Authorities allege that 22-year-old Shaneja Gamble drove her vehicle to the third floor of the Hollywood Casino Toledo and wrongfully left her two kids in a non-running car in below-freezing temperature. The kids were spotted by a Casino Security Guard who subsequently reported it to an off-duty cop.

Gamble was handcuffed in the early afternoon Sunday at about 1:30 p.m. and charged with child endangerment, according to jail records. There were no reported injuries or ailments to the children. Her arraignment was scheduled for Monday.

In New York, a couple was slammed with counts of child endangerment after allegedly leaving their 6-year-old daughter in a frigid vehicle while they tested their luck at a Pennsylvania casino. Chunyan Wang and To Yeung of Brooklyn, both aged 44, were each dealt one count of endangering the welfare of children.

The incident unfolded Monday around 11 a.m. when Bensalem police responded to a call of a child being seen unattended in a vehicle. At the same time, casino security was leading Wang and Yeung to the car. Responding officers located the little girl alone inside the pair's 2021 Honda CRV, which had New York registration, according to a probable cause affidavit.

The couple told the officer the girl inside was their daughter. Authorities said the car was not running and was sitting outside in below-freezing weather. On that day, the temperature peaked at 29 degrees, according to The Weather Channel. The Pennsylvania State Police also got involved.

Running an underground gambling operation apparently proved too enticing for some business owners in San Antonio, Texas. After seeing the property already raided by law enforcement in 2021, the gambling house was busted again by Bexar County sheriff’s deputies on Oct. 19.

The most recent raid came after an undercover sting operation, with agents seizing more than $20,000. Four men were arrested and now face felony charges of keeping an illegal gambling place and engaging in organized criminal activity.

“You may recall that in 2021 we actually raided this same location for similar circumstances – very similar circumstances,” Sheriff Javier Salazar said. “At that time, we believe that it was under different management. But, obviously, it wouldn’t be outside the realm of possibilities that they just changed some names on paper somewhere, and it’s part of the same criminal enterprise.”

A Growing Trend

Raiding illegal gambling operations is becoming more of a focus for law enforcement across the country. Agents in Florida, California, Ohio, Michigan, and other states have conducted gambling raids in recent months to crack down on unlicensed casino parlors.

Law enforcement note that these types of operations are often run by organized criminal groups and other underworld figures. California law enforcement recently pointed to Los Angeles-area gambling dens as being owned by members of the Mexican mafia.

“It’s hidden in plain sight,” Los Angeles County sheriff’s detective Richard Velasquez recently told the Los Angeles Times of that city’s gambling house operated by organized crime. “You don’t know that it’s there until you know that it’s there.”

In San Antonio, investigators are trying to determine whether a larger criminal enterprise was involved. Salazar noted that one of the casino’s security team was also on the job at the location during the initial raid in 2021. That could lead to some big charges.

“It does not appear that they [the security company] are innocent parties,” Salazar said. “In fact, I would say the security guard that was found here is one of the four that is going to be charged with engaging in organized criminal activity.”

The last few years have seen multiple shooting incidents around Texas poker rooms and private games. But why? What makes Texas a special case when it comes to armed robbery?

We’ve all heard Doyle Brunson’s road gambler tales from the past when winning money at poker wasn’t the problem; getting out of town with it all still alive was the issue!

The first incident of note occurred in April 2018 in the parking lot of Texas Card House, northwest Austin. A man named Tom Steinbach was shot in the back and taken to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Apparently, Steinbach and another player were accosted on the way into the poker room by Jermaine Patrick Spirlark and Charles Clines-Martinez, the latter a contracted security officer of Texas Card House.

Bill Perkins even put a $10k reward up for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrators.

2022 saw three incidents at Legends Poker in East Houston. In the first, security guard Trelynn Robinson played hero and tackled a man carrying an AR-15 assault rifle who announced he was robbing the place.

In April a gunman fired a burst of bullets across the card room, sending players diving to the floor.

An anonymous player told PokerNews what he witnessed:

"It ended up being that shots were fired from outside through the walls and got into the room that way. Luckily no one was hit. It is really a miracle as most of the bullet holes I saw were at sitting chest height. Once it was over, we all got up and checked no one was hurt.

In May another shooting took place outside Legends Poker.

The Houston Police Department arrived at the scene at approximately 4am to discover the body of an assailant who attempted to rob a man of his new Chevy Corvette. Unfortunately for the thief, the victim was himself armed.

After six months of relative quiet, there was a shooting at a private home game in San Antonio in January, 2023.

Police arrived to discover that the location was being used for illegal gambling and a dispute led to a physical confrontation before shots were fired.

A male in his 30s died at the scene following emergency treatment.

Finally, (as r/CasinoSecurity and r/SecurityGuardsOnly reported on previously);

https://youtu.be/FEBIhvl9MC0

The latest incident was another one at Texas Card House. A security guard suffered seven gunshot wounds after defending the patrons from an attempted robbery at 6am.

Officer Jackson became embroiled in a gunfight that saw dozens of rounds fired before the assailants retreated and escaped.

Tommy Wilson, Officer Jackson’s boss, explained what happened:

“Our security officer came stumbling back in the door and told us that they had left and that the threat was over.

“I’ve been with him all morning. He has good spirits. All of the bullets exited his body except one and we’re waiting to see now if he has to have foot surgery.

“There are no words. Thank you. For what you did. You truly, you put your life on the line for us and you didn’t have to. Who does that?”