A Basketball Hall of Famer. X-Ray Poker Table. Mafia. They were all allegedly key to an alleged illegal poker rigging scheme that ran for years, resulting in 31 federal indictments this weekThe case centered on rigged poker games is one of two announced cases allegedly involving prominent NBA personalities.
Investigators say the scheme to defraud players at the poker tables began in April 2019 when defendant Robert “Black Rob” Stroud and other co-conspirators began devising a tactic to use technology to rig illegal poker games, usually Texas Hold’em, against unwitting, wealthy players, whom they called “fish” or “whales,” and who Knew they were playing illegal, high-stakes games, but believed these were “straight” games against other rich people. Player. In reality, in many cases, every other person at the table except him was in on the plan.
The Fishes were also enticed to play by the presence of high-profile former professional athletes, known as “face cards”, with the biggest names revealed so far being Basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and former NBA player and coach Damon Jones.
How did it all work?
The scheme began with technology, primarily inside card-shuffling machines, that read the card dealing sequence and sent the information to an off-site operator. Sometimes games used X-ray tables and/or hidden cameras in poker chip trays to aid in reading cards. Players will sometimes also wear special contact lenses or glasses that will allow them to see marked cards.
Once the operator knows the cards are on the table, they will send the relevant information to the “quarterback” at the table, who will subtly signal to the rest of the “cheating team” what they should do.
In the example cited in a court document of a September 2024 game in Miami, defendant John Mazzola played quarterback. If Mazzola had the best hand, he would tap his arm or wrist. If any other inside player did so, Mazzola touched his $1,000 poker chip, and so on and so forth. If the “fish” had the best hand, Mazzola would touch his black chips, signaling the other players inside to fold.
To maintain the ruse and keep the unsuspecting player at the table, co-conspirators will send messages about the strategy in real time. They sometimes let their victims win. During the same Miami game, defendant Michael Renzulli sent messages to a group chat of co-conspirators, asking them to let the player — in this case, called John Doe No. 4 — win a hand so he could continue playing.
The same concept applied to games when Billups and Jones were involved, though there was an added layer of nuance given their fame. During an April 2019 game, defendant Sophia Wei messaged the group that Billups and defendant Eric “Spook” Earnest had won two impossible hands (“gutshots on the river,” or needing to hit the middle card to win a straight draw) against the same player. While Stroud responded that the player “acted like he wanted Chauncey to take his money” because he was “starstruck”, Weiss insisted that he introduced another member of the cheating team (“the Middle Eastern man”) into the game so that Billups and Earnest could intentionally lose to him and throw off suspicion.
What were the organized crime connections to this scheme?
The presence of the Mafia, otherwise known as La Cosa Nostra (LCN), included providing assistance and protection, often merging their own existing illegal, high-stakes poker games into the scheme, which were not necessarily rigged.
Court documents allege that, in Manhattan, New York, the Bonanno crime family was already supporting a game at 147 Lexington Avenue, while the Gambino crime family, with the support of at least one Genovese crime family member, hosted a game at 80 Washington Place. In 2023, the two games merged, jointly operating a rigging scheme using technology supplied by Stroud.
LCN allegedly furthered the scheme by robbing a man known only as “John Doe No. 7”, who was initially involved in the rigged poker game, of an altered DeckMate 1 shuffling machine, which, in its unaltered form, was sold for more than $10,000.
Mafia and non-Mob co-conspirators also managed many of the financial issues related to the scheme, often using many of the tactics for which they are most infamous. In November 2022, defendant Jane Hu allegedly threatened and attacked “John Doe No. 5” for not paying a poker gambling debt. In the fall of 2023, several co-conspirators allegedly extorted “John Doe No. 6” by citing his mob ties, ultimately scaring him into repaying his $10,000 loan.
Additionally, defendant Anthony Shnaderman allegedly laundered poker game proceeds through shell companies and third parties, ultimately paying other co-conspirators in cash or cryptocurrency.
Homeland Security Investigations New York Special Agent in Charge Ricky Patel said, “With the alleged involvement of three La Cosa Nostra crime families, an NBA head coach and Hall of Famer, as well as other current and former professional athletes, the investigative work that culminated with this morning’s operation is reminiscent of a Hollywood movie.” “But it wasn’t luck, and it wasn’t theatrics.”
“Using the lure of high-stakes wins and the promise of playing alongside famous professional athletes, these defendants allegedly defrauded unwitting victims out of millions of dollars and established a financial pipeline for La Cosa Nostra,” said Christopher Raya, FBI Assistant Director in Charge.
In total, victims of the rigged poker scheme lost at least $7.15 million, according to court documents. One of the lone victims, “John Doe No. 1,” was defrauded out of $1.8 million in games held in June and July 2023.
Following his arrest, Billups appeared in court on Thursday and was released from custody on the terms of a substantial bond with the federal court in the Eastern District of New York, as well as surrendering his passport. He is next scheduled to appear in court on November 24. On Thursday evening, his attorney Chris Haywood released a statement saying he intended to fight the charges.
