Poker pro Damien LeForbes is facing up to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to operating an illegal sportsbook and money laundering.
The sophisticated setup saw LeForbes – who has $55k in recorded tournament earnings – launder money from his illegal operation by wagering more than $148million in bets at a Vegas casino known in documents as “Casino A”.
“Casino A” is believed to be Resorts World Las Vegas, itself at the centre of a federal investigation and also subject to a Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) probe for allegedly allowing money laundering to take place on its premises.
LeForbes plied his crooked scheme across California and Nevada from at least January 2021 through to December 2023, employing agents to bring in new gamblers for a cut of their losses.
The illegal sportsbook accepted payment in cash, checks and wire transfers, as well as crypto and PayPal among other methods.
A shell company named DJL was setup to deal with the payments, of which Damien Joseph LeForbes is listed as president on his LinkedIn profile.
Professional poker player Damien LeForbes — who just pled guilty to running an illegal sports betting operation & money laundering — gambled $148 million at a Las Vegas casino over an 11 month period. https://t.co/DgLR43QscY
— Las Vegas Locally 🌴 (@LasVegasLocally) August 27, 2024
In NGCB documents, LeForbes is stated to wagered over $148million at the casino, executing at least 17 personal checks totaling $9.1 million, including a $1 million check in April 2023.
He is also reported to have presented at least $2.8 million in cash to Casino A between January 2022 and December 2023.
The murky tale of chicanery has already seen former Resorts World president, Scott Sibella, sentenced to a year of probation for violating federal anti-money laundering rules.
LeForbes the Poker Player
This week saw LeForbes agree to a plea deal which will likely considerably reduce the hitherto possibility of up to 15 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $500,000.
The Bellflower, California resident has 15 recorded tournament cashes to his name, dating back to 2006.
His biggest cash was a $14,600 scoop of the 2007 Big Poker Oktober in Bell Gardens and his most recent cash came in the 2019 WSOP $1k Tag Team event.
LeForbes also appeared on Poker After Dark alongside ben Lamb, Antonio Esfandiari and Scott Ball. We covered another costly episode for LeForbes from that cash game in our Poker Hand of the Week.
Shady sportsbetting and poker links
LeForbes is by far not the first or only poker player to be caught in shady sportsbetting shenanigans.
We reported back in 2022 how WSOP bracelet winner Corey Zeidman was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering conspiracy in a scheme that defrauded sportsbettors out of $25million.
That case is still ongoing, with Zeidman also attempting to agree a plea deal to avoid a lengthy prison sentence. Zeidman won his bracelet in Event #4: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better of the 2012 WSOP.
Perhaps the most infamous case was that of Hillel ‘Helly’ Nahmad, the art dealer who ran a $100million highstakes poker game and illegal sportsbetting racket.
Nahmad owned the entire 51st floor of Trump Tower, believe to have cost $21million at the time, where many of the infamous Molly Bloom highstakes games would take place.
Nahmad was sentenced to one year and one day jail time for his involvement but was pardoned by President Trump in 2021 in an “11th hour act”.
- Get the best rakeback deals
- See the best poker promotions
- View the latest poker news
- Get the best No Deposit Poker Bonuses
- Benefit from the biggest poker bonus
- Calculate your rakeback with the rakeback calculator
Terms and conditions apply. New customer offer and 18+ only. Should you require help regarding your betting pattern, please visit www.begambleaware.org.
