Crime

72-Year-Old Bookie Heading to Prison, Admits ‘Enforcer’ Role

A 72-year-old Cheektowaga, New York man has confessed to threating a local gambler with physical violence if he didn’t make good on a debt.

The FBI got involved after the gambler, Thi C. Nguyen, approached them about the threats made by Eric Battistoni.

“He would testify that the tone of that conversation indicated violence would be used to settle the debt,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony M. Bruce said of the unidentified gambler.

‘Goodfellas’ Defendant Discusses Why He Turned Informant

NEW YORK — (Associated Press) - An admitted mobster involved in the legendary heist retold in the film "Goodfellas" told a jury on Wednesday he came forward three decades later to sign up to become a paid government informant because a gambling problem left him destitute.

Trial of Lufthansa Heist Mobster to Begin Monday

NEW YORK (Associated Press) -- For decades, prosecutors say, Vincent Asaro managed to keep his role in an infamous mob heist immortalized in the hit movie "Goodfellas" hidden from the outside world while others of his generation were locked up or died gangland deaths.

DOJ, FBI Begin Investigation Into Daily Fantasy Sports

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the DOJ and FBI are in the early stages of investigating the explosive Daily Fantasy Sports sector.

StarsDraft Pulls Out of Florida Amidst Indictment Fears

News of a grand jury convening in Florida to review possible violations by Daily Fantasy Sports companies has sent PokerStars-backed StarsDraft packing.

Netflix New Series ‘Suburra’ Tells Story of Italian Mafia, Vatican and Gambling

Netflix has commissioned its first original series from Italy, “Suburra”, which tells the story of a “gruelling battle over a seaside town outside of Rome which is to be developed into a gambling paradise.”

Based on the book by Giancarlo De Cataldo and Carlo Bonini, Suburra, the series will comprise of ten episodes that follow release of a full feature film.

Two Dealers Indicted in Bellagio Cheating Scheme

(Associated Press) - Two former casino dealers and two friends are accused of siphoning more than $1 million off craps tables over two years, using phantom bets at a posh Las Vegas Strip resort.

Unsolved Mysteries of Gambling Part 3: Did the Shrink Fake His Own Death?

The date was April 10, 2010, a Sunday--Easter Sunday, in fact.

That morning, rumors started appearing on the Internet, via sports betting posting forums and elsewhere, that a well-known figure in the sports betting world--Ken "The Shrink" Weitzner--had died.

Weitzner, who pretended to be a psychiatrist as his gimmick, created one of the first sports betting portals on the Internet--called The Prescription (www.therx.com)--and then sold it for $2 million and started a competing site, Eye on Gambling (www.eog.com).

Ten People Shot in Gambling Dispute at Busy Events Center

Ten people were hit by gunfire during an early morning Sunday gambling dispute at a small West Georgia town.  All the victims, five females and five males, were expected to survive.

The incident occurred at the Hill Haven Event Center in Greenville, about 60 miles southwest of Atlanta.    

Bookies Behaving Badly Part 6: Mark Del Popolo, Attorney at Flaw

He was a lawyer who thought he was above the law.  In reality, though, he was an early e-scamster who gave both bookmaking and bunco a bad name.

He is Mark Del Popolo, a Syracuse, N.Y. attorney-turned-Internet bookie who dreamed of being a mobster and executed the first big online bookmaking scam of the 21st century.

Shocking Video Emerges of Bungling Machete and Scythe Waving Casino Bandits

Two men were jailed Monday for their role in a brazen casino robbery last October with every horrifying moment caught on video surveillance. 

Wayne Marsh, 33, and Grant Walker, 24, are both seen in the video waving a scythe and machete in people’s faces while bundling banknotes into a bag. An accomplice Andrew Warley, 41, was also placed behind bars Monday.

The two men made a number of bungled missteps while attempting to flee the Walsall’s Grosvenor Casino in Bentley.

Death Penalty Sought for Mobster Who Murdered Gambling Ship Fleet Owner

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Associated Press) -- Anthony "Big Tony" Moscatiello deserves the death penalty for coldly ordering the mob-style slaying of a South Florida businessman to protect his share of a lucrative stream of gambling profits, a prosecutor told a jury Wednesday.

ACR DoS Attacks Create Huge Overlay for Million Dollar Sundays: CEO Explains

In conjunction with the start of the new NFL season, Americas Cardroom hosted yet another Million Dollar Sundays event.  But Internet menaces had other plans.

A series of Denial of Service (DoS) attacks Sunday morning prevented many from entering the 3 pm EST tournament, thus creating a huge overlay that will result in a $300,000 loss, admits Americas Cardroom CEO Phil Nagy. The attackers were demanding a large sum of money to be paid in Bitcoin, Nagy confirmed. Mr. Nagy was appearing on Twitch live Sunday afternoon to discuss. You can watch below.

Chinese Celebrity Guo Meimei Sentenced to Five Years for Running Illegal Casino

(Reuters) - Chinese celebrity Guo Meimei who gained notoriety for flaunting a jet-set lifestyle, apparently while working for a charity, was sentenced to five years in prison on Thursday for running a casino, the Xinhua state news agency reported.

Guo hit the headlines in 2011 after posting photos online showing her in a Maserati sports car and carrying expensive handbags.

At the time, she said she was general manager of an organization under the Red Cross Society of China, a state-backed charity. The charity denied any link to her.