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The Mumbai Police raided a high-profile poker party at Juhu’s Sea Princess Hotel early on Tuesday.
The poker party was organised in the halls on the first and second floors of the hotel by the Indian Poker Face (IPF), an Andheri-based firm that organises regular meet-ups for poker players.
As many as 135 people, including those who had come to play and the organisers, have been detained.
The police described those who attended the party as rich businessmen and women and Rs 3.5 lakh in cash and Rs 25 lakh worth of poker chips have been seized from those detained.
“The organisers had been co-ordinating with players on a WhatsApp group but did not reveal the location and time of the party until the last minute. They did not send out a message but called up the players to inform them,” said a crime branch officer.
The invites had been sent as WhatsApp messages to a closed group. The police sent an individual to the party posing as a player.
“Our man filmed the activities in the hotel for an hour before informing us. In the video footage, we can clearly see that gambling was underway,” an officer said.
- Nagesh Rath, Gambling911.com
