Tennis Coach Pleads Guilty in Case Tied to Professional Poker Player

A Wichita man has pleaded guilty to operating an illegal gambling business in the Wichita, Kansas area.

Former Newman University tennis coach, Jack Oxler, is the eighth person charged and the third to plead guilty so far this year.  Three former law enforcement officers have also been named as part of the investigation. 

The U.S. attorney said in court documents that Oxler owned and managed the business, which grossed $2,000 in revenue every day.  Sentencing is scheduled for May 2.

“He (Oxler) was involved in ... the organization and running of poker games, and he was involved in administering what I think is an offshore sport book,” Oxler’s attorney, G. Craig Robinson, said.

Oxler could be sentenced to up to five years in federal prison and pay up to a $250,000 fine on each count, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said.

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Poker pro and steakhouse owner Brandon Steven is among those who have been under scrutiny from law enforcement as part of extensive gambling probe

“Jack looks forward to getting the matter behind him in the near future,” Robinson said.

“We’re making all efforts to resolve the difficulty that Jack has gotten himself into that dovetails into the plea that’s pending.”

The case is part of an ongoing investigation into illegal gambling in Wichita that also included wiretapping of several Wichitans’ phones in 2015.

Car dealership mogul, restaurateur and professional poker player Brandon Steven confirmed last year he was the subject of a federal inquiry related to poker and his attempt to open a state casino.  Steven has yet to be charged and it is not yet known what ties he had, if any, to Oxler.

Jim Cross, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Kansas, seemed to confirm the probe involving Stephen is connected to the Oxler case.

The “charge filed today against Jack Oxler, 41, Wichita, Kan., arises from the same federal investigation as the other gambling cases," he said in an email to the Wichita Eagle.

Stephen recently opened a high end steakhouse in the city of Wichita.

- Ace King, Gambling911.com