October 2025 – Page 268 – Advertising and Donations

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A #mafia-linked #poker ring in #NewYorkCity

The scheme, which began as early as 2019, used high-tech equipment and celebrity figures to cheat victims out of over $7 million. Following a multi-year investigation, federal authorities announced charges on October 23, 2025, against more than 30 people involved in a mafia-backed, nationwide poker-rigging operation
Key details of the operation
Mafia involvement: Four of New York’s “Five Families”—the Bonanno, Gambino, Lucchese, and Genovese crime families—allegedly ran and backed the illegal poker games. Members and associates of the Mafia were reportedly involved in collecting profits and enforcing debts through intimidation and violence.
Rigged games: The ring used sophisticated cheating technology to fleece high-stakes players, including: Rigged shuffling machines that read the cards and predicted the winning hand.
“Poker chip tray analyzers” with hidden cameras.
Special contact lenses or eyeglasses that could see marked cards.
X-ray tables that could read cards face down.

Celebrity accomplices: Celebrities were used as “face cards” to attract wealthy victims to the games. According to the indictment, Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and former NBA player Damon Jones participated in the scheme and received cuts of the illegal proceeds.
Both men were placed on indefinite leave by the NBA following the indictments.

Victims and locations: Victims, some of whom lost millions of dollars, were lured to illegal games held in various locations. Manhattan: Games were held in residential buildings in Greenwich Village and Kips Bay.
Beyond NYC: Other games were set up in the Hamptons, Miami, and Las Vegas.

Enforcement: When victims lost large sums and were hesitant to pay, the organized crime members allegedly used threats, intimidation, and violence to collect debts.
Indictment and arrests
Federal agents made coordinated arrests across 11 states on October 23, 2025, in connection with the probe.
The Department of Justice for the Eastern District of New York announced charges against 31 defendants in the poker scheme, which included alleged members and associates of the crime families and NBA figures.
The poker ring was uncovered as part of a larger federal investigation into illegal gambling that also resulted in separate charges against several NBA players for using insider information to place fraudulent bets.

— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) Oct 25, 2025

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