It was going to be a great game, but was afraid one person in particular was going to rob him. His solution was to hire him as bodyguard. He knew that if he was on the payroll, he wouldn't rob him and was scary enough that nobody else would try either.

There are multiple posters on 2+2 that have a criminal record of some sort or another. They are usually good posters. On the whole, I'd rather meet them IRL than the average poster.

I'll leave this thread open, but TBH, not really a big deal.

Before my time: There was a guy at the Oaks who suddenly went from being a 3/6 player to a 15/30 player. An eagle-eyed floorman saw his face on the news wanted for bank robbery and he was arrested at the table.

About a year ago, I played with a local regular at the Sands in PA who I called Fonzi (I thought that was his real name). He was there all the time, seemed to have a lot of buy ins with him, not a good player by any means and I loved to see him at my game when I was there.

So I came in one day and people were passing around cell phones showing a picture of someone. Someone asked me "did you hear?" I said about what?

So they showed me his picture. He was on the ground with handcuffs on and several cops standing all around him. I said holy **** what did he do?

Turned out he was the "Silent Bandit" Bank robber that's been all over the news for the weeks prior, who hit several banks in the area. So immediately it hit me. I have money in my bankroll from a guy who robbed banks. I felted this guy so many times and now it was clear where all that money was coming from.

http://articles.mcall.com/2013-01-30...-silent-bandit

"When the first robbery netted less than Atra had hoped, he decided to continue robbing banks and gamble the takings at the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem and the Borgata in Atlantic City, Jones said."

Think the title should be a little more specific. Maybe "played poker with people currently actively engaged in criminal enterprise?" As it's written it comes off as just being ridiculously judgmental.

Technically, I am a criminal (got into a lot of trouble as a juvenile/young adult). I am also a well educated, well respected professional who is justifiably known as a stand up guy by people who know me.

Hate to think that people would be so close minded as to just look at me as a "criminal" and nothing else.

I got arrested once for driving on an expired license. That's right bitches, hardcore.

Last weekend I was playing an underground game in Brooklyn and the host was talking about an old job he used to have. My friend who brought me to the game asked why he left that job and his response was "Prison!" We didn't ask what he went in for. Nice guy, though, and didn't mind losing.

Its one reason I like playing live in a casino... Get to meet ALL SORTS of folks in a safe environment.

This is soooo ridiculously judgemental.

One time a drunkish guy confessed to long ago lacing a guys pot with POISON IVY as revenge. Nearly killed him. Needless to say, I stopped bluffing him after hearing that.

Haha.. First time I met him we almost got into a fist fight ... I can handle myself ,but after watching that video I told my wife "im glad I didn't have to fight that guy"...lol...oh yea, we became friends after that ..till he got thrown out for good at HR in TPA.

Blocked! I'm not associating with criminals!

What if you're always stealing pots?

I always wonder how these people that blow through 2k daily have that money. Well now I Know that assuming that have robbed a bank is not a stretch.

At MCC in Detroit a few months back everyone was openly talking about some guy that committed suicide. Apparently he had been in once for being a pimp, got caught again and refused to go back.

There was also a player who robbed a party store and killed the cashier in a suburb. He'd apparently been well liked, soft spoken, but generally agreeable. Also had hit the BBJ earlier in the year

Never played with either. But played with plenty at Harrahs in Philadelphia. They were generally good for the game, no real problems, but it did prevent hoodies for security.

Yeah I remember when the first one happened, I was there playing the day after news story came out. People were talking about it. Crazy

A "party store". That's pure Michigan. Down here if you tell someone you're gonna go buy some pop at the party store, they'd probably think you were making some drug reference.

I've heard of a player who went over the edge (probably because of gambling) who stabbed and seriously injured his wife before killing himself.
I also had a player at my table get so belligerent that he was arrested by a "rent-a-cop".

And once I was clicking through some local mugshots, just wondering if I'd see anyone I knew from poker, and I found two who had been arrested in recent days, one for driving on suspended license, another for shoplifting.

I'm a criminal and I play poker for a living because it is way more profitable than the kinds of jobs I could get with my record. I'm white, clean cut, educated, and I could pretty much guarantee that you'd never know I was a criminal.

Almost everyone can point to some experiences in their life that could have put them behind bars and the very few people IRL who know about my record don't care.

Just one tip: Even if you've never broken the law, it is pretty much a guarantee that you've screwed up at some point in your life. Would you want people gossiping about it at your place of work? Would you want them posting about it online?

Just my $.02

Based on this description and your location (Washington DC) I assume you're a Congressman.

Years ago I noticed a regular in the room I played at had returned after being gone for a while. One of my friends was now referring to him as Burger King (not to the guys face).

I asked him why and I was told the reason the guy hadn't been there for a while was that he busted out of the $3-$6 game (this was pre NL boom) left drove down the road and robbed a Burger King, came back to the poker room and bought in with the stolen money, but the Troopers managed to track him down and arrest him in the poker room. His arrest was the reason he had been gone for a while.


I also used to play in underground games. Again pre-boom. I would say that most of the players had criminal records, though I would guess nothing to major. I was working for a man who had been the county DA 30 years before; and when I told people who i worked for many of them would tell me he had prosecuted them back in the day (and they weren't holding grudges many of them still knew him and had no issues with me or him).

There were a few other lawyers in those games as well.

This is not exactly on point but there is a movie worth seeing titled 'Owning Mahowny'. Based on a true story, it is the tale of a banker that committed the largest single bank fraud in Canada's history to feed his degen gambling habit. I was thinking of this mostly because it stars Phillip Seymour Hoffman doing his usual fantastic job. You left us too soon buddy, r.i.p.

I knew this guy at the Sandia casino in Albuquerque, got kicked out for running a sports book at the table. Shortly after that, he was all over the news for securities fraud. According to the Albuquerque Journal, he convinced the judge he was a professional poker player, and the judge decided to allow him to play tournaments thinking he would be able to win enough money to make restitution payments. Never made a single payment though.

Live Poker really sucks for this type of people.