NBA Figures Charged in Rigged Poker, Betting Schemes

Federal authorities have charged Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, former Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach Damon Jones, and others with involvement in interconnected illegal gambling schemes that combined rigged poker games and sports betting fraud, defrauding victims of millions and undermining professional basketball's integrity.

The investigation, led by the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, targets operations linked to members of the Bonanno, Genovese, Colombo, and Gambino crime families. Prosecutors allege that over 30 individuals participated in two primary schemes running from at least 2020 through 2024. In one, organizers hosted high-stakes Texas Hold'em poker games in locations including Manhattan, Las Vegas, Miami, and the Hamptons. Participants used advanced cheating devices, such as X-ray tables, hidden cameras in chip trays, altered card shufflers, and special contact lenses, to read opponents' cards and signal plays to insiders. Victims, lured by the presence of high-profile figures like Billups and Jones acting as "face cards" to attract wealthy players, lost an estimated $7...