More details are available in Yahoo Sports’ full report.
How the Underground Betting Scheme Operated
According to the DOJ, Billups and Jones acted as “Face Cards,” using their NBA fame to attract wealthy players to what appeared to be exclusive, celebrity-filled poker nights in Manhattan, Las Vegas, and the Hamptons.
“These individuals allegedly hosted illegal poker games where they used sophisticated technology and enlisted current and former NBA players to cheat people out of millions of dollars,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, per the DOJ.
Federal investigators allege that when players realized they had been cheated and refused to pay, members of the crime families used “threats, intimidation, and violence” to enforce debts.
The poker ring reportedly stole at least $7 million from its victims. Data from the Deckmate 2 shuffler—a machine commonly used in casinos—was transmitted to an off-site conspirator, who relayed information about the order of cards to an insider at the table. That player, dubbed the “Quarterback,” then used hand signals to communicate with the cheating players.
