Prosecutors in New York unveiled a sweeping indictment Thursday, accusing a network of mobsters and former NBA players of running a high-tech poker scam that mixed modern gadgets with old-school deception.
The group allegedly swindled unsuspecting gamblers out of $7 million in secret games across New York, Las Vegas, Miami, and the Hamptons.
According to the indictment, the years-long scheme relied on “advanced wireless technologies” and teams of operators watching games remotely while communicating with insiders seated at the table.
Those insiders worked together to manipulate each hand, using “secret signaling” to tell partners how to play.
The cheating centered on “card shuffling machines that were purportedly randomly shuffling the playing cards to ensure fairness,” but, as prosecutors wrote, “the Rigged Shuffling Machines were secretly altered to use concealed technology.”
Hidden card readers and processors allegedly transmitted the order of the deck to an outside operator, who relayed the information to players mid-game.
Other setups included poker tables rigged with X-ray cameras, “decoy cellular telephones” capable of scanning cards, and even decks marked with invisible ink visible only through special glasses or contact lenses – letting cheaters play “in full view of their oblivious victims.”
Much of this technology, prosecutors noted, can be easily purchased online.
The con began before the cards were even dealt. Mobsters allegedly used former NBA players – called “face cards” – to lure wealthy gamblers, or “fish,” into private games.
Among those named was Hall of Famer and Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, who, prosecutors say, helped attract victims and shared in the profits.
In some games, every player except the mark was in on the scam, winning and losing strategically to keep the victim betting until their money was gone. One 2023 game alone netted $1.8 million.
Afterward, mobsters allegedly used “threats and intimidation” to ensure payment.
“Through the Rigged Poker Scheme, the defendants and their co-conspirators defrauded Victims of millions of dollars,” the indictment read.
The operation, which began around 2019, allegedly involved members of the Lucchese, Genovese, Gambino, and Bonanno crime families.
More than 30 people have now been charged in what prosecutors describe as one of the most elaborate gambling frauds ever tied to New York’s underworld.
How mafiosos and NBA stars used rigged card shufflers, X-Ray tables and secret contact lenses in poker scam https://t.co/6crF10sgFo pic.twitter.com/1SzGu7u9I6
— New York Post (@nypost) October 23, 2025
