Las Vegas Review Journal: Gaming Industry Could Face Repercussions From NBA-Mafia Gambling Case
An indictment of 31 people on fraud charges last week tied to the NBA and Mafia involving a wide ranging gambling scandal has some asking if oversight is really working?
“This is proof positive that our regulatory oversight works here in Nevada,” former Nevada Gaming Commission Chairman Tony Alamo said said.
The Las Vegas Review Journal summarized what is alleged to have transpired as part of the scheme that made national headlines, primarily as a result of arrests involving two current NBA players and a current NBA coach.
In one series of crimes involving poker, game players were attracted to the table by a player celebrity. The thrill of sitting and playing with Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former Cleveland Cavaliers guard Damon Jones, who was arrested in Las Vegas, was a ploy, the indictment said, to attract high-rolling players to poker games where they were cheated with the use of high-tech equipment and devices that enabled some players to read cards that were face down or about to be dealt.
Millions of dollars changed hands in the scam poker games, authorities alleged.
The other scam, authorities said, involved cheating at sports wagering and “insider trading,” bogus injuries or deliberate underperformance to influence the outcome of a bet.
Former regulators, a legal sports bookmaker and an analyst say changes may be ahead in sports betting because of what FBI agents and prosecutors unearthed.
“When I saw the Bonnano family, the Gambino family, the Genovese family, the Luchesi family … these people were in power in criminal organizations since I was a small boy. My question is, where has the federal government been for the last 50 years?”
Billups says he is "confident about his situation," according to Los Angeles Clippers coach Tyronn, a close friend.
"It's hard to process," Lue said, according to ESPN. "You hate to see him go through something like this, along with his three girls, who are my goddaughters, and his wife, Piper. I believe in Chauncey's character. I know who he is as a person. I've been with him since I was 17 years old. So, it's just hard to see something like this happen. He has my love and support always."
Billups was placed on indefinite leave by the NBA and the team followingr his arrest.
Top Search Queries Gambling911 (Last 48 Hours)
- jon gruden college football coach odds
- lsu head coach odds
- lsu coach odds
- lsu coaching odds
- lsu next coach odds
- mike mcdaniel fired odds
- abdul carter
- cm punk
- lsu football coach odds
- omar fateh odds
- gambling 911
- super bowl odds
- virginia tech head coach odds
- 2026 world series odds
- virginia tech next coach odds
- defensive rookie of the year 2025
- world series odds 2026
- mazi vs in jail
- padres manager odds
- ufc 322 odds
- ravens vs dolphins anytime td
- ravens dolphins anytime td
- lsu head coach betting odds
- lane kiffin odds
- odds on next lsu football coach
Top 5 Most Read Stories at Gambling911.com (Last 48 Hours) 93,252 Impressions
- (College Football) LSU Next Head Coach Odds: Jon Sumrall, Joe Brady, Lane Kiffin (111189 impressions)
- (College Football) LSU Next Head Coach Odds (55111 impressions)
- (UFC) UFC 322 Betting Odds (3389 impressions)
- (NFL) - Super Bowl LX Updated Odds Coming Into November 2025 (2912 impressions)
- (NFL) - Ravens vs. Dolphins Anytime, First Touchdown Scorer Prop Bet: Derrick Henry, De'Von Achane (2801 impressions)
Top 5 Most Read Stories at Gambling911.com (Right Now)
- (College Football) LSU Next Head Coach Odds: Jon Sumrall, Joe Brady, Lane Kiffin
- (NFL) Mike McDaniels Next Head Coach Fired Odds Likely to Go to Unprecedented 1-4
- (Politics) - Early Odds for November 2025 Governor, Mayor, Senator Elections
- (College Football) - Next Head Coach Odds - UCLA, Virginia Tech
- (MLB) - Early 2026 World Series Odds Now Up
Top News Headlines (October 31, 2025)
(Gambling Crime) - Turkish Football Suspends 149 Referees Accused Of Betting - "An investigation by the federation into 571 referees in the Turkish professional leagues revealed on Monday that 371 of them had sports betting accounts and 152 were actively betting."
----
(Gambling, Crime) - Was Chauncey Billups Really Connected to the Mob? Key Questions Remain Unanswered - According to prosecutors and experts in organized crime, it all starts with influence and recruitment. Yet, despite the explosive revelation that the Bonanno, Gambino and Genovese crime families allegedly offered protection at rigged poker games in New York, a close reading of the indictment and detention letter shows it’s unclear whether Billups was aware of any alleged connection whatsoever to the mafia.
- According to those documents, Billups participated in at least two poker games: one around April 2019 in Las Vegas, and another in late October 2020, at an undisclosed location.
- Court documents are careful to specify only that the mafia “backed games in the New York area,” taking a cut for security and collecting “owed debts from the games.”
- None of the indicted persons named alongside Billups at the April 2019 game in Las Vegas are listed as members or associates of any of the three New York families. (source: USA Today)
----
(Las Vegas) - MGM Adjusts Las Vegas Pricing after Summer Backlash Over Steep Costs - During the company’s latest earnings call, President and CEO Bill Hornbuckle openly conceded that aggressive pricing — including eye-catching drink costs — alienated customers and damaged the brand’s reputation. “Shame on us,” Hornbuckle said according to KLAS 8 News Now, referencing a wave of consumer frustration centered around high on-property charges like “the infamous bottle of water” and the $12 coffee at Starbucks. He reiterated the same phrase while addressing specific examples disclosed earlier, including what became a widely cited $26 bottle of Fiji water at the Aria. (source: World Casino Directory)
----
(Politics) - BetOnline Releases Odds on November 4 Voter Referendums - Voters in six states will decide 24 statewide ballot measures, with several pivotal proposals targeting election and voting policies.
- Key measures include California's Proposition 50, which would adopt a new, legislature-drawn congressional district map for the latter half of the decade.
- In Texas, Proposition 16 seeks to constitutionally ban non-citizens from voting, a policy already in state law, but one that would require greater legislative consensus and voter approval to ever amend.
- BetOnline has Prop 50 with a pretty significant -225 odds chance of passing.
----
(Prediction Markets) - Romania Blacklists Polymarket for Offering Unlicensed Gambling - The move follows a sharp increase in platform activity during Romania’s recent election period, which drew heightened public attention to online prediction markets. Data published on Polymarket’s own website shows that during the presidential elections, the platform handled transactions exceeding $600M, while wagers related to the Bucharest local elections topped $15M. (source: Next.io)
-----
(Gambling News) - Nevada Gambling Revenue Reaches $11.7 Billion in 9 Month of 2025 - Nevada's gambling revenue increased by just 1% in the first nine months of 2025 to $11.66 billion, as September recorded a 2% drop.
- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
