Pro Poker Player Arrested in Connection to $25 Million Sports Betting Scheme

A professional poker player was arrested on Wednesday on charges of fraud and money laundering related to a $25 million sports betting scheme, according to ESPN. Cory Zeidman faces federal charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering as part of a scheme that ran from 2004 to 2020. Zeidman 61 won a bracelet at the World Series of Poker in 2012. 

The federal indictment says Zeidman and his co-conspirators received more than $25 million in interstate wire transfers and private commercial carries from victims who were led to believe the organization had privileged information that made betting on sporting events a no-risk proposition. They would place misleading radio ads in various U.S. markets claiming to have a “sophisticated white-collar approach to gathering sports information.”

Poker pro Cory Zeidman was indicted for allegedly operating a sports betting "fraud scheme" where he defrauded victims out of millions over a 15-year span.https://t.co/KrwukztY7O pic.twitter.com/DRwhrQhQLv

— UK PokerNews (@UK_PokerNews) May 26, 2022

“As alleged, Zeidman preyed on individuals who were led to believe he had inside information that would lead them to easy money,” Homeland Security Investigations New York acting special agent in charge Ricky J. Patel said in a release announcing the arrest. “In reality, he was selling nothing but lies and misinformation — bilking millions from victims along the way, leaving their lives in financial ruin and their bank accounts empty.”  

Zeidman and his co-conspirators used names like “Gordon Howard Global” and “Ray Palmer Group,” and would tell listeners they had information about fix games that they received from physicians at colleges and television executives. Callers were asked to pay a fee for access to the information. According to Poker.org, Zeidman is alleged to have used numerous aliases in the course of enacting frauds, including Richard Barnes, Walter Barr, Mr. Carlyle, Ray Palmer, Rick Cash, Elliot Stern, Gordon Howard, David Coates, Simon Coates, Paul Knox, Mark Lewis, Joel Orenstein, and Steve Nash.

According to Card Player, Zeidman, 61 won nearly $700,000 in his career. At the 2012 World Series of Poker, Zeidman won the $1,500 Seven-Cad Stud Hi/Lo 8/OB event and earned a little over $200,000. His last event he participated in was the $400 No-Limit Hold’em Deep Stack $100K at the 2022 Deep Stack Poker Series on May 22 and finished in 55th place.