"Investigators state that the scheme to defraud players at a poker table began in April 2019 when defendant Robert "Black Rob" Stroud and other co-conspirators began devising a ruse to use technology to rig illegal poker games, usually Texas Hold 'em, against unwitting, wealthy players whom they called "fish" or "whales," and who were aware that they were playing in illegal, high-stakes games, but believed these were "straight" games against other wealthy players."
"The scheme started with the technology, which was primarily inside the card-shuffling machines, which read the order in which the cards were dealt and relayed the information to an off-site operator. Sometimes the games employed X-ray tables and/or hidden cameras in the poker chip tray to assist in reading the cards. Players would also occasionally wear special contact lenses or glasses that would allow them to see marked cards."
Investigators state the scheme began in April 2019 when Robert "Black Rob" Stroud and co-conspirators devised a ruse using technology to rig illegal, high-stakes Texas Hold 'em games against unwitting wealthy players known as "fish" or "whales." Victims believed they were playing straight games while often every other person at the table was in on the scheme. Card-shuffling machines read card order and relayed it to an off-site operator, sometimes supplemented by X-ray tables, hidden chip-tray cameras, or marked-card contact lenses and glasses. An on-table "quarterback" received signals and directed the cheating team. Chauncey Billups and Damon Jones were named among high-profile face cards. The scheme resulted in 31 federal indictments.
Read at ESPN.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]