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June 30, 2004
Ohio Las Vegas Nights
Here in Ohio we really don’t have any casinos, so as far as non-internet poker goes you have two options. You can either play at a house game (illegal, but much more fun and higher stakes) or at a semi-legal Las Vegas Night, many of which are run all across Ohio every Thursday through Sunday. I call the Vegas Nights semi-legal because they technically are legal to run (under Ohio’s bingo laws) but the people who do run them break a large number of the rules and are often prosecuted by local police and the FBI. Fortunately as a player you are not responsible for any legal infractions committed by the management at a Vegas Night because it is a legal affair, unlike house games where players can be considered to be aiding and abetting the operator. Also the Vegas Nights have much more action than the house games so for my first two years of playing poker I played almost exclusively at the Vegas Nights, rarely missing a weekend. I probably averaged playing 25 hours a week or so, along with working 35 hours at Sam’s Club.
In all of the time I was there nothing ever went wrong. No robberies, no police raids. For the last year or so however poker in Akron has been under attack from all sides. The Cleveland police have shut down most of the operators running in their city. Akron operators have been indicted by the FBI as the result of federal investigations. House games and Vegas Nights, all of which have large amounts of cash and usually no security, have been getting robbed left and right. But in spite of all these people continue to run them and people continue to go to them (more than ever in fact) and the action seems to keep growing. For every operator game busted two new ones seem to spring up because, plain and simple, people are going to gamble.
If the recent FBI indictments of the most popular operators weren’t proof enough that the golden days of the Vegas Nights are over, then last weekend’s events should suffice. Early Monday morning two men tried to rob a Vegas Night, but this time the security guard was armed. One of the perpetrators was shot in the face and killed instantly, the other escaped. I think now that bullets have begun to fly it safe to say that I and many others will be avoiding these games entirely. Also I think there will be fewer robberies, or at least the ones that there are will be better coordinated. Either way I won't be there when they happen.
The man in charge of the Vegas Night where this occurred was quoted saying "It is unfortunate that over a few dollars someone had to lose their life,” which is definitely one opinion. Another one (mine) is that I am glad this jackass is dead, as it is one less person who may shoot me one day. If you commit armed robberies you have to be willing to face the consequences. This guy had supposedly been involved in a few of the earlier robberies, and it is unfortunate that he lived as long as he did. I do hope this is a lesson to the other people involved in these types of hold ups, but I doubt it will be.
I don’t have any experience in robbery, but it seems to me that if you stick up someone and a security guard pulls a gun you better shoot him as fast as you can, not just sit there and yell at them to drop their weapon. If you are going to get involved with this sort of stuff you have to be able to kill people, and it seems in this case (fortunately for the security guard) the guy wasn’t. He saw the guard draw his gun and yelled at him to drop his weapon, which was all the time it took the guard to react.
The guard who shot the man was a former police officer and he undoubtedly knew how to use a gun. He is a very likeable and friendly guy and it is unfortunate that he had to be in that position, I am sure this has to be traumatic for him but in the end I think he will realize that he did the right thing.
Posted by themaroon at June 30, 2004 11:13 AM
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Comments
I believe that when word gets around that you liable to get yo ass capped if you stick up a Vegas Night, Vegas Nights will become far safer than they are now.
Posted by: chip at June 30, 2004 10:49 AM