Part 5/13:
2. Mafia-Driven Poker Rigs and High-Stakes Gambling
A second indictment revolves around Chanti Phillips functioning as a "face card"—meaning, a celebrity figure used to attract high rollers into mafia-controlled poker games. These games allegedly involved rigged shuffling machines and cheat devices, with Phillips serving as the lure. According to prosecutors, the mafia's goal was to induce high-volume betting, including an example in March 2023 where they allegedly arranged to "tank" a game between the Trail Blazers and the Bulls by resting key players to improve their draft position.