High-Stakes Poker Scandal Involved X-Ray Tables, Smart Glasses, and NBA Players
Gambling enthusiasts, celebrities and professional athletes sat at a poker table, all eager to take home a multi-million dollar pot in a game of Texas Hold ’Em.
But what they didn’t know was that they had no chance of winning. The gamblers, who prosecutors say were “fishes” or “marks” — targets of a mafia-run poker fraud scandal— didn’t realise they were being fleeced as they placed their bets.
Inside the casino, there were X-ray table poker cheating, secret cameras, chip trays with built-in analyzers, and high-tech sunglasses and contact lenses that could read cards.
In a case that U.S. prosecutors say sounds like it was ripped from the pages of Ocean’s Eleven, the “unwitting” victims are said to have lost over $7 million (£5.25 million) in rigged poker games, with at least one player losing a minimum of $1.8 million.
Federal agents say the “absolutely brazen” scheme that was “reminiscent of a Hollywood movie” was uncovered after a two-year poker cheating investigation that led to more than 30 arrests.
In addition to members of organized crime La Cosa Nostra families, those charged in high-tech gambling scam include Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and former NBA guard Damon Jones.
FBI Director Kash Patel called the case a “mind-boggling” example of an organised fraud scheme in which the victims were duped in New York, Miami, and Las Vegas among other cities.
The arrests were announced on Thursday as authorities also revealed charges in another basketball betting scheme where professional NBA poker connection were accused of faking injuries to move betting lines.
The investigators say that the underground poker operation could date back as far as 2019. The syndicate, they say, was organized by members of four Mafia families — the Bonanno, Gambino, Lucchese, and Genovese crime families.
Prosecutors say that to help “legitimise” the games, former professional athletes were used as “face cards” to lure high-rolling victims. Once one of the players accepted the invitation to play, however, they unknowingly walked into a “nightmare”. In their indictment, prosecutors allege that the other players, dealers, and people operating the equipment used to shuffle the decks and track chips were all in on the scam.
