Pablo Torre Finds Out Hoopfellas: We Investigated the "Puppet Master" of NBA Gambling
Oct 30, 2025
Amin Elhassan, a former NBA basketball operations executive and insightful media commentator, joins the conversation to delve into the intriguing world of NBA gambling scandals. They unpack the FBI's high-profile probes, including shocking allegations of rigged poker games and NBA players' connections to a criminal network. With a potential kingpin, Sugar Shane Hennon, at the center, they explore theories of his cooperation with authorities versus his credibility. The talk reveals the dark underbelly of sports betting amidst ongoing investigations that demand NBA accountability.
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Two Connected Federal Operations
- The DOJ revealed two linked probes: Operation Royal Flush (rigged poker) and Operation Nothing But Bet (inside NBA betting).
- Both cases interconnect via overlapping defendants and shared gambling networks across poker and NBA circles.
Suspicious Chauncey Billups Poker Hand
- A poker player described Chauncey Billups making an inexplicably risky river call that won a huge pot in April 2019.
- Multiple poker experts later labeled Billups' decisions in that hand as maximally suspicious.
Inside Info Fueled Betting Scheme
- Operation Nothing But Bet alleges players/coaches tipped inside info used to place prop bets on performance unders.
- The probes show how private poker cheating and NBA insider betting overlap in personnel and tactics.