Sometimes while eating a bowl of Cheerios I'll flick on my old TV. I don't turn it on that often, as I'm a busy guy, and the distractions offered have lost my interest since Tony Soprano was popped by that Members Only guy. So I look for the World Series of Poker or Poker After Dark and watch millions of dollars depend on whether a heart is turned on the river. On TV and online, poker has swept the nation and is now sweeping clubdom. For years, small-time games were an after-hours alternative for hopped up clubbies looking for a different kind of thrill. It used to be $200 to $300 buy-ins with five or maybe eight tables and even a roulette wheel. Nowadays, $20,000 to $40,000 buy-ins are not unusual, and pots as high as $500K have been reported to me. Players are not only rich "garmentos" and waste-disposal characters but the rich and the famous -- including many well-known club owners and personalities. "I used to go in, and if I lost $5,000, I'd feel real bad ... $5,000 is a lot of money. No one wants to lose $5,000. But I can afford it, and I could go back the next day and win. Now the stakes are way higher, and I found myself sitting at a table with guys like Phil Ivey." These words from a familiar club mogul sum up the current state of New York City poker after dark.