Pro poker star pleads guilty to fraud in $25M sports betting scheme

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Cory Zeidman didn’t like the hand he was dealt, so he folded. 

The former professional poker player pleaded guilty to fraud charges in connection with a multimillion-dollar scheme involving betting on college and professional sporting events. 

In the scheme, Zeidman and his organization would convince prospective gamblers that they had inside information on several events’ “pre-arranged” outcomes. 

Zeidman pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit mail fraud and wire fraud on Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York announced.  

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The poker star now faces up to 20 years in prison and forfeiture and restitution of approximately $3.6 million US. 

“Zeidman and his partners baited unsuspecting victims with false claims of an edge in sports betting only to feed them lies and pocket millions of dollars from their savings and retirement accounts,” U.S. attorney Breon Peace said in a statement. 

“Today’s guilty plea sends a message to all those who would prey upon the public by falsely advertising gambling as an ‘investment opportunity’: the only sure bet here is that this Office will work tirelessly to root out sources of disinformation and fraud and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.”

Zeidman, who won a World Series of Poker bracelet in 2012, helped run an organization, under various names, that advertised to lure bettors to pay the organization for betting advice, according to court documents. 

According to prosecutors, Zeidman and his associates used “fake names and high-pressure sales tactics,” while leading bettors to believe they had access to nonpublic information including unreported player injuries and allegedly “dirty” referees.

The organization also claimed certain events were “fixed” and that the outcomes were shared with them ahead of time. 

Because of this purported ‘insider information,’ gambling on the events was “risk free” while victims were required to pay “exorbitant” fees to receive the information — which they did not know was fictitious. 

The scheme raked in $25 million from customers across the U.S. from 2006-20. 

“Today’s guilty plea is proof that this individual gambled and lost when he thought his illegal activities would fly under the radar,” said Daniel Brubaker, of the U.S. postal inspection service. 

“Illegal gambling is not a victimless crime, Zeidman and his partners were able defraud so many individuals with their lies and had them pay these exorbitant fees for nothing.” 

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