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 $7m (£5.25) in poker games - with one person losing at least $1.8m.
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 and was allegedly operated by the mafia - specifically by members of notorious crime families, including Bonanno, Gambino, Lucchese, and Genovese. A cut of the profits helped fund their criminal enterprise.
Former professional athletes, described by prosecutors as face cards, were enlisted to help in the scheme and entice victims into playing.
Lured in by the opportunity to play with a high-profile celebrity - such as Billups or Jones - a wealthy, unwitting victim would be recruited for illegal, underground poker games where tens of thousands of dollars were on the line, prosecutors allege.
Sophisticated wireless technology was also used to deceive the players during the games, most commonly in Texas Hold 'Em.
The technology was everywhere - an X-ray table that read any face-down card, analysers inside chip trays, a rigged shuffling machine that read cards and predicted who would have the best hand, and pre-marked cards that allowed those wearing special sunglasses and contact lenses to read what was in everyone's hands.
Secretive cameras were used to help convey information to those assisting in the plot, effectively stealing money and making it impossible for victims to win.
Prosecutors say the defendants allegedly laundered the funds from the scheme through cryptocurrency, cash exchanges, and shell companies, a cut of which went to fund the mafia's criminal activities.
Billups was arrested in Portland and placed on leave by the NBA, while the Portland Trail Blazers stated they were fully cooperating with the investigation. Jones is charged with multiple counts in relation to both the poker and NBA injuries scheme.
