"They pulled out a pistol and a knife and stripped gamblers of more than $5,600." (Image by Immanuel Giel.)

An excerpt from Kirk Semple and Jeffrey E. Singer’s New York Times article about the city’s illegal Chinese gambling parlors, several of which have recently been hit by armed robbers:

“One popular mah-jongg parlor in Flushing thrived, until recently, in a two-bedroom apartment where as many as 20 people played at a time. Some regulars would stay for as long as two days, taking catnaps on a sofa. They would eat takeout food, and in the evening the boss would oversee the preparation of more elaborate meals.

At parlors devoted to mah-jongg, the stakes do not get very high, with maximum wins and losses usually amounting to no more than several hundred dollars per person in a session. In other parlors, however, players may experience swings involving tens of thousands of dollars.”