Celebrities, professional sports stars, and wealthy gamblers sat at a table hoping to win big in a game of Texas Hold 'Em.
But they didn't know it was nearly impossible. They were fishes allegedly being targeted by the mafia in an elaborate poker gambling scheme that included X-ray card tables, secret cameras, analysers in chip trays, and sunglasses and contact lenses that could read their hand.
In what sounds like an Ocean's Eleven film plot, prosecutors say these unwitting victims were cheated out of at least $7 million (£5.25) in poker games - with one person losing at least $1.8 million.
The scheme, which US prosecutors described as reminiscent of a Hollywood movie, was dismantled in a sprawling federal investigation that led to more than 30 arrests, including members of La Cosa Nostra crime families, Portland Trail Blazers basketball coach Chauncey Billups, and former NBA player Damon Jones.
FBI director Kash Patel called it a mind-boggling fraud scheme that cheated victims in New York, Miami, Las Vegas and other US cities.
Arrests in the scheme were announced on Thursday along with those in an alleged basketball betting plot, in which professional NBA players are accused of faking injuries to influence betting odds.
The underground poker scheme started as early as 2019, operated by notorious mafia families including Bonnano, Gambino, Luchesse, and Genovese. A cut of the profits reportedly funded their criminal enterprise.
Former professional athletes, described by prosecutors as face cards, were enlisted to help in the scheme, enticing victims into playing.
Those lured into the underground poker games were unaware that everyone around them was in on the scam, with technology and operators feeding information to the conspirators.
Authorities estimate that each game left victims out of thousands of dollars, many of whom were unaware they were targeted by sophisticated methods of cheating...
