The FBI arrested Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups in the early hours of Thursday as part of an investigation into rigged underground poker games backed by the Mafia. While the public at large was stunned by the news, this perhaps shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Not long after Billups was arrested, a clip from the Only Friends podcast from 2023 resurfaced, in which professional poker player Matt Berkey spoke about shady poker games hosted by the Hall of Famer.
“This must have been like five years ago, 2019-ish, I think,” Berkey said. “… It started in L.A., and then it came to Vegas for a few days, and it was built around Chauncey Billups. And the person who told me about this was like, ‘Look, I know the game-runners. I’m telling you 100 percent this game is on the up and up.’ And I was like, ‘Well, I know a lot of people that are involved, and I’m telling you 100 percent that it is not.’
“I had some friends who went and played both in L.A. and in Vegas, and it obviously was for sure confirmed to be cheating,” Berkey stated. “People who clearly didn’t even understand the rules of No Limit Hold ‘Em are just jamming hundreds of big blinds in with like a gutty and then drilling it. Only the pros are losing.
“It was basically confirmed amongst all of the pros that the game was cheated,” Berkey continued. “But there’s just no recourse. And they got absolutely filleted. It’s tough, too, when you’re dealing with somebody high-profile like that because they carry a lot of weight and hold a lot of power.
“So all you can do is kind of unite together and threaten to publicly out him or extort him in some sort of capacity,” Berkey added. “In which case, good luck.”
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This is not a good look for Billups, who has been placed on immediate leave by the NBA.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York, technology was used to steal millions from victims in these rigged poker games. Altered shuffling machines were said to have been used, which contained hidden technology that allowed them to read all the cards in the deck. As if that weren’t enough, it is alleged that a chip tray analyzer, an X-ray machine, and special contact lenses or eyeglasses were also utilized.
Over 30 individuals have been arrested in connection with this scam, and it has been claimed that the losses to victims amount to at least $7 million. FBI Director Kash Patel spoke on the matter at a press conference on Thursday.
“This is an illegal gambling operation and sports rigging operation that spanned the course of years,” Patel said. “The FBI led a coordinated takedown across 11 states to arrest over 30 individuals today responsible for this case, which is very much ongoing.
“Not only did we crack into the fraud that these perpetrators committed on the grand stage of the NBA, but we also entered and executed a system of justice against La Cosa Nostra to include the Bonanno, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese crime families,” Patel stated. “And you’ll hear more about those details today. The charges and the arrests that were taken down across this country range from wire fraud, money laundering, extortion, robbery, illegal gambling.
“This FBI will leave no room for any perpetrator of crime across this country,” Patel continued. “… And the fraud is mind-boggling. It’s not hundreds of dollars. It’s not thousands of dollars. It’s not tens of thousands of dollars. It’s not even millions of dollars. We’re talking about tens of millions of dollars in fraud and theft, and robbery across a multi-year investigation.”
Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier has also been arrested as part of a separate probe. It has been alleged that he faked injury to take himself out of games as part of a sports betting scheme. Former NBA player and assistant coach Damon James, meanwhile. has been named a defendant in both of these cases.
Billups has now been released from custody, and he plans to fight the FBI’s charges.
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There isn’t going to be an instant resolution here. Billups, who spent 17 seasons in the NBA before getting into coaching, appears confident he will clear his name. In his absence, Tiago Splitter has been named the interim head coach of the Trail Blazers.
