Complex sentence: Playing in several card games in and around New York City, the two nearly make the $15,000 needed, but at a state troopers game, Worm gets caught "base-dealing" (dealing favorable cards from the bottom of the deck).
Split into simpler sentences: Playing in several card games in and around New York City, the two nearly make the $15,000 needed. But at an out-of-town game hosted by New York State Troopers, Worm gets caught "base-dealing" (dealing favorable cards from the bottom of the deck).