Ever since we hit the 21st century, it seems that the days of mobsters and organized crime is slowly losing relevancy.  The vast majority of gambling outfits nowadays are run by legitimate companies, the Godfather movies are rarely spoken of anymore and, save for a few video games out there, the whole organized crime thing is kind of fading away.  It seems that nowadays, poker players and other gamblers no longer have to worry about shady mob-run outfits.

However, a grim reminder of the fact that there are still remnants of organized crime out there in the gambling world might have possibly resurfaced when an Indiana locksmith admitted to being involved in an explosion that ripped apart the office of video poker machine maker C&S Coin Operated Amusements. 

The Indiana locksmith’s name is Kyle Knight and he claims to have been the explosives supplier to the two men who set off the bomb that destroyed the C&S office.  Sam Volpendesto and Mark Polchan are the two guys in question and they supposedly have ties to the Chicago mafia.  According to Knight, these two bragged of having mafia ties and set the bomb off to deliver the message that the mob controls the gambling game in Chicago.

Of course Volpendesto and Polchan’s lawyer denied that his men had mafia ties but Knight’s testimony definitely indicates otherwise.  It also indicates that there is a possibility that the mafia is still doing whatever it can to hang onto its fleeting presence in the gambling and poker world.  And according to the prosecutors in the case, this presence in the West Chicago suburbs adds up to about $13 million every year.  

Now I certainly don’t know for sure whether or not Knight is telling the truth but, assuming he is right and lives through the case, this could develop into a huge story.