NYPD Stomps Out The Madness

Everybody is getting screwed this year during March Madness! If you thought your brackets getting screwed left and right was bad, how bad would it suck to be one of the people busted Saturday by the NYPD at the height of gambling season. The NYPD raided a $45 million gambling ring with several locations in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens according to Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes. The raids led to the arrests of 10 people and the seizure of $300,000. The DA said a location in Chinatown was responsible for $14 million a year alone. The gambling ring was allegedly run by a Fukenese gang as a front for the Gambino crime family. Is it not time for the Chinese to step it up and run their own gambling rings? One of the Chinese men scoffed at the classification that they were Fukenese, insisting that he was Cantonese.

During the press conference, OTB representatives said that sports betting should be legalized like horse gambling has. While OTB has certainly brought money in for schools, Gothamist isn't sure we would ever like to take a step into our local OTB. It's a little too sad looking for us.

Out in Staten Island, there's an even bigger prize to be won at Jody's Club Forest. The bar has been running an NCAA Tournament pool since 1977 that costs $10 to enter. This year, $1.5 million is at stake as 150,000 entries were received. Entrants pick one "line", which includes the final four teams, the winner, and the score of the final game. The Staten Island Advance reports that it's rare that one person wins all the money, but it's usually split towards the end. Despite all the upsets so far in the tournament, 10,000 people still have a chance according to Fox 5. The big shock of the pool is that it's all legal - with the bar not taking a percentage of the bets. Gothamist hears that it's "customary" to tip the bar though.

Ass-shot of NYPD breaking down door from CBS2

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By tien mao in News on March 27, 2006 7:56 AM

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Comments [rss]

C

there we go! now we're talking...one step at a time...

tien

C - i'll give it a try just for you. maybe i'll even put it on gothamist.

C

it's not as bad as you think.

sad looking=elderly nursing home in brownsville with people who have one arm and no legs or equivalent.

an experience=betting at OTB

give it a shot. it can't POSSIBLY be more depressing than good old jake dobkin taking a sudden interest in "street art" within the past year or two.

tien

it's largely the smoking that put me off to entering one in the past. but i've looked into the one in my 'hood and it's a little to depressing for me. i have, however, placed bets at casinos and at the track. somehow, that's not as depressing.

Tim N.

While I think C is a little strong, tien I am shocked you have never been in an OTB. If you need a trusted Indian guide, meet me at Houston and King and we'll get a couple of exacta boxes in. They're not nearly so skeevy since they banned smoking.

Seriously, though, legal sports books will never, ever, ever happen. Why? Because the NFL doesn't want it to happen. Neither does MLB or the NCAA. I wonder how much the latter two could get their act together if they had to, but you can bet that the NFL, a real underground power in this country, will squash this before it breathes.

Which is pretty hypocritical, to be honest, because if they really were all moral and stuff, they would keep papers that cover the league from printing the line every week, and take other measures. Why don't they? Because it generates interest (re: ratings, re: revenue) for the league. They can claim "we know nothing about that, none of our players can gamble or take bets, its illegal." But if it was dragged out into the light of day, then they would have to emerge from their self-righteous cocoon.

Oh, well... gotta catch the fifth at Aqueduct.

tien

i didn't know that a betting on the ponies at otb came with new york city status.

C

heh, you call yourself a new yorker but you haven't been in/placed multiple bets in an OTB.

as usual, pathetic.

Toby

Legalized sports betting is a good idea, as it can be a massive revenue generator for the state and local government and would allow for crime fighting resources to be focused on other things.