Cheating at Poker Can Be a Crime, Even in an Illegal Game (1)

In the betting scandal roiling the National Basketball Association, one of the charges accuses former players of conspiring with the Mafia to swindle gamblers in private poker games. It raises an obvious question: In an illegal game, is cheating a crime?

The alleged cheating was a high-tech enterprise. Prosecutors charged more than 30 people with using modified shuffling machines, x-ray tables and special contact lenses to cheat players brought to the games by famous current and former athletes including Portland Trailblazers head coach Chauncey Billups.

The first crime would be operating an illegal gambling business, said Joshua Naftalis ...