PokerNews has obtained unique documentation detailing why federal authorities accused retired NBA star Gilbert Arenas of operating alleged unlawful poker video games, and all of it ties again to a dropping participant’s unpaid $1.2 million poker debt.
The case in opposition to the previous Washington Wizard in Los Angeles started when a person approached police and claimed he had been threatened over the aforementioned debt.
Based on a search warrant affidavit reported by the Los Angeles Instances, the person claimed to have misplaced the seven-figure sum in a single night time enjoying poker in “the glass home,” a four-story property that was beforehand rented by singer Justin Bieber and hosted a 2015 Grammy occasion for Meek Mill.
The person thought he had been cheated and did not pay his money owed. Inside weeks, “Israeli mob figures threatened to kidnap his kids and toss a grenade into his dwelling,” the LA Instances reported. One of many figures who threatened him was Yevgeni Gershman, whom the person claimed “was internet hosting a poker sport at Arenas’ dwelling.” Quickly after, the DEA raided a poker sport at Arenas’ dwelling.
PokerNews spoke to skilled poker participant Philip Wiszowaty, who performed within the high-stakes poker sport that led to the indictment of the NBA celebrity. The story entails million-dollar money owed, skilled athletes, violence, grenade threats, and personal Pot-Restrict Omaha video games in lofty Hollywood houses.
Wiszowaty gave an unique interview to poker professional Doug Polk on Thursday, explaining a lot of the small print he shared with PokerNews.
Unpaid Poker Money owed
Wiszowaty acquired into poker, like tens of millions of others, following Chris Moneymaker’s historic World Sequence of Poker (WSOP) Fundamental Occasion title run in 2003.
Throughout COVID, he sought some juicy motion, which he discovered on the Pokerrrr2 app. That’s the place he met and befriended Michael “Meatball” Morton, who ran a high-stakes sport in a digital room dubbed the “Meat Lounge.” The connection between the poker gamers would finally go from a mutually useful association to Sam “Ace” Rothstein and Nicky Santuro within the closing hour of On line casino stage.
Meatball hosted a dwell non-public sport in Florida, and he invited Wiszowaty out to play. He even backed Wiszowaty within the video games, and it turned out to be fairly worthwhile for the backer.
Wiszowaty racked up large wins down within the Sunshine State. Meatball determined to go out west in Spring 2021 to host large video games in Hollywood on the Glass Home, a mansion as soon as rented by singer Justin Bieber on Weidlake Drive in Beverly Hills.
Meatball flew Wiszowaty out to Hollywood and launched him to his companion, Craig Franze, half proprietor of Tootsie’s Cabaret, one of many largest strip membership manufacturers within the nation.
Franze and Meatball each performed in one of many first few Hustler On line casino Stay streams in August 2021, a sport headlined by NBA legend Paul Pierce. Franze stays a daily within the non-streamed video games at Hustler On line casino in Los Angeles.
Wiszowaty, who has a number of six-figure dwell match scores and almost gained a WSOP bracelet in 2024, turned pals with Franze. Life was good. He had seemingly dependable backers staking him to play comfortable high-stakes video games in opposition to celebrities and certifiable fish, and he was residing an expensive SoCal way of life.
However the dream life changed into a nightmare following an notorious poker sport on Aug. 28, 2021, a sport he claims he ought to have gained his massive share of over $1.2 million.
The sport started multi-way at $200/$400 pot-limit Omaha stakes contained in the Glass Home. Wiszowaty, who was enjoying on credit score, gained about $440,000 over many hours, he mentioned.
One participant within the sport who was caught a big amount of cash provided to play Wiszowaty heads-up for even increased stakes — $500/$1,000 blinds – after the others had stop. The opponent, referred to on this article as “Joe,” performed a key function within the federal investigators zoning in on Arenas (extra on this later) and is the unnamed LAPD supply talked about within the indictment in opposition to “Agent Zero.”
Joe, in accordance with Wiszowaty, was on “monkey tilt” from his earlier losses.
”I used to be high quality calling it an evening, however I even have a comfortable spot for those who are caught and attempting to get their a refund,” Wiszowaty mentioned of why he determined to play Joe after having already gained large.
Wiszowaty started to wash Joe’s clock, successful pot after pot. Joe was additionally enjoying on home credit score, however the home continued to present him further credit score each time he misplaced his stack. He tried straddling each hand to $2,000, Wiszowaty mentioned, presumably trying to win his losses again as rapidly as potential.
By the point the hours-long match concluded, Joe was down round $800,000, a quantity PokerNews verified by the dropping participant.
Wiszowaty was on cloud 9. However issues would rapidly flip south when the hosts of the sport refused to pay him his cash, and that hasn’t modified within the 4 years because the sport passed off.
Feds Put Onto Arenas
Wiszowaty informed PokerNews he had no thought the high-stakes non-public video games he performed within the “Glass Home” had been tied to the Gilbert Arenas indictment. He had performed just a few instances with Arenas, who he described as a good and uninvolved participant, however had by no means, to his data, performed in one in every of his video games.
It wasn’t till he learn reporting about an LAPD supply saying in March 2022 he had been threatened with grenades over a $1.2 million poker debt that he made the connection.
Wiszowaty knew the participant he had overwhelmed heads-up had been threatened over the debt, and he knew grenades had been concerned. The participant even despatched a stop and desist letter to Franze in January 2022, detailing a $1.2 million poker debt “from a poker occasion” in Franze’s dwelling on August 28, 2021.
“Since mid-November 2021, (the participant), his household and fogeys have repeatedly been harassed and threatened by a number of people utilizing your title and stating that except he met with their calls for for fee that “folks from all world wide, from Mexico, america, Russia, and extra international locations will come after you, your loved ones and your dad and mom,’” reads the letter, which was obtained and reviewed by PokerNews.
The letter additional states that the participant continued to obtain threats on behalf of Franze by December 2021. “(The participant) has been threatened a number of instances that if he fails to satisfy the calls for for fee, that grenades shall be used in opposition to him, his household, dad and mom and property. Your associates proceed to say that they’re in search of (the participant) and that once they discover him 5 folks shall be ready and can stab him.”
The stop and desist letter lists Franze’s tackle as 6447 Weidlake Dr. in Los Angeles, which is the tackle of the “Glass Home.” The letter doesn’t point out Gershman by title.
It was this debt, these threats and this high-stakes poker sport within the “Glass Home” that put the feds onto Arenas and his co-defendants. Quickly after the participant went to police, the DEA raided an Arenas’ Encino mansion with a poker sport in full swing and arrested Gershman and different co-defendants.
The case has garnered worldwide consideration because the six co-defendants await trial charged with conspiracy to function an unlawful playing enterprise and one rely of working an unlawful playing enterprise.
Why Wiszowaty is Talking Out
Wiszowaty left LA earlier than the Encino raid rattled the high-stakes non-public sport world, and it wasn’t the smoothest exit. When he confronted one of many sport hosts over nonetheless being owed his poker winnings from the sport runner, he says the sport host assaulted him by pinning his arms down and choking him.
Wiszowaty shared with PokerNews a photograph after the incident that reveals his shirt stretched and ripped and markings on his neck. PokerNews additionally reviewed textual content messages despatched by Wiszowaty after the incident.
With that, Wiszowaty packed his baggage and left the lifetime of residing in a glass-played influencer mansion and successful tens of millions in non-public PLO video games behind him. He tried through the years to get better his money owed and even enlisted the assistance of a high poker professional, to no avail.
When Wiszowaty noticed his case related to the Arenas information, it opened up previous wounds and impressed him to return ahead together with his story. He took his story even additional in an unique interview with Polk on YouTube. Polk, a three-time WSOP bracelet winner, agreed with the connection made between the informant and the Arenas arrest.
Connor Richards
Senior Editor U.S.
