Movie style gambling fraud robs the rich and wealthy

[Retro]

My heart bleeds for our poor, scammed celebs who hardly notice the losses in their bank balances, but how the criminals did it is interesting and resembles a movie plot rather than real life. Fact can be stranger than fiction and this is one of those times.

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 (£5.25m) 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 National Basketball Association (NBA) player Damon Jones.

'Mind-boggling' poker fraud used X-ray tables, high-tech glasses and NBA players

Prosecutors said the elaborate plot, which allegedly netted $7m from victims, belonged in a Hollywood film.

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