Top Trending Gambling News: Former NBA Star Gilbert Arenas Charged With Running Illegal Poker Games

Gambling911.com has your top trending stories in the world of gaming, gambling, casinos, sports betting, crypto and more including the breaking news Wednesday evening that Gilbert Arenas was arrested Wednesday along with five other people.

Former NBA Star Gilbert Arenas Charged With Running Illegal Poker Games

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former NBA star Gilbert Arenas was arrested Wednesday along with five other people, including a suspected member of an Israeli organized crime group, on suspicion of hosting illegal high-stakes poker games at a Los Angeles mansion owned by Arenas, federal prosecutors said.

All six defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business and one count of operating an illegal gambling business, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. They are all scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon.

Messages seeking comment were sent to an attorney and PR firm that represented Arenas. Online court records don’t identify an attorney for him.

Arenas, 43, is also charged with making false statements to federal investigators, the statement said. He is named in the indictment as ”Agent Zero," a nickname from his playing days with the Washington Wizards.

The other five defendants are residents of Los Angeles ranging in age from 27 to 52. Among them is a 49-year-old man described by prosecutors as “a suspected organized crime figure from Israel.”

The indictment says that from September 2021 to July 2022, the defendants staged the home in the Encino neighborhood to host “Pot Limit Omaha” poker games and other illegal gambling activity. The poker players paid a “rake,” a fee charged as a percentage or fixed amount from each hand gambled, court documents claim.

One of the defendants hired young women who, in exchange for tips, served drinks and provided massages and “offered companionship” to the poker players, according to prosecutors.

“The women were charged a ‘tax’ – a percentage of their earnings from working the games. Chefs, valets, and armed security guards also were hired to staff these illegal poker games,” the statement said.

The Israeli man faces separate charges including marriage fraud and lying on immigration documents. He is suspected of conspiring with a 35-year-old Los Angeles woman to enter into a sham marriage for the purposes of obtaining permanent legal status in the U.S.

If convicted, the defendants would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for each count, prosecutors said.

Arenas averaged 20.7 points during an 11-year career with four teams, most notably a seven-plus season stint in Washington from 2004-11.

Charismatic and mercurial, Arenas — who counted “Agent Zero” (representing his number) and “Hibachi” for the way he could heat up during a game among his many nicknames — was a three-time All-Star, a gifted scorer and one of the key cogs in a handful of Wizards teams that enjoyed modest success in the mid-to-late 2000s.

Yet Arenas’ run in Washington ended in disgrace. Arenas and teammate Javaris Crittenton were suspended for the balance of the NBA season in January 2010 following a locker-room incident in which both players pulled guns on each other.

Arenas returned to play briefly for Washington the following season before being traded to Orlando. He then bounced to Memphis in 2011, coming off the bench for 17 games before stepping away to play in the Chinese Basketball Association in 2012-13. He never returned to the NBA.

His son, Alijah Arenas, was a Los Angeles high school basketball star who is a highly touted freshman player for the University of Southern California. His college career is on hold pending knee surgery and rehab is expected to take months, the school said last week.

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Rep Working Hard to Get Gambling Loss Deduction Restoration Tax Bill Passed

Ryan Butler of Covers.com broke the following news Wednesday evening: 

"US Rep. Jason Smith, who chairs the committee overseeing the 100% gambling loss deduction restoration tax bill, told CEOs of the Las Vegas Strip's 3 largest casino operators he would work to get the bill passed, MGM CEO Bill Hornbuckle reaffirmed in an earnings call Wednesday."

Sahil Kapur, Senior National Political Reporter covering Capitol Hill and elections, spoke to a handful of Republican lawmakers a few days back who conceded they were unaware of language in a budget bill that would not longer permit gamblers to deduct 100 percent of their losses.  

In the Senate’s roughly 900-page version of President Donald Trump’s multitrillion-dollar tax bill, gamblers would only be able to deduct 90% of their losses when calculating their net income. Under current law, a bettor can deduct the entirety of their losses, up until the amount of their gambling winnings.

In a nutshell, under the new law, if a player were to report winnings of $100,000 and losses of $100,000, the player would still owe taxes on $10,000.

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Reason Why Brian Quintenz CFTC Nomination is Being Delayed

Brian Quintenz' nomination as the CFTC chair is apparently being delayed over his ties to the gambling prediction market Kalshi, we are learning Tuesday. 

He serves on that company's board.

Quintenz’s team reportedly sought confidential CFTC information regarding Kalshi competitors, Polymarket, and PredictIt during a transition planning process.

Eleanor Terrett, host of the Crypto America podcast, confirmed speculation, citing multiple possible triggers for the delay.

Lbbying by the  American Gaming Association, which opposes expanded prediction, may also be playing a role in the delay.  

It's an interesting development considering most of Trump's picks have had little trouble getting through. 

Leading gaming attorney Daniel Wallach suggests that Republican Senators in states where sports betting is currently regulated might have a tough time confirming Quintenz. 

The pertinent question that needed to be addressed as it pertained to prediction markets, Wallach noted:

"Question to ask Brian Quintenz prior to the Senate confirmation vote — whether he has plans to authorize the CFTC to file a CA3 amicus brief in support of Kalshi — all but telegraphed by Kalshi’s recent request for a multi-week extension in an expedited appeal. Brief due 7/31."

- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com Publisher