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NBA Legend Gilbert Arenas Arrested After Illegal Poker Games Allegations
The three-time NBA All-Star and Washington Wizards legend Gilbert Arenas was arrested on Wednesday night after a federal indictment alleged that he hosted illegal poker games at a mansion in Los Angeles for years. In a shocking development, the basketball star was arrested alongside his alleged fellow conspirators by the United States Attorney's Office Central District of California.
The basketball superstar and three-time NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas has been accused on renting out a Mansion in Encino, a neighborhood in the southern portion of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, California for high-stakes illegal poker games from September 2021 to July 2022. With others named in the federal indictment, a huge court case could be forthcoming.
Pot Limit Omaha with Perks
To some, the knowledge that underground poker home games are happening at high stakes won’t be shocking. With online poker still off the table for hundreds of millions of Americans in the vast majority of the 50 states, live poker is everything. Hosting poker games in The Golden State isn’t against the law but collecting a rake from them is illegal.
What is alleged is that the former Washington Wizards point-guard Gilbert Arenas ran an illegal poker game in California, putting on Pot Limit Omaha action for a ‘rake’ in each pot, also providing additional perks such as massages from attending hostesses. Along with Arenas, the feds also arrested Evgenni Tourevski, Allan Austria, Yarin Cohen, Ievgen Krachun and Yevgeni Gershman, who is a suspected organized crime figure from Israel.
Charging a fee, which is stipulated in Californian law as “a fee the house charges from each pot either as a percentage or a fixed amount per hand” is against the law and could see Arenas face prison charges as a worst case scenario. The former NBA star, who was suspended for almost the entire 2009/10 NBA season due to handgun violations on Christmas Eve of 2009, is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday along with the other five defendants. If convicted, all six of them face up to five years in prison for each count.
Project ‘Agent Zero’
Nicknamed ‘Agent Zero’ during his NBA career, Arenas was a long-time target of the federal investigators, who, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, allegedly directed a Mr. Arthur Kats of West Hollywood to stage a mansion “to host the games and collected rent from the co-conspirators on Arenas’ behalf.”
It wasn’t just the rent or ‘rake’ money that Arenas is alleged to have collected. The poker games sound like the stuff of a Hollywood script, from private chefs to valet parking, armed security guards, and custom-made black and gold ‘Arenas Poker Club’ tables. Not exactly under the radar, as big bluffs go.
As well as the comfort on and around the Arenas Poker Club poker table (pictured below), the NBA star’s alleged co-conspirator Gershman has been accused of hiring young women who “served drinks, provided massages, and offered companionship to the poker players”. Arenas et al are even alleged to have charged the girls a commission on their earnings during the games.
All six defendants, including ‘Agent Zero’ have been charged with one count of conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business and one count of operating an illegal gambling business. Arenas also defends himself against a third charge of making false statements to investigators, meaning he could face 15 years in prison for his alleged misdemeanors.
Arenas Has Form
While Arenas is far from the only defendant facing additional charges - The Israeli Yevgeni Gershman faces charges including marriage fraud and making a false statement on his immigration document to obtain permanent legal status in the U.S. - the former NBA great catches the headlines.
Arenas has form as a poker player, taking on all comers in the 2014 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) Main Event in The Bahamas. Back then, Arenas’ prowess in the PCA Main Event led to PokerGO’s Donnie Peters - then working for PokerNews - saying, “[Arenas] handles his chips well and can be seen paying good attention to the action at his table.”
The same cannot be said for the attention that has been given to Project Agent Zero, with the feds’ sights clearly having been set on Arenas for some time.
In 2022, Arenas took part in the notorious streamed cash game on Hustler Casino Live, happy to play PLO at high stakes with blinds of $100/$200/$200 in play. The ‘Christmas Eve’ handgun violations of 2009 are a long time ago but they arose after an alleged altercation between Arenas and his former teammate Jarvaris Crittendon over a poker debt. Whilst taking a handgun into the locker room failed to lead to injury, Arenas’ guilty plea to the felony gun charge that followed indicated a pattern, which may now have become clear.
Gilbert Arenas, once a three-time NBA All-Star pick is all-in and at-risk. What cards come we shall have to wait and see when court sits on Wednesday.
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