Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier is also charged in a separate but related illegal gambling case. He is among six people charged Thursday with turning professional basketball into a criminal gambling operation by using inside information to place unlawful wagers, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
Gil Arenas got arrested for illegal poker recently too. Rozier has more of the Jontay Porter-style of issues (allegedly).
Matt: There are a lot of stories about it. Thereâs one that cropped up, mustâve been like 5 years ago, 2019ish I think? 4 years ago? Where there was this game, it started in LA and then it came to Vegas for a few days, and it was all built around Chauncey Billups. And I had heard about the game, and the person who told me about it was like âLook, I know the game runners, I am telling you 100% this game is on the up-and-up.â And I was like âWell, I know a lot of the people that are involved and I am telling you 100% that it is NOT on the up-and-up.â
We kind of went back and forth and I agreed that I just wasnât going to go play. But I had some friends who went and played it both in LA and in Vegas, and it obviously was like, for sure confirmed to be cheated. Like people who clearly didnât even understand the rules of No Limit Holdâem are just jamming hundreds of big blinds with a gutty and then just drilling it.1 [laughs] Only the pros are losingâŚ
Victims were lured into games to get close to sports celebrities like Mr. Billups and Mr. Jones only to be cheated out of their money through technology like shuffling machines that had been altered to read the cards in the deck and predict which player at the table had the best hand, said Christopher Raia, the assistant director in charge of the F.B.I.âs New York Field Office.
I guess the appeal was less âOoh, I get to play with Damon Jones, always wanted to hang with himâ and more âOoh, I get to play with Damon Jones, thereâs no way heâs better than me at poker.â
Imagine draft night 2027 when the Heat wonât have a 1st round pick because they sent it to Charlotte for Rozier. Who might be sitting in prison at that point.
