One Factor in Gambling Bust: Bonkers High-Tech Cheating

The dust is still settling on the FBI's surprise gambling bust this week, one that involves both NBA figures and the mafia. The agency outlined two overlapping investigations, one involving rigged poker games and the other sports betting. Some of the more sensational details:

• The mob: Authorities say four crime families in New York—the Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese groups—ran high-stakes poker games for years that were rigged, reports the New York Times. But in terms of mafia movies, this was more like Mission Impossible than Miller's Crossing given the cutting-edge technology involved, notes the BBC.
• High-tech cheating: The victims never had a chance: Others at the table wore special contact lenses or eyeglasses to see marked cards, say the feds. The defendants also allegedly used rigged shuffling machines that could read cards in the deck and predict who would have the best hand, info that would get relayed to an "off-site operator" who would relay it back to players at the table in on the scheme, per USA Today. Other devices included poker chip trays with hidden cameras to read cards, and an X-ray table that could read cards placed face down on the table, per NBC News.

• NBA 'face cards': In terms of the poker games, NBA figures were used as "face cards" to lure victims to the games. Two of the biggest names involved are Chauncey Billups, head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, and Terry Rozier, who currently plays for the Miami Heat, per the AP.
• Sports betting: The other federal indictment might be even more troubling for the NBA: It alleges that players passed what amounts to inside information about injuries and the like to bettors. In one example, Rozier allegedly tipped off bettors that he would take himself out of a game early in 2023 because of an ankle injury, reports the New York Post. The defendants allegedly made more than $200,000 betting that Rozier's stats would be lower than expected.