MLB commissioner Rob Manfred spoke to the media before World Series Game 2 on Saturday. As he does during every Fall Classic, Manfred fielded questions from assembled reporters on a variety of topics.

A big-money poker ring involving NBA figures indicted this week for allegedly cheating unsuspecting rich players echoes decades of films and TV shows, with supposed Mafia involvement adding to the drama.

The U.S. government alleges that a dozen men with ties to infamous Mafia clans oversaw a brazen poker cheating scheme spanning six years.

You can picture the scene. Tucked somewhere between the glitter and grit of Manhattan, a room wafting smoke with the rhythm of a poker game seemingly like any other: Cards whisper against felt, chips click in steady tempo,

Authorities said the "mind-boggling" fraud involved tens of millions of dollars and included members of organised crime.

Authorities say an indicted poker cheating ring involving pro sports figures and the mafia used a series of high-tech tactics in the scam.

The Miami Heat and Portland Trail Blazers both won their first games since Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland head coach Chauncey Billups were arrested on Thursday in connection with two separate federal gambling investigations announced by the Eastern District of New York.

Two years before Chauncey Billups was named in an indictment in a rigged poker scheme, a pro poker player said a rigged game was built around Billups.

New York FBI Assistant Director Christopher Raia said that "Operation Royal Flush" has arrested dozens of members of various crime families of "la Cosa Nostra" in an illegal gambling scheme. They allegedly used NBA stars as "bait" to get people into high-level poker games,

The Chicago Bulls and the entire NBA are still reeling in the aftermath of a league-redefining gambling scandal. “You just get surprised by those things,” Billy Donovan said.

NBA gambling investigation reveals high-tech cheating methods using infrared devices and rigged poker tables, with victims losing an estimated $7 million since 2019.