Unnamed ex-NFL player worked as "face card" for rigged poker game as purported victim of $1,000,000 scam reveals details amid NBA gambling scandal

An anonymous former NFL player served as a "face card" for an allegedly "rigged" poker game to scam out nearly $1 million in a single night, according to an unnamed gambler. As per "The Washington Post," the purported victim of a Texas jeweler, Curtis Meeks, linked to the NBA's illegal gambling scandal, said that the fraudsters used an ex-NFL player, not a basketball star, as their front man to cheat him and his friends.

“During the game, we were around a bunch of bad guys, and they were trying to suck every bit away from us. And they did. They did a good job, and I’m still shell-shocked to this day from that night,” a source, who did not want to be named, told The Post.

The alleged victim added that Meeks, one of the defendants in the new federal prosecution, was the mastermind behind the scam.

“Meeks is the most despicable human I’ve ever been around in my entire life,” the alleged victim said. "The level he will go to get other people’s money is just disgusting. I’ve since found out that what he’s done to us, he’s done to many other people. This was not a freak occurrence.”

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The alleged victim also explained that the scam was carried out by using star athletes to lure unsuspecting victims to high-stakes poker games. While at the poker table, the players were reportedly at the mercy of concealed technology, including rigged shuffling machines and specially designed contact lenses and sunglasses to read the backs of playing cards. The game was seemingly designed to ensure that the victims would lose big.

Antonio Gates reportedly identified as ex-NFL star who allegedly participated in illegal poker game

Pro Football Hall of Fame TE Antonio Gates - Source: Imagn

On Sunday, Pablo Torre suggested that former NFL tight end Antonio Gates had allegedly hosted and participated in a rigged poker game in Miami. Torrie reported that the poker game was allegedly organized by Meeks.

Gates played his entire 16-year career as a tight end for the San Diego / Los Angeles Chargers. He earned eight Pro Bowl honors.

Gates was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame earlier this year.

Edited by Arnold