A Basketball Hall of Famer. X-ray poker tables. The Mafia. They were all purportedly crucial to an alleged yearslong illegal poker rigging scheme that resulted in 31 federal indictments this week. The case focused on rigged poker games is one of two announced that allegedly involve prominent NBA figures.
Investigators state that the scheme to defraud players at a poker table began in April 2019 when defendant Robert "Black Rob" Stroud and other co-conspirators began devising a ruse to use technology to rig illegal poker games, usually Texas Hold 'em, against unwitting, wealthy players whom they called "fish" or "whales," and who were aware that they were playing in illegal, high-stakes games, but believed these were "straight" games against other wealthy players. In reality, in many cases, every other person at the table besides them was in on the scheme.
The fish were also enticed to play by the presence of high-profile former professional athletes, known as "face cards," with the biggest names revealed thus far to be Basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and former NBA player and coach Damon Jones.
How did it all work?
The scheme started with the technology, which was primarily inside the card-shuffling machines, which read the order in which the cards were dealt and relayed the information to an off-site operator. Sometimes the games employed X-ray tables and/or hidden cameras in the poker chip tray to assist in reading the cards. Players would also occasionally wear special contact lenses or glasses that would allow them to see marked cards.
Once the operator knew the cards were on the table, they would relay the relevant information to a "quarterback" at the table, who would subtly signal to the rest of the "cheating team" what they should do.
In an example cited in a court document from 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 another inside player did, 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, indicating to the other inside players to fold.
To maintain the charade and keep the unknowing player at the table, the co-conspirators would text about strategy in real time. They occasionally allowed the victims to win. During that same Miami game, defendant Michael Renzulli messaged a group chat of co-conspirators, telling them to let the player -- in this case, referred to as John Doe No. 4 -- win a hand so that he would keep playing.
The same concept applied to the games when Billups and Jones were involved, though there was an extra layer of nuance given their celebrity. During an April 2019 game, defendant Sophia Wei texted the group that Billups and defendant Eric "Spook" Earnest had won two improbable hands ("gutshot on the river," or a straight draw needing to hit a middle card to make his hand) against the same player. While Stroud responded that the player "acted like he wanted Chauncey to have his money" because he was "starstruck," Wei insisted they insert another member of the cheating team ("the middle eastern guy") into the game so that Billups and Earnest could purposely lose to him and dispel suspicion.
What were the organized crime connections in this scheme?
The presence of the Mafia, otherwise known as La Cosa Nostra (LCN), involved providing support and protection, often merging its own existing illegal, high-stakes poker games, which were not necessarily rigged, into the scheme.
The court documents allege that, in Manhattan, New York, the Bonanno crime family had already been backing a game at 147 Lexington Ave., while the Gambino crime family, with support from at least one Genovese crime family member, hosted a game at 80 Washington Place. In 2023, those two games merged, jointly operating the rigging scheme using the technology supplied by Stroud.
LCN furthered the scheme in at least one instance by allegedly robbing an individual identified only as "John Doe No. 7," who was initially involved with the rigged poker games, of an altered Deckmate 1 shuffling machine which, in its unaltered form, retailed for more than $10,000.
The Mafia and non-mob co-conspirators also managed many of the financial issues related to the scheme, often using numerous of the tactics they have become most infamous for. In November 2022, defendant Zhen Hu allegedly threatened and assaulted "John Doe No. 5" for not paying his poker gambling debts. In fall 2023, several of the co-conspirators allegedly extorted "John Doe No. 6" by invoking their Mob connections, which eventually frightened him into paying his $10,000 debt.
Additionally, defendant Anthony Shnayderman allegedly laundered the proceeds of the poker games through shell companies and third parties, ultimately paying other co-conspirators in cash or cryptocurrency.
"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 are reminiscent of a Hollywood movie," said Homeland Security Investigations New York special agent in charge Ricky Patel. "But this was not luck, and it was not theatrics."
"Using the allure of high-stakes winnings and the promise to play alongside well-known professional athletes, these defendants allegedly defrauded unwitting victims out of tens of millions of dollars and established a financial pipeline to La Cosa Nostra," said Christopher Raia, assistant director in charge with the FBI.
Overall, victims of the rigged poker scheme lost at least $7.15 million, according to court documents. One of the victims alone, "John Doe No. 1," was cheated out of $1.8 million in games staged in June and July 2023.
Following his arrest, Billups appeared in court Thursday and was released from custody on the conditions 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 Nov. 24. On Thursday evening, his attorney, Chris Heywood, released a statement saying they intend to fight the charges.
