Former NBA star Gilbert Arenas and five others were arrested Wednesday in Los Angeles and accused of illegally hosting high-stakes poker games at his California home, the Department of Justice said. Arenas was charged with three felony counts and arraigned Wednesday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Chooljian ordered Arenas released on a $50,000 bond after he pleaded not guilty.
Arenas’ trial is scheduled for Sept. 23. U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi will preside over the case.
According to an indictment filed by federal prosecutors, Arenas ran an illegal gambling ring from September 2021 through July 2022. The prosecutors claim that Arenas hosted games at his Encino, Calif., mansion and collected rent through an intermediary, while four others, including Yevgeni Gershman, who the government claimed to be a member of an Israeli organized crime group, ran games of various poker variants like pot-limit Omaha.
Arenas did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment, but posted an Instagram video of himself dancing Wednesday night and saying, “They can’t hold me.” The caption read, “Im Back on the Block like its HOT. … ‘just rented the house’ Wasnt apart of the Festivities #SnitchingGilComingSOON.”
It was not immediately clear who represented Gershman and another person arrested, Arthur Kats.
Arenas worked with Kats to arrange the games, prosecutors alleged in the indictment. The two began texting one another in October 2021 to discuss staging them. Arenas went so far as to use a poker table with “ARENAS POKER CLUB” printed on it, alongside a silhouette of a man wearing a No. 0 jersey with “ARENAS” on the nameplate, prosecutors said while sharing a photograph of the table in the indictment.
Arenas made a poker table with “ARENAS POKER CLUB” printed on top of it, alongside a a silhouette of a man wearing a No. 0 jersey with “ARENAS” on the name plate, according to federal prosecutors, and sent it to the man the feds say he had rent out his home and set up the events.
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While Arenas paid Kats at least $14,000 for managing the setup for the games, he also texted Kats that he wanted to earn a rake, a portion of the money wagered in the games, according to text messages shared in the indictment. Arenas texted Kats on Dec. 28, 2021, that he wanted to use the rake from a game hosted at his home to send to the mother of a person described as his “deceased former lover.”
The games began in February 2022, according to the indictment, and seemed to happen weekly, the indictment said. In one April 2022 text, Arenas told Kats, “I have an idea that might bring in new players for u . . . imma [sic] do a youtube episode of me at the game but blur out players and girls that don’t want to be scene [sic] for my channel.”
Federal prosecutors also said that Arenas lied to U.S. Customs and Border Protection in September 2022 while trying to recover money that had been seized by Homeland Security from his master bedroom, telling the border protection officials that he was not involved in the gambling ring at his home.
Arenas has been charged with one count of conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business, one count of operating an illegal gambling business and one count of making false statements to federal investigators.
He played 11 years in the NBA, including stints with the Golden State Warriors and Washington Wizards. Arenas made three All-Star teams and finished eighth in MVP voting in 2007. He made more than $160 million during his career and now hosts a popular podcast, “Gil’s Arena.”
Arenas has had issues with the law before and pleaded guilty to federal gun possession in Washington, D.C., in 2010 after he brought four guns to the Wizards locker room in their D.C. arena after a disagreement with teammate Javaris Crittenton. Arenas served two days in jail, spent time in a halfway house and was sentenced to two years of probation. The NBA also suspended him for 50 games.
Gershman, according to federal prosecutors, also hired young women to work the games, serve drinks and massages and return a portion of their earnings to the people running the operation, which was between 25 percent and 35 percent, according to a text message in the indictment. Gershman is also being indicted on three counts based on allegations that he committed marriage fraud.
Arenas’ son, Alijah, is a freshman guard for the USC basketball team who has also made headlines for unrelated reasons. He recently suffered a knee injury that will leave him sidelined for at least 6-8 months. The injury occurred just a few months after the 18-year-old survived a severe car crash in which bystanders had to pull him from his burning Tesla Cybertruck.
(Photo: Scott Taetsch / Getty Images)