On a recent Tuesday evening, I found myself wandering the outskirts of SoHo, dressed in my one seldom-worn suit, address in hand, looking for a poker game. I passed the door three times before noticing it, a subtle entrance tucked between storefronts. With my shoulder, I coerced the door open to find a steep wooden staircase and a series of unmarked doors.

The only noticeable indication of the game was the din that descended from a third-floor loft. No sign; no one by the door. Now fully imagining one of the more graphic scenes from Eyes Wide Shut, I stepped inside. Fortunately, I spotted not one mask, cape, or ritual sex act.

Instead, men sat shoulder to shoulder around several tables, fingers drumming the green felt, eyes pinned to the dealers. Cigar smoke swam around their heads. One mislaid elbow, and a mountain of poker chips would come crashing down. But these men had grace. No cans of Budweiser, no T-shirts or cheap cigarettes here. The room was packed instead with the kind of men who ooze success, clad in the upscale urban uniform of immaculately tailored suit – no tie, naturally – and armed with the look of confidence typical of those who don't worry about losing a given hand. Here, the winnings weren't cash, but a luxury prize. The European models tending bar, dispensing glass after glass of single malt scotch and top-shelf tequila, were the final indication that this wasn't the typical guys' poker night. I had found the Texas Hold'em tournament sponsored by CarbonNYC.

CarbonNYC is an exclusive social network targeted at Manhattan's highly successful, thirty-something, male community. To join, you not only have to be invited, but must pass an approval process for membership that ranks "success" as its primary criterion. Success is not defined strictly by the size of your bank account – its membership does, for example, include a school principal – but the average annual income of a Carbon member is approximately one million dollars. Carbon describes its membership as "founders and CEOs of public companies, entrepreneurs, leading actors, entertainment and media executives, renowned doctors and restaurateurs."

Carbon is like a Meetup.com for the affluent. Like Meetup, networking is encouraged through a combination of online and offline interaction. Beyond card tournaments, Carbon's offline events have included dinner parties sponsored by Veuve Clicquot, weekend jaunts to Miami, Land Rover adventure drive, and speeches by world-renowned economists and other industry leaders. While much of the most meaningful interaction takes place offline, Carbon offers and continues to expand its web-based social networking tools as well, enabling members to communicate online about topics like business development and philanthropy. Carbon sees online networking as a key opportunity to sustain community interaction between and beyond its numerous events, of which there are more than fifty each year.