taking a shot

In the early spring of 2006 I had no place to host my game and little money I had to figure out my next move, where would I land next. I am thinking screw this I might as well jump on a plane and head to Vegas for good I could always get a job dealing or working the floor out there but in my heart I knew I wasn't finished in N.Y. I didn't come this far and not take a shot, I felt it was my turn.

A guy I know calls me and tells me he got a spot on the eastside in a nice location. At this point I have nothing to lose so I go and meet him. I tell him what I want and he agrees, it's a freeroll for us both. He has space and I've got loyal players who are looking to play. He says are you sure you will get off on the agreed day; I tell him by 7 pm I will have cards in the air. When that night came I got started at 7 05 and by the weekend I had 2 full games with a list of people waiting. This tough Latin dealer looks at me and says that I am the Frank White of limit poker. The movie fan in me thinks of "The King of New York" and I say the Limit King of N.Y. my man!!!

The spot was in a great location, it was a former photography studio for food layouts, high ceilings, spacious as all hell and most importantly enough room for 5 tables. The entrance was a gothic looking arch doorway separate from the rest of the residential high-rise. His crew was in charge, his dealers, his bouncers and clerks. I knew if I was to be happy in this situation I would have to get my guys some work. Every poker person that i knew was struggling, the golden age was over.

The guys i was now working with hadn't come up the hard way like me. They we're spoiled. I learned in 95 when the Diamond Club was open, that was the beginning of the golden age when people played either limit or pot limit, none of this silly small no limit games. This was when 150 people we're in the club and you knew most of them you felt part of something special, nowadays all these yahoos see poker on television and don't even have a clue what they are experiencing. We would have played in the middle of Park Ave if we could. Now because of T.V., we had a whole new player; younger, obnoxious and usually knowing something about the game from T.V. or the internet. They all wanted to play baby no limit and do all the stupid Hollywood moves. It was tough on me because I loved the game of poker and they we're changing something that i loved. I had to put up with it and go with the times but i knew that i had to keep the limit game going no matter what and i did!

I tried to get some of my friends work to no avail and this bothered me. i was earning but couldn't rock the boat too much and have these mutts try to steal my game. So I put up with it, weighed the positives against the negatives and just went with the flow. These things have a way of working themselves out. Now this beautiful residential building overlooking Union Square was a great location but had one small problem. The neighbors, who were paying I’m sure a lot of money for these pricey apts, didn't want a illegal poker club with people smoking out in front of it as tenants in the place. That's when someone called the police or the mayor’s office and got a hastily put together raid on us. I was sitting at a empty table while 2 games we're going on when the doorbell rang and in come the morals[vice] cops. I’m like fuck i don't want to spend the night as a guest of the city at the tombs. Surprisingly it wasn't that organized and some of the police knew me from other raids. They didn't seem to care that much about me and none of my loyal players or coworkers gave me up. I walked out of that high-rise for the last time. After spending 4 days the last time in central booking it was a place i was in no hurry to go back to. Within 2 hours a club uptown calls me and asks me to come on by.