Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups charged in illegal poker operation tied to Mafia: Sources

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: ABC News

Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups charged in illegal poker operation tied to Mafia: Sources

Heat guard Terry Rozier was arrested in a separate but related betting case.

ByAaron Katersky
October 23, 2025, 9:04 AM ET

Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups has been charged in an illegal poker operation tied to the Mafia, law enforcement sources told ABC News.

Billups, in his fifth season as head coach, was arrested in Oregon, where is expected to make an initial court appearance on Thursday, sources said.

{snip}

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/miami-heat-terry-rozier-charged-nba-betting/story?id=126789368

[twodogsbarking]

1. And y'all trust professional sports? Well, ok then.

[Oeditpus Rex]

5. Why shouldn't we?

Because a handful of guys play poker, which has nothing to do with basketball?

[twodogsbarking]

6. It is another topic but makes me wonder at times. Money and all.

[Oeditpus Rex]

9. Money?

Yeah, money's pretty important.

[MichMan]

11. There are allegations that Terry Rozier of the Miami Heat faked injuries and for financial gains

Also, the Poker games were fixed with altered card shufflers and x rays. Estimates are that people lost $7 million.

[Oeditpus Rex]

15. What do poker ganes have to do with professional sports?

[Jose Garcia]

2. The guy is earning over $4 million per year

My guess is that he has a gambling problem himself and owes a lot of money to the mafia and was working for them to pay it off.

[louis-t]

3. Or, Patel's FBI caught a bunch of guys playing cards in

Chauncey's basement. Distract, distract, distract....

[Deminpenn]

8. It's not just that, but also that Rozier was passing along inside information

on player status and also involved players taking themselves out of games feigning injury so that the bettors betting on individual player lines, like player A will score 20 pts, would be affected.

[louis-t]

10. Wow, pretty evil. I was making a joke but

the media is really pouncing on this. Sounds like a really big deal.

[Deminpenn]

13. Maybe it doesn't seem like a big deal,

but it is. Americans are betting on everything these days. It's like the mania that overtook the stock market in the 1920s.

The temptation must be enormous for players, coaches, officials to do just one little "favor" that will earn that person a big payoff.

And wait until college players are allowed to bet on pro sports, something that was made legal mere days ago. Think college players won't be calling their fellow alumni in the pros for tips or even "favors"?

[LoveSucky]

4. Please void Rozier's contract.

[Deminpenn]

7. This is just the tip of the iceberg of illegal gambling operations

infecting all of pro sports, imho.

[Ptah]

12. I'm waiting for Bet ESPN to post odds on who will snitch first.

[Deminpenn]

14. Here's a good primer on sports betting

https://triblive.com/sports/sports-betting-is-a-booming-business-the-fbis-nba-probe-is-putting-it-in-the-spotlight/