\n<\/p>\n
The host\u2019s role in these games can be quite fraught.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re talking about home games, the phrase \u2018absolute power corrupts absolutely\u2019 kind of applies here,\u201d Berkey asserts. \u201cBecause you\u2019re fully at the hands of whoever is hosting the game \u2026 They\u2019re in control of the dealers, they\u2019re in control of the decks, they\u2019re in control of the tables, the shuffle machines.\u201d<\/p>\n
They\u2019re also in charge of the books, and that\u2019s where the drama often begins.<\/p>\n
These aren\u2019t casinos with cages, cameras, and fully monitored methods of depositing and withdrawing money. Credit is regularly utilized, both to appease players and to avoid issues with traceable movements of large cash sums.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople don\u2019t always pay,\u201d Berkey says. \u201cAnd when that becomes an issue, now it\u2019s the host\u2019s job to make good on the books in some capacity, otherwise they\u2019re going to lose all their clientele.\u201d<\/p>\n
Enter the mafia, who, in addition to running some of the poker games, often fill a role they\u2019re well known for in popular culture: settling debts.<\/p>\n
\u201cSay you have someone who loses a lot of money,\u201d says Zach Jensen, a content developer and mafia expert at Las Vegas\u2019 Mob Museum<\/a>. \u201cGetting them to pay up, the mob can step in and do that. Extortion, intimidation, and violence too.\u201d<\/p>\n As Jensen explains it, the mob may not be anywhere near the size or power of its one-time might. It operates in a more under-the-radar manner today. But it\u2019s still very active in many of its old tricks, and illegal gambling remains a big part of the picture.<\/p>\n In fact, at least one name that appears in the Billups indictment has roots in the mafia\u2019s glory days.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s an Angelo Ruggiero Jr. listed in there,\u201d Jensen says. \u201cHis father, Angelo Ruggiero, also known as \u2018Quack Quack,\u2019 was a close friend of John Gotti and part of his crew.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n