[Kurn]

Sometimes reality jumps up and bites you on the ass, and if you're lucky, all you get is a sore ass, figuratively speaking.

As we strive to establish/protect our freedom to play poker, it's very easy, especially for the younger folks who've come to the game, to be ignorant to the dark side of (to put it bluntly) illegal activities.

When someone from the normally law-abiding world enters into this sort of place, they tend to be ignorant of the fact that since the enterprise exists outside the normal purview of law-enforcement, there is a greater risk that people with a tendency to break other laws may gravitate to these places.

It is useful for new people to the game to perhaps read some of the more colorful memoirs of TJ and Doyle, and take note of how often guns are mentioned.

As for Zy, I never got the impression he was the type to have blinders on with regards to the risk of underground clubs. For my part, I'd be more comfortable in an underground club where it was clear that the owners and the people watching the door were armed to the teeth themselves or at least had a level of tolerance to shenanigans equal to that of bouncers at strip clubs.

Maybe I'm jaded because I've spent much of my life either peripherally or directly involved with people who in one way or another were on the wrong side of the law, but the incident does not shock me. Saddens me, maybe, but doesn't shock me.

Keep your eyes open out there. Death rides a pale horse.