Poker Pro Damien LeForbes Pleads Guilty in Sports Betting Scheme Tied to Shohei Ohtani’s Ex-Interpreter

Professional poker player Damien Leforbes has plead guilty in federal court to running an illegal sports betting operation and money laundering.

Leforbes, according to sources, is connected with Matt Bowyer, the bookie who accepted millions in bets from Ohtani's ex interpreter He is the third California man to plead guilty in this matter.

BREAKING -- Poker player Damien Leforbes has pleaded guilty to running an illegal sports betting operation and money laundering. Leforbes, according to sources, is connected with Matt Bowyer, the bookie who accepted millions in bets from Ohtani's ex interpreter #GamblingX pic.twitter.com/MRVYfiX82U

— Matt Rybaltowski (@MattRybaltowski) August 27, 2024

Matt Rybaltowski of Sports Handle first reported on the plea deal Tuesday.

The complaint alleges that, over a nearly three-year period, LeForbes’ sports betting business brought in millions through illegal wagers across Nevada and California, with at least part of the business relying heavily on a Las Vegas casino.

LeForbes is alleged to have set up his illegal sportsbook no later than January 2021 and continued the business through last December 2023. The complaint claims he took bets in Los Angeles County and Orange County in California, and in Clark County, Nevada.

LeForbes is said to have employed agents who would bring in new bettors in exchange for a portion of their gambling losses. They would use a website or call center to create accounts where bets could be tracked.  The complaint also alleges he recruited casino hosts to work as agents, including two from an unidentified casino that referred at least two new bettors to the business.

He could face up to 15 years in prison a 31-page complaint filed by The Nevada Gambling Board claimed that Resorts World and its parent companies allowed “a culture that welcomed certain individuals with suspected or actual ties to illegal bookmaking, histories of federal convictions related to illegal gambling, and ties to organized crime.”

LeForbes and Bowyer are widely believed to have frequented that casino.