FBI Blows Lid Off NBA Betting and Illegal Poker Scandal

During football season around these here parts (and really, almost any part of America), it’s hard for a sports story, outside of the NFL, to cut through on a relevance and intrigue level. It’s exceedingly difficult. So kudos to the FBI, the New York mob, and a handful of current and former NBA luminaries for their key roles in the two-pronged gambling scandal that the government unveiled last week!

In case you missed it, last week the FBI announced over 30 arrests in a massive investigation that blew the lid off of two illegal scams. First, current Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was the big name in an inside information and game rigging scam that goes back a couple years. On multiple occasions, Rozier removed himself from games after just a few minutes so the “under” would hit on his individual player prop bets. This is an inferno for NBA commissioner Adam Silver, whose sport’s integrity is at stake in scandals like this.

Second, the FBI announced a slew of arrests, several of which were reputed New York mob soldiers, involving illegal poker games. Taking this one a step further, not only were the games themselves illegal, but they were fixed, as the hosts of the games had electronic information on the hands of the “regular people” at the tables.

Compounding things for Silver is that there is a tie to the NBA with the poker games, as Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and former player and coach (and current close friend of LeBron James) Damon Jones were paid thousands to appear at these games in order to attract clientele to want to play cards with celebs. Both reportedly knew about the cheating going on at the tables.

This story feels like it’s just beginning. Reportedly, there are indictments coming down on people associated with college basketball engaging in similar conduct to Rozier at the NBA level. To be clear, I have a morbid fascination with stories like this. 

With that in mind, here are the five craziest things from this still unfolding story: 

1. After the March 23, 2023 game where Rozier pulled himself from the game nine minutes in, the co-conspirators went and got their $200,000 in winnings, and came back to Rozier’s house with the money in tow. The parties involved, including Rozier, then proceeded to count the cash in Rozier’s kitchen. What a visual this is! Please, tell me they used one of those cash counting shuffle machines, as they wrapped up stacks and stacks of cash.

2. In addition to playing in the illegal poker games, Billups appears to have passed along inside information to gambling co-conspirators. In the court documents, there is a “Co-conspirator 8” on the sports betting charges, who is listed as a former player and current coach. It has to be Billups. Reportedly, he told bettors that the Blazers would be tanking games for better draft position late in March 2023. This should be the lead part of this story — an NBA head coach is in cahoots with gamblers, passing along inside information. 

3. Most Houstonians may know Damon Jones from his time as a Univeristy of Houston Cougar in the mid ’90s. In the 2000s, he befriended LeBron James when the two played for the Cleveland Cavaliers. In 2022-2023, Jones had an unofficial position with the Lakers, essentially as L:eBron’s personal ball shagger, more or less. Like Billups, Jones was sharing inside information from the Lakers, specifically letting bettors know that James would be missing a game in February 2023 for load management, before the market knew. Bettors cleaned up by betting against the Lakers in a loss to the Bucks.

4. The technology in these illegal poker games is mind boggling. Check this out — shuffling machines that could read the cards in the deck, poker chip trays with hidden cameras, special contact lenses and glasses that could read pre-marked cards, and an X-ray table that could read cards facedown on the table. Here is what the cards looked like through the shades and contact lenses.

The lesson here — never play poker with people wearing shades, especially in the greater New York area! 

5. Speaking of which, isn’t it awesome to have the mob back in our lives? I thought the “five families” were the stuff of mythology these days, like Zeus and centaurs and such. Nope! They’re very much alive! So welcome back to the Bonanno, Gambino, Luchese, and Genovese families. Too bad The Sopranos is no longer around, because you know we’d be getting a massive sports betting and rigged poker storyline next season. 

I promise you, we will keep following this story. And by “we,” I mean “me.” THAT is something you can go bet on, and take it to the bank! 

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