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Going Underground?

 
I have been a member of the underground poker community for quite a few years. When you attend as many games as I have, you start recognizing faces and start building friendships. You also start building a false sense of security; after all, you are attending an event that is an easy target for the degenerates of the world. Speaking from personal experience, it’s an absolute necessity to take precautionary steps when jumping into the world of underground poker. This is something to which patrons and hosts should take heed. I’m not talking about packing heat every time you sit down at the table. If you are regularly attending a game that you feel requires a firearm to ensure your safety, you should probably start searching for a new one.

Four local game robberies occurred during the holiday season within the circuit of games that I attend. Given the number of games at which I’d consider myself a regular, it’s a miracle I still own the shirt on my back. Descriptions from the scene of each crime seem to suggest it’s the same group performing each hit. The cash taken from each game varied, but all were in excess of $5,000. One game was taken for nearly $20,000. The players in attendance were also made to empty their pockets, and the thieves made off with their wallets, jewelry and cell phones.

Questions to ask yourself: How big is the game that you are attending? How does the host spread word about the game? How reputable is the location of the game? How secure do you feel walking to your vehicle after the game? Does the game provide security? What is the general appearance of the players in attendance?

If you are attending a game that has over 30 people in regular attendance, chances are that poker players aren’t the only ones who have heard about it. Word spreads about a great game in a fashion that would make a multi-level marketer green with envy, and it doesn’t take long for word to reach a less than desirable ear.

Hosts can also over-market a game. Most of the games that I attend announce themselves on newsgroups, forums and blogs via the internet. I never thought that was a particularly sensible idea, and my intuition proved dead-on: all of the robbed games had one thing in common - they were publicly posted on the internet.

Abit of common sense goes a long way. If you live in the suburbs, it might not be a great idea to drive to the inner-city to play in an area that you aren’t familiar with – much less in a game that you aren’t familiar with. Many games don’t have parking facilities in the immediate vicinity. If you have to walk to your vehicle at four in the morning after winning $3,000 grinding out the tables, ask yourself how safe would you feel walking three blocks to your car in an unfamiliar neighborhood, your pockets stuffed with cash?

And then there’s the players themselves! I once sat in on an underground game where the table of 10 was mostly comprised of thugs decked out in gang paraphernalia. After going on an early rush, I started to feel a little uncomfortable and ended up giving most of it back, playing until the sun came up. Even then, I didn’t feel entirely secure making my way to my vehicle when I left for the night….er… morning.

It’s all about keeping yourself out of harm’s way. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t play in an underground circuit. You should always view your poker playing in the same way that you view an investment strategy. You need to think very seriously about how much risk are you willing to take financially and personally.

 

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