Portland Trail Blazers Coach Chauncey Billups Indicted in FBI High-Stakes Poker Cheating Scandal Involving Mafia

Chauncey Billups, head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, was arrested by the FBI for his alleged involvement in a Mafia-linked rigged poker scheme that used sophisticated cheating technology such as marked cards and secret cameras. The indictment accuses Billups of serving as a "face card" to lure high-stakes gamblers into the illicit games, which cheated victims out of millions of dollars. A photo from 2019 shows Billups playing poker with alleged co-conspirators, reinforcing the timeline of the illegal operation. Professional poker player Matt Berkey, in a podcast from 2023, had already warned about suspicious games linked to Billups, describing the games as rigged and noting that only professional players appeared to be losing. Berkey's early warnings and insider perspective align closely with the FBI's findings, suggesting that the cheating was known within certain circles but remained unexposed until the federal investigation. The scandal raises broader concerns about the misuse of reputation and technology in professional gambling and its implications for the NBA and gaming culture.