Former NBA guard Bob Sura recently spoke on the “Subpar” podcast about gambling among players during his career, revealing that bets sometimes rivaled the intensity of the games themselves. According to Sura, these high-stakes card games took place in locker rooms, on team flights, and in hotels, separate from basketball competition.
Betting Behind Doors
While off-court games are rarely publicized by the league, Sura’s revelations on the Jan. 27 podcast episode echo ongoing FBI investigations involving current NBA players and alleged connections to organized crime networks.
Some might be surprised to learn that such gambling activities have parallels to cases currently under FBI investigation, with indictments involving NBA players and alleged ties to mafia networks.
Sura described how games like Bourré often started innocently but could turn intense because of the large sums of money and egos involved.
“We were playing a lot of Bourré… I was playing with Ben Wallace, Rip Hamilton and those guys… It can get nasty, for sure,” Sura said.
He noted that while some sessions remained under control, the potential for escalation was always there. “It wasn’t a huge game, so nobody got mad, nobody got hurt…” he said, before adding, “The game can start out from one dollar, and then guys were losing houses and cars…”
Sura even linked such high-stakes disputes to past incidents, saying, “And I think that argument was over that,” in reference to the 2009 Gilbert Arenas locker-room gun incident, which reportedly grew out of a gambling disagreement among Washington Wizards teammates.
After retiring from basketball, Sura turned to high-stakes poker and competed in events including the World Series of Poker— some habits never changed.
Sura is not alone on the NBA gambling scene.
As BBC News reported on Oct. 23, 2025, the FBI arrested 34 people in connection with two separate but overlapping illegal gambling and fraud schemes that allegedly involved NBA players and members of New York’s historic mafia families, including the Bonanno, Genovese, Gambino, and Colombo organizations.
In the first operation, code-named “Operation Nothing But Bet,” prosecutors alleged that NBA players and their associates used insider information to manipulate sports bets, sometimes by deliberately altering on-court performance or faking injuries.
Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier pleaded not guilty and had bond set at $3 million after authorities claimed he shared details about leaving a game early in 2023 specifically for betting purposes.
Former player Damon Jones also entered a not-guilty plea and was accused of passing along injury information tied to multiple NBA games between February 2023 and March 2024.
The indictment specifically pointed to seven games where such manipulation allegedly occurred: the Feb. 9, 2023, Lakers versus Bucks matchup; the March 23, 2023, Hornets versus Pelicans contest; the March 24, 2023, Trail Blazers versus Bulls game; the April 6, 2023, Magic versus Cavaliers tilt; the January 15, 2024, Lakers versus Thunder game; the Ja. 26, 2024, Raptors versus Clippers matchup; and the March 20, 2024, Raptors versus Kings contest.
A second case centered on a mafia-linked illegal poker ring involving 31 defendants.
Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups was among those charged, accused of serving as a “face card” to lure victims into the games, BBC reported.
He posted $5 million bail and was placed on unpaid administrative leave.
Authorities alleged the ring employed sophisticated cheating tools, including X-ray tables, marked cards, specialized shuffling machines, and even contact lenses designed to read hidden markings.
Profits from the operation were reportedly laundered through bank wires and cryptocurrency, while some participants allegedly resorted to robbery and extortion to enforce debts or protect the scheme.
The activities stretched across years and multiple locations, including the Hamptons, Las Vegas, Miami, and Manhattan, with the investigation beginning as early as 2019.
Law enforcement officials described the schemes as “mind-boggling,” regarding the use of advanced technology to cheat and the involvement of violence.
The NBA responded swiftly to the charges.
Commissioner Adam Silver called the allegations “deeply disturbing” and reiterated the league’s commitment to safeguarding the integrity of the game.
Both Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups were placed on administrative leave.
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