Police in Romania prepared for all-out gang warfare after the leader of a local gang was shot during a poker game by a rival gang member and then died.

According to media reports, police in the southern Romanian city of Craiova, about 160 miles west of capital city Bucharest, deployed about 600 police officers on the streets to keep rival gangs apart, after Mihai “Caiac” Parvu, 41, leader of a local gang, was shot Tuesday during a poker game by another player–a member of a rival gang–who accused Parvu of cheating.

Parvu had just won a hand and a pot of about 50,000 Euros (about $75,000) when another player, Marian Mavriche, a member of a rival gang, accused Parvu of cheating to win the hand, and shot him, the reports said.

After the shooting, Parvu was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died, the reports said.

During the altercation, another man was stabbed and taken to the same hospital, where he remains in stable condition, the reports said.

Shortly after the shooting, dozens of rival gang members from Parvu’s gang and Mavriche’s gang gathered outside the hospital, the reports said.

Police, fearing the gangs would rumble, called for massive reinforcements in an effort to keep the peace, the reports said.

Mavriche was later arrested and charged with murder, the reports said.

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.)