How Did This Get Rigged? The NBA Poker Scam w/ Paul Scheer & Jason Mantzoukas

Laci welcomes back comedians, actors, and podcasters Paul Scheer and Jason Mantzoukas (How Did This Get Made?), and the pair immediately have a bone to pick with the studio: why is there a Chewbacca mural on the wall instead of one of them? Paul, Jason, and Laci then bond over their shared distrust of AI on social media before diving into a wild FBI sting that exposed former NBA players and coaches like Chauncey Billups and Damon Jones, who were allegedly involved in rigged poker games. Backed by the Mafia, the operation used insider information to cheat at sports betting on a multi-million-dollar scale. Stay schemin’!

 

Listen to How Did This Get Made? wherever you get your podcasts.

 

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Keep the scams coming and snitch on your friends by emailing us at ScamGoddessPod@gmail.com.

 

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Research by Kathryn Doyle 

 

SOURCES

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/current-and-former-national-basketball-association-players-and-four-other-individuals

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/terry-rozier-tax-lien-sports-betting-ring/

https://www.wsj.com/sports/basketball/nba-gambling-scandal-damon-jones-lebron-james-8a8f4f77?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqeaEzJTg4cht94T_OTRX8F97Huk54E3ijkntEnw6hLa9uRb3g4fWZcRz1Z86GE%3D&gaa_ts=69028121&gaa_sig=ygd3QlDvRJwbSjj9LqwuqIFelkFOD2AAQb4Xqj3sAmJsBIx8DMxsGnvzELsBJn988iMAwXtsdrwEpwiVDQgk0Q%3D%3D

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/nyregion/nba-gambling-scandal-explained.html

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/46695228/sources-terry-rozier-arrested-part-gambling-inquiry

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/tsn/news/biggest-gambling-scandals-sports-history-bet/df2d2288eca5e3ba71738ecd

https://nypost.com/2025/10/27/us-news/alleged-nba-poker-scammer-pookie-painted-portraits-for-celebrities-and-singers/

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