I too is the good old days. I was in college in NYC during the last couple of years before all the big rooms got raided, and I loved playing at PlayStation. The old metal phone booth type structure against the wall that was the designated smoking spot, where you’d smoke an entire pack of cigarettes in 5 mins without even lighting one up. But there was nothing like it, and paying time made those games eminently beatable. Plus I miss their Sunday tournaments that could have as many as 7-10 tables running. It was incredible. I refuse to even play cash these days when 5% capped is literally the best possible scenario and even that is rare. Uncapped games somehow still get played all the time, and capped games are often 10%. But if you enjoy playing tournaments, I only know of one sizeable multi table one, and even that’s only once a month. The most you can hope for is a 2 table setup.

I never went to PlayStation despite knowing of it…
The action was always so good at straddle I never left except to go to Fairview.

Then a bunch of smaller rooms kept popping up…

My best one night story of underground poker in NYC:

One night before the wife and kids I find myself in the city w my Toyota Camry casino car and about $3500 cash in the door or my entire liquid bankroll at the time.

I go in and fire 500 at 1-2 then decide to sit in the 5-5o plo game and fairly quickly dusted off my roll.

Im life tilted. I had never been to this game before and decide to go for the boldest move ever and somehow convince the host to give me 1600 on credit. I only remember the number bc it was so random.

It was probably just the amount of outstanding credit that he could balance the game and pay out the proper people who needed to be paid out at the end of the night .

Anyways my buddy who came with me leaves and we had been knocking back a couple rails in the smoke room along w maximizing our ev in the smoke room on other things.

I find myself on the sheet and way in over my head. I couldn’t tell you a single hand I had or flop from that night but all I remember it was all of a sudden 7-8am and they ask me to move my car.

I flip the host my keys cuz honestly who gives a *** at this point.

I end up running the table over it gets to be like 9-10am and I’m like so what’s the deal here I got to go to work.

The short handed table finally concedes.

I cash out north of 9k and the host gives me my money back and says to come back tomorrow for the rest.

I go back and punt 500’in 1-2nl and get paid.

Never to be seen again.

Oh and I get back to the Camry and there’s like the most disgusting puke or rotten food all over the side door.

One of my favorite hands playing at acepoint was I believe in the 2/5 no game. Gene gold who was the floor at the time jumped in the game cause it was juicy. Now I didn't care for gene all that much. He had this skanky gf who was a degenerate and super annoying. So about half hour in I make it appx 30 w aces he insta makes it 100to130 I just call flop I check he insta bombs all in I call and hold. Benny the Asian dealer whispered to me I loved that !

The two of them are still very active in the home game scene these days. Benny is a trip, haha.

Man I wish I could work doesn't ng anything for a NYC home game club. Anybody out there read this let me know ty

The bottom line is, poker is coming soon. When Philadelphia had begun to legalize casinos, they started exactly like NYC. They had electronic games. I'm not sure how long it was until they state was upgraded to allow table games and poker. But the process was very similar. It just sucks that the only way to find a game now is to drive to foxwoods or parx/Atlantic city. To play in a NYC underground poker is just not a good idea. Hopefully table games will be opened at aqueduct and Yonkers, once they are approved poker will be available without having to drive 3 hours. They just approved online sports betting so it seems like we have hope that a legal poker room will be here soon!

Check out the discussion in the Venues & Communities forum, but the moratorium on downstate casinos ends in 2023 but the Governor has already made it clear she's pushing to expedite the process, my guess is this year is too optimistic, but Resorts World and Empire getting table games and poker rooms next year isn't out of the question. Three licenses to be granted, big talk about how it's not exclusive to the NYC area but I'd make a sizeable bet those two get licenses and the third goes somewhere in Manhattan, Long Island, or the Boroughs

regulated poker rooms are a bad idea for any neighborhood ... where Resorts is now is already a bad neighborhood but there are pretty clear signs that indicate casino operations in an area lead to a really sketchy area surrounding it ... AC and Vegas are fun but within the strip there are tons of areas where you're not exactly safe ... the gov't needs to think about more than profit, it's the same as the Amazon warehouse they wanted to open ... if you're trying to make $ then you approve it, if you're trying to build a city then you don't ... it's something I've always wished existed, but I wouldn't want it opened near me ...

Gene's a dick but I love him. Benny's an interesting dude. Both trustworthy.

[Citation Needed]

The rake so high in the games now. It’s nutzo!

I occasionally play a 1/3 ($10 rock) nl game in the city. Plays deep and I believe the rake is capped at $20 dollars which is crazy. However, I recently became aware of a game running in the LES which offers 'time only' rake. Not sure how much that time is exactly, but im going to find out this weekend They run a bunch of plo games according to their schedule so im gonna hit those up

I know that game, I believe it's $10/30mins which is pretty reasonable for the city

They've been saying it for 10+ years, but it looks like big poker rooms/full fledged casinos will finally get approval this year or 2023 at the latest. And with most office workers still preferring to work from home, don't rule out manhattan as a potential site!


"New York state has a ban on new casinos until 2023, but Gov. Kathy Hochul wants to end that moratorium this year, allowing up to three casinos to open downstate. And already nine gambling giants are eager to bid on the contracts and are likely to offer grandiose plans for casinos, hotels and entertainment venues to boost their proposals.

Some are even making the pitch that a new gaming hall could help the nation’s most populous city repair its pandemic-scarred economy."

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/0...ochul-00004068

I played with Nick in a tourney at Ace Point right before he binked the big one at Foxwoods. It was so long ago that I can't remember what the buy-in was (definitely less than $500). We both made the final table and I ended up winning it...a short while later he became a WPT champion.I only went there a few times, and one other club once, before the raids/shootings killed it for me. Although it was nice to see so many tables and choice of games in one room, with relatively low rake, nothing beats a good NYC home game, IMO.

'Bad Beat Benny'..hahaha .... Played at Gene's game once...and exactly once... There are a few dealers and game runners who have incredible stories to tell about NYC home games...especially the ones associated with higher stake games. And not necessarily about the cheating or bad stuff...just some good old stories like when Jessica Chastain showed up at a hedge funders game one night to watch/observe as she was preparing for her role in Molly's game...and the richest guy in the room didn't know who she was

Gene was such a degen... anyone remember lou who dealt at acepoint

Been getting bombarded with Instagram Ads of underground $15 Half Hour timed games in NYC for 5/10 NL. Anyone else seeing them? Not sure if legit but the rake seems too low to be true.

I was there for the opening of the club it was packed. Massive amount of tables. I heard it was hell at gunpoint that's why it shut down. I played in another club downtown it was called the lucky club stayed open for about 2 years