Police Bust Illegal Poker Operation in New Jersey

Two men will be going to jail for running an illegal poker joint, disguised as a women’s health club.

Newspapers wrote that 33 year-old Ryan Dion and business partner Thomas Rand, aged 43, both pleaded guilty to breaking American gambling laws by running an illegal poker club in the back of a women’s health club, in Runnemede, New Jersey.

“These defendants operated an old-school gambling club, complete with cash cage, poker tables, and a wide-screen TV for patrons to watch the sports on which they gambled,” Attorney General John J. Hoffman explained.

“[The state will] make every effort to remove gambling from the shadows of the black market underworld.”

Illegal, but profitable

Running an illegal American poker rooms brought Dion a 364-day prison sentence. Rand will also be spending 270 days in jail. Three people who worked as dealers and cashiers at the underground joint were given probation.

Elie Honig, director of the state Division of Criminal Justice added: “The only healthy thing about the purported health club these men ran was their profits. On the night we raided this illegal poker club in March 2014, detectives seized approximately $26,000 from the operators and players.”

Although it wasn’t paying any taxes, clearly the poker club was doing great financially. Meanwhile in Atlantic City, the Taj Mahal could become the fifth casino to close this year, causing thousands of people to lose their jobs.