Federal authorities have unmasked a sprawling felony enterprise linking distinguished NBA gamers with infamous Mafia syndicates, all centered round a collection of rigged high-stakes poker video games.
This meticulously orchestrated scheme, which allegedly operated between 2019 and 2025, has despatched shockwaves all through the poker group, sparking dialogue on sport integrity.
Yesterday US Lawyer for the Japanese District of New York Joseph Nocella Jr. introduced that Chauncey Billups, a former NBA famous person and head coach of the Portland Path Blazers was one of many arrested events together with Terry Rozier and Damon Jones.
Victims are mentioned to have been cheated out of no less than $7,150,000 over a interval of a number of years.
Did the Poker Neighborhood Know All Alongside?
Extremely, solely two years in the past we heard Matt Berkey talk about these video games on a podcast detailing how he knew from numerous sources that they had been “not on the up and up.”
Did no one take discover? Final 12 months additionally noticed Hustler On line casino Reside favorite Nik Airball — who misplaced $755K in a single session final week — concerned in a personal sport the place marked playing cards had been found.
Berkey mentioned the video games constructed round Chauncey Billups began in Los Angeles and moved over to Las Vegas the place he had the possibility to mess around 2019. He confirmed that a number of pals had performed and had been satisfied the sport was rigged.
“Individuals who clearly didn’t even perceive the foundations of no-limit Maintain’em are identical to jamming tons of of huge blinds in with like a gutty after which simply drilling it.Solely the professionals are shedding.”
Within the rigged video games listed on the indictment, the losers suffered large losses with one sufferer known as “John Doe #1” going dwelling $1.8 million lighter.
In mild of the Chauncey Billups arrest, we’ll simply depart this right here. (Ep. 277 8/21/23). @PatMcAfeeShow @PabloTorre pic.twitter.com/lZaUOY0bFb
— Solely Mates Podcast (@OnlyFriends_Pod) October 23, 2025
FBI Director Kash Patel advised reporters that this can be a multi-year investigation that covers tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} and contains costs of theft, extortion, cash laundering, and wire fraud.
In addition to a number of sports activities stars discovering themselves behind bars, 13 members of the Gambino, Genovese, and Bonanno Mafia organisations had been arrested, too.
Joseph Nocella Jr. defined to the media that this investigation was in two components: the rigged high-stakes poker video games and likewise sports activities corruption practices.
On the latter, six of the defendants are charged with passing on confidential data to sports activities bettors that might point out a change in group efficiency. In different phrases, insider buying and selling inside basketball.
The poker video games ran round invited execs who jumped on the likelihood to play with famous person athletes, assuming that the sport could be simple pickings. Sadly for them, it was they who had been the mark.
FBI Director Patel: “People comparable to Chauncey Billups, Damon Jones and Terry Rozier had been taking into custody at the moment, former,present NBA gamers and coaches…that is an unlawful playing operation and sports activities rigging operation that spanned the course of years.” pic.twitter.com/L5vLj1XtvM
— CSPAN (@cspan) October 23, 2025
Central to the fraud had been computerized card shuffling machines geared up with digital sensors. These sensors scanned and recorded the whole order of each shuffled deck, transmitting actionable knowledge to operatives exterior the poker site.
These people then relayed directions in actual time to “quarterbacks” positioned on the desk, who then relayed strategic data via coded gestures to co-conspirators current within the sport.
Take a look at Doug Polk’s interview with Philip Wiszowaty beneath for extra particulars on this unbelievable story involving unlawful playing, and threats of debtors being blown up with a grenade in the event that they don’t pay up.
