NYC: Poker Player Shot, $100,000 Missing

NYC: Poker Player Shot, $100,000 Missing
by George Smart


NYC: November 4, 2007 -- Detectives hunted yesterday for a trio of brazen robbers who killed a New Jersey man in a Flatiron poker room during a $100,000-plus heist that went down like a scene from a Hollywood flick and left seasoned gamblers cowering for their lives, cops said.

Frank Desena, 55, of Wayne, was playing at an underground club on the seventh floor of an office building at 251 Fifth Ave., at around 11:15 p.m. Friday when three black-clad, ski-masked robbers invaded and killed him by accident, said witnesses.

The robbers - who displayed a flair for drama by calling each other "One," "Two" and "Three" - "walked in and screamed, 'Everyone get down on the f- - -ing floor!' " a player recounted.

The hoods ordered the players to put their cash on the tables and lie on the floor. They also beat the room's cashier to make sure he handed over all the house's money, said witnesses.

Suddenly, one of the robbers dropped his sawed-off shotgun. As he picked it up from the floor, the gun fired, mortally wounding Desena in the torso, two witnesses said.

"Everybody in the room is a bunch of hard-asses," said a player. "So everyone was pretty calm until the guy got shot."

After the shooting, the robbers gathered up their cash and fled. A police source estimated the haul at over $100,000.

Desena died just before midnight at St. Vincent's Hospital. A Queens native, he had master's degrees in business, computer science and philosophy, and worked nine years as an economic forecaster for AT&T. He's survived by a wife and daughter.

The poker room, which one patron said had about 12 tables, opened within the past 10 days. Its operators had at least one other club called Straddle, that was shut down by police several months ago after a robbery, said customers.

Poker was all that went on at the club - its owners didn't even allow alcohol, said a female gambler who was disappointed to find the place shuttered yesterday. "It's a totally friendly atmosphere," she said. "Everybody knows each other. It's like your freaking book clubs."