Pro player Matt Berkey’s 2023 story about a Billups-centered game makes the rounds on social media.
The FBI arrested Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups on Thursday for his alleged connection to a poker scheme that had ties to the mafia. In the indictment, the FBI alleges that the poker scheme featured rigged card shufflers, poker chip racks with secret cameras, and even marked cards that could only be seen with special glasses or contact lenses.
Many people expressed surprise that Billups could be involved in such a scheme. One person who was not surprised was professional poker player Matt Berkey. Berkey hosts a podcast, Only Friends Podcast, and a clip resurfaced of a story Berkey told on the show in 2023.
“Cheating is bad, okay?” Berkey began. “There are a lot of stories about it… there was this game… and it was all built around Chauncey Billups.”
Chauncey Billups, you say? You have my attention, Mr. Berkey.
FBI arrests Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups in an alleged mafia-linked poker scheme as pro Matt Berkey’s 2023 warning resurfaces.
(Getty Images)
The professional poker player said someone told him about the game and swore that it was legitimate. Berkey wasn’t buying it.
“I know a lot of the people involved, and I’m telling you 100% that [the game] is not on the up-and-up,” Berkey recounted. “I had some friends that went and played [in the game] … and it obviously was, for sure, confirmed to be cheated. People who clearly didn’t even understand the rules of no-limit hold’em are just jamming hundreds of big blinds in with just [a gut-shot straight draw] and just drilling it. Only the pros were losing.”
Remember, Berkey told this story in August 2023, two years prior to Billups’ arrest.
This is the part that confuses me about how rigged poker games can last for any period of time. Yes, bad beats happen. But these guys were inviting professional poker players to games. The key to being a professional poker player is understanding things like pot odds, probability, and body language.
It’s not surprising that Berkey’s professional poker playing friends immediately recognized that the game wasn’t being played on the level. It’s surprising that it went on for so long before people caught on.
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