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A former World Series of Poker winner pleaded guilty Wednesday to defrauding bettors in Florida and New York.
Cory Zeidman, who won a championship bracelet at the 2012 World Series of Poker, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.
Prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York described a yearslong scheme to defraud prospective bettors by falsely claiming to have inside information on sporting events.
The 63-year-old Zeidman faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and was ordered to pay roughly $3.7 million in restitution to his victims. He also faces a fine up to $250,000.
Zeidman helped run an organization that placed national radio advertisements under names such as “Gordon Howard Global” and “Ray Palmer Group,” according to the original indictment in 2022. The companies, operating out of Florida and Long Island, sought to recruit bettors to pay for gambling advice.
Prosecutors called it a “massive fraud scheme” on Wednesday.
“Sports bettors sought Cory Zeidman’s advice before gambling their money – but it was Zeidman himself who was scoring big through his deceptive practices, outright lies, and high-pressure tactics that exploited unsuspecting clients,” special agent Charles Walker of Homeland Security in New York said in the release announcing the pleas.
The company used fake names and high-pressure sales tactics to lead bettors to believe the organization had access to inside information. Prosecutors said supposed player injury information, corrupt referees officiating games and events that were considered “fixed” were all tactics used by Zeidman’s organization. Zeidman attributed college team physicians and television executives as sources for the inside information when dealing with customers. The idea was to convince prospective bettors that the company’s “inside information” made gambling on such events a low-risk proposition.
Zeidman charged victims high prices to obtain the allegedly privileged information, which went on from 2006 to 2020. The indictment said the scheme amassed $25 million in fees over the years it was operating.
“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,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said.
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