Rigged poker video games melded high-tech trickery with NBA star energy, prosecutors say

Oct 23 (Reuters) – The head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, NBA Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups, has been charged with serving to to cheat high-stakes poker gamers out of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} by means of rigged card video games allegedly operated by underworld crime figures.

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Here’s a take a look at how federal prosecutors say the video games had been fastened:

THE MARKS

The schemes focused high-wagering, often-wealthy gamblers who believed they had been taking part in non-rigged “straight” poker video games that had been unlawful however in any other case nicely established. These included weekly gatherings generally known as the “Washington Place Game” and the “Lexington Avenue Game” in Manhattan.

THE BAIT

To entice the unwitting gamers in some cases, the indictment alleged, well-known former skilled athletes had been marketed as superstar card-game contributors, known as “Face Cards.”

Among the alleged “Face Cards,” who acquired a portion of the legal proceeds in trade for his or her participation, was Billups, who performed for the New York Knicks and 6 different NBA groups throughout his profession and gained a championship with the Detroit Pistons in 2004.

Another was former NBA guard Damon Jones, who performed for 10 completely different groups however was greatest recognized for his tenure with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

THE INSIDERS

Other defendants named within the rigged-poker indictment embody accused Gambino crime household affiliate Ammar “Flappy” Awawdeh, alleged Genovese crime household affiliate Matthew “The Wrestler” Daddino, and suspected Bonanno crime household affiliate Thomas “Juice” Gelardo.

Other defendants glided by such nicknames as “Sugar,” “Albanian Bruce,” “Doc,” and “Pookie.”

THE SCAM

According to the indictment, a number of the rigged video games employed card-shuffling machines that had been secretly altered with hid expertise to learn the playing cards within the deck and predict which participant on the desk had one of the best poker hand. That data was then relayed by wire to an off-site operator, who then communicated it by mobile phone again to a member of the dishonest group, known as the “quarterback” or “driver.” The quarterback in flip used secret signaling to share the knowledge with the remainder of the dishonest group.

Other dishonest applied sciences included:

* digital poker chip trays that might secretly learn playing cards positioned on the desk;

* card analyzers that used expertise loaded onto decoy mobile telephones that might surreptitiously detect which playing cards had been dealt;

* enjoying playing cards with markers seen solely to people carrying specifically designed contact lenses or sun shades.

THE TAKE

The scheme concerned associates of the Bonanno, Gambino, Lucchese and Genovese organized crime households in New York, which managed a number of the underground poker video games within the metropolis the place the rigging passed off.

The households took a reduce of the earnings and used extortion, theft and different types of intimidation to gather unpaid money owed and laundered proceeds by means of cryptocurrency and different means.

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