Another Poker Club Robbed..

Shooting snarls highway traffic for GTA
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Font: * * * * Melissa Dunne, National Post
Published: Wednesday, November 22, 2006
TORONTO — Traffic snarled on Highway 401 for almost six hours Wednesday morning when westbound lanes were shut down as police searched for shell casings after a shooting.

A man fired at two police officers during a high-speed chase, one of two shootings since Tuesday, said Toronto police.

Police were called to the Thornhill Social Club, near Finch Avenue West and Dufferin Avenue, around 3:45 a.m. after reports two men stormed into the club where at least 20 people were playing poker.

The pair fired at least five rounds into the ceiling, scooped up all the money off the tables, and sped off in a silver SUV when police arrived.

The officers followed the SUV onto the westbound 401, with the SUV reportedly hitting speeds of 140 kilometres an hour.

“One of the suspects fired three rounds at police … police lost them,’’ said Staff Sgt. Don Cole. ‘‘It is believed they exited the 401 at Keele.’’

The officers were not injured, and the suspects are still at large.

“There is a possibility there are more rounds in the grass, since they shot and drove up the on ramp,’’ Cole said. “It' s just looking for a needle in a haystack.’’

Rush hour traffic was snarled for several kilometres back to the Yonge Street exit as the westbound collector lanes of Hwy. 401 from Allen Road to Keele and the Dufferin Street ramps were closed from 4 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. while officers looked for and found shell casings, according to police.

“We got news of the road closures out, but people woke up and got on the same route. Some took the 407, but that was backed up as well,’’ said OPP Const. Julia McCuaig.

Meanwhile, a section of the downtown core, near the Eaton Centre, was closed off Tuesday night after up to 10 shots were fired, police said.

Police are hunting for a man they say opened fire on a black Cadillac, with as many as four passengers inside, on O’Keefe Lane at Shuter Street at about 6 p.m.

The car reportedly sped away with at least one visible bullet hole. No vicitms have been found.
Shuter from Yonge to Victoria streets was closed off, with six shell casings were found on O’Keefe Lane.

The shots were fired just three blocks north from where 15-year-old Jane Creba was shot dead while shopping on Yonge Street last Boxing Day.

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Comments

  • now illegeal poker is responsible for shutting down the 401.

    what more do the authorities need to see before they put an end to this? how long before these people start consuming marijuana? :)
  • I don't get this.
    I'd probably be packing if I ran a club with tons of money in it...plus two gorillas at the door.
  • haddon wrote: »
    I don't get this.
    I'd probably be packing if I ran a club with tons of money in it...plus two gorillas at the door.


    I've been there it's 2 minutes from my office. Thw whole place doesn't give off a whole good vibe. Last time I was there at 3 am a few kids (under 20) come in looking like they just got in a fight. Not a good scene.
  • I played in a tournament the same night just west at Finch and Weston; never heard of this club before. Wonder what kind of cash they were playing for? I know some clubs have $500 buy-in tournaments which I would think would be a target for sure.
  • I heard this on 'breakfast television' the announcer said:

    "for what appears to be the robbery of an underground chess club, sorry, I mean poker club"
  • Those underground chess clubs are becoming more and more violent. Chess is a gateway to drugs.
  • pokerJAH wrote: »
    I played in a tournament the same night just west at Finch and Weston; never heard of this club before. Wonder what kind of cash they were playing for? I know some clubs have $500 buy-in tournaments which I would think would be a target for sure.


    Action was pretty good at the club, it was a spin off of the old riverroom in woodbridge and one of its owners. Clubs should definitely beef up security. One of the safest places I know has a double door entry. You get buzzed through the first door but the second door has a camera above it and unless they know you you're not getting in.
  • They ran low limit games. 1/2 NL or 3/6 limit.
  • They also had a great 5/5 NL game on Tuesday and Thursdays. Very well run and professional. Some have said it had the best action for a 5/5 in the city. This game was run by someone who did not own the club just simply hosted his game out of the venue. He is a very respected player amoung the poker community and this is a sad thing to happen to such a great guy.
  • Was the poker club actually called Sam's? I played in another club in that same intersection, and I never realized there were so many clubs in the Finch area.
    haddon wrote: »
    Police were called to the Thornhill Social Club, near Finch Avenue West and Dufferin Avenue, around 3:45 a.m. after reports two men stormed into the club where at least 20 people were playing poker.
  • The chicken shit pricks that did this have been caught and hopefully, due to the idiots shooting at the cops, they will be gone for a very long time!
  • It was officially called the Thornhill Social Club. I believe I have a card around here somewhere. I'm so glad the little shits got ratted out and caught. They had to be ratted since they were gotten so quick and one was in London. Hopefully some common cents will prevail and the robbers of the chess club will go to jail for a while.
  • I am a regular there and I am glad those guys were caught....its one of the best clubs in T.O and the players and owners there are great.
  • what happened to the guys taht were caught????
  • They were in court on Friday charged with 130 different charges and they better hope they don't get bail. I think they're safer in jail right now!
  • FREE ROLL wrote: »
    They were in court on Friday charged with 130 different charges and they better hope they don't get bail. I think they're safer in jail right now!

    I think naming names would be appropriate here... anybody know who these punks were?

    Also, you gotta wonder how this is going to affect the club scene as the whole thing puts undergrounds on the radar now with the gun violence.
  • Omar Jermaine Betty, 25, and Ryan Shields, 26, both of Toronto; and 21-year-old Ezra Lottery of London each face 18 counts of robbery, 18 counts of forcible confinement, two counts of discharging a firearm endangering life and attempted murder.
  • FREE ROLL wrote: »
    They were in court on Friday charged with 130 different charges and they better hope they don't get bail. I think they're safer in jail right now!


    I think there bail hearing is on Thursday. But I believe your statement, I wouldn't be in a hurry to get out if I was those guys.
  • Northred wrote: »
    I Also, you gotta wonder how this is going to affect the club scene as the whole thing puts undergrounds on the radar now with the gun violence.

    and then there's the ongoing inference that us sociopathic poker players are going to 'deal with them.'

    Do you care this much when someone robs your corner store, mine gets robbed almost monthly and I've never bothered to learn the offenders name, or cared enough to wish the crackheads who do it any harm.

    Probably more advantageous to poker as a whole to drop the gangsta' mentality and commentary.
  • FREE ROLL wrote: »
    The chicken shit pricks that did this have been caught and hopefully, due to the idiots shooting at the cops, they will be gone for a very long time!


    it's Canada, and the ONE thing I hate about Canada is our joke of a legal system...they'll be "gone" for 3 years probably.
  • And don't forget about the 2-for-1 deal IF they stay in jail pretrial.
    Delay the trial long enough and you only do 1/2 your time.
  • listen if corner store owners have shot guns and bats behind the counter then we should be packing as well. That would be bad if a person tryed to rob a place again and then had 50+ guns pointed at him. but then again it would not work well for those people who cant take bad beats very well. but i agree canada is a joke for its legal system.
  • we need minimum sentences imposed when firearms are used.

    5 years if a gun is used

    10 if it's discharged (even in the air)

    20 if someone is shot/killed.

    note: the operative word is minimum
  • blah..deterrents don't work!
  • I agree, but it's better than giving them joke sentences like we're doing now. I don't think deterrents reduce crime...I think keepig criminals behind bars does.
  • I'm just gonna go stand in the corner and sing kumbayah with the other 'rehabilatation and education OVER punishing and isolating" tree hugging hippies.

    I see what you are saying, but I don't like the reflection of your system on me as a member of society.
  • i agree with you Slot but you have to have something to put the guys behind bars. and Kristy's idea is actually good. Im gonna have to agree with her on this one.
  • The 'gangsta mentality' is all I've got Kristy...if I give it up I'll just be another overweight weight guy...and thats not cool at all. :D
  • BoyBlue wrote: »
    we should be packing as well
    i am certainly NOT interested in playing at a club with 50 guys carrying guns!
  • If it wasn't so hard to get a concealed firearms permit in Canada I would probably carry a gun for protection.
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