The poker world has been buzzing for the past few days as one of the largest scandals in poker history continues to unfold. It all started with the unsealing of a federal indictment on Thursday, October 23, revealing the shady truth about some of the largest private games in the world.
A lot has happened since Thursday, with more details coming from some reliable and some not-so-reliable sources as everyone seems eager to add their two cents to the story.
In this article, we’ll try to break down the entire scandal, which involves various players being cheated to the tune of over $7,000,000, mob ties, former NBA stars who were in on the whole thing, and more. There’s certainly a lot to unpack, and it’s safe to assume a lot more information will come to light in the coming period, but this is what we know so far.
Operation Royal Flush
On Thursday, October 23, the poker world was stunned as a massive indictment was unsealed, going after possibly the biggest illegal gambling ring to date. The indictment covers two separate operations, one linked to sports betting and the other relating to rigged poker games.
The poker part features nearly three dozen individuals, including a number of high-profile professional athletes and many members of prominent crime families (Genovese, Gambino, and Bonanno).
According to the initial information acquired by the investigation that spanned over several years, victims of the scam were lured to private poker games with the promise of playing alongside NBA stars. Three names were revealed: Terry Rozier, Damon Jones, and Chauncey Billups.
Of these three, Chauncey Billups is the biggest name. He’s the current head coach for the Portland Trail Blazers (now suspended) and a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.
There are quite a few reasons why one would want to get in on a game featuring NBA stars, but victims of the scam were getting much more than they bargained for.
The investigation uncovered that game runners were using rigged shuffling machines that were altered so that they would read the cards and predict the winner of each hand. The information was sent to an off-site collaborator, who, in turn, sent it via a cellphone to a player at the table.
It seems this wasn’t the only cheating method used in these games, as the indictment also mentions X-ray tables, marked cards, and other “creative” ways the organizers got the better of their unsuspecting victims.
Allegedly, over several years, since 2019, these games resulted in over $7,000,000 in illicit gains before it all came to a screeching halt.
US Government Not Holding Back
Cases of cheating and alleged cheating in poker aren’t that rare. It is, however, rare to see law enforcement agencies going after them in full force.
On Thursday, the FBI Director Kash Patel held a press conference, explaining that the operation spanned across eleven states and resulted in the arrest of 31 individuals, including “former and current NBA players and coaches.”
The list of charges included in the indictment is a long and serious one, mentioning wire fraud, money laundering, extortion, robbery, illegal gambling, and more.
The long list of offenses, combined with the direct mob involvement, is probably the reason why so many resources were poured into this investigation that involved the FBI, the NYPD, and even Homeland Security Investigations. It’s also worth mentioning that the sports betting scandal was much larger in scale, which probably helped bring it into focus.
Where Did It Begin?
In the aftermath of the Thursday reveal, Doug Polk was quick to get in touch with a person who may have some answers as to what triggered the investigation in the first place.
On Friday, October 24, Polk set up an emergency podcast with Philip Wiszowaty, a man who’s been a regular in underground games around the country, sharing some details about dynamics, payments, etc.
While Wiszowaty says that none of the games he played in were rigged (to his knowledge), he believes an incident involving one of the whales he knew potentially triggered the investigation.
At one point, a player named Edan Asayag ended up losing $1.2 million to Wiszowaty in a heads-up PLO match that went off the rails. Initially, everyone thought Edan was good to cover his losses, but he apparently changed his mind later on and decided he wouldn’t be paying.
According to Wiszowaty, this prompted game runners to start sending serious threats Edan’s way, threatening not only him, but his family as well. At first, Edan engaged his lawyer to deal with this situation, but later reached out to the authorities.
An LA Times article seems to substantiate these claims, as it mentions a “desperate man who sought help from the LAPD after losing $1.2 million playing cards.” This article relates to an earlier indictment that saw Gilbert Arenas, another former NBA star, accused of operating illegal poker games.
So, how does this tie together? Wiszowaty believes that it was Arenas who directed feds toward Chauncey Billups (potentially for some leniency in his matter), and this got the ball rolling, eventually leading to October 23 arrests.
What Comes Next?
The fact that rigged poker games exist is nothing new. However, the scale of this particular cheating ring and the fact that it involved some of the proverbial “whales” put a whole new perspective on the appeal of private games.
Traditionally, serious players are the ones getting the better end of this particular stick, as they sit down with inexperienced gamblers flushed with money. However, the operation Royal Flush unveiled a completely different reality where “whales” are actual sharks, and their intentions at the table weren’t to have fun and splash around.
With the technology constantly evolving, new cheating opportunities arise, and one thing you can be certain of is that there will always be people looking to take full advantage of these opportunities.
The case itself will take its course, and as time goes by, we’ll likely find out more details about this particular cheating scandal. However, it’s safe to assume that this isn’t the only operation of this type, and it most certainly won’t be the last. If anything, the whole thing may inspire some “creative” minds out there.
All this is to say that one can never be careful when playing in private games, and no matter how juicy they may appear, you should always be on high alert when playing in an unknown environment, surrounded by people you aren’t familiar with – even if some of them are famous athletes, actors, or stars of other variety.
