[SBR_John]

MCSO Taps Alleged Gambling Ring

POSTED: 3:45 pm PDT April 24, 2007
UPDATED: 10:11 pm PDT April 24, 2007

PHOENIX -- The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said it served 44 search warrants on Tuesday in a two-year-long undercover operation designed to break up an international gambling ring based in Phoenix.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio said in "Operation High Stakes," undercover deputies successfully penetrated four separate but loosely connected groups working out of various homes and businesses in the Valley that used Internet-based betting sites to take illegal gambling bets online or via toll free telephone numbers.

Arpaio said that while most bets were made online through Costa Rica-based betting sites, the payouts and collections occurred in local Phoenix bars and restaurants throughout the Valley.

"Millions of dollars were being collected, sometimes extorted from people here who placed bets through these illegal gambling operations," Arpaio said. "If someone couldn't pay their debts, interest rates as high as 51 percent were levied."

Arpaio said that large amounts of cocaine were also flowing through these gambling syndicates.

"Some people were even forced to give up their homes and their retirements to pay off the organizations' loan sharks," Arpaio said.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio

At a news conference, Arpaio told reporters that 44 search warrants were simultaneously executed Tuesday morning, including a number of private residences, businesses, even private vaults.

At the same time, search warrants were also being conducted in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, Arpaio said.

Arpaio said the investigation, conducted with the assistance of Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard's Office, will freeze 120 local bank accounts, as well as place racketeering liens on several homes and businesses.

Arpaio said 40 suspects who were responsible for the day-to-day operations of these organizations, including bookies, collectors, loan sharks and Web site owners, have been identified.

So far, numerous arrests have been made and more are anticipated, Arpaio said.

Hundreds of bettors have also been identified through the investigation and they will likely be contacted and arrested by sheriff's deputies, Arpaio said.

Copyright 2007 by KPHO.com. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published , broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[Santo]

MCSO Taps Alleged Gambling Ring

Hundreds of bettors have also been identified through the investigation and they will likely be contacted and arrested by sheriff's deputies, Arpaio said.

Is the interesting bit.. something of a new direction, no?

[chano]

Is the interesting bit.. something of a new direction, no?

Yes, but nothing will happen to them (bettors). Thats a bunch of bullshit.

[nikosgr]

Which books in Costa Rica?This is the real question.

[SBR_John]

Tradewinds and All Sports Now were two sites listed on the big chart they displayed.

[JoshW]

The irony is that credit operations like this are going to be what keeps the big operators going with the end of easy movement of money. But they are also the most risky in that they are highly illegal and could lead to some of these host countries to allow the US to go after books.

I can say that WSEX while high profile avoids all the credit business and being in Antigua, I think that makes them the most safe.

[jjgold]

unreal amount of money being bet on credit throughout the usa

it must crush post up money

[Justin7]

When a post-up player sends $500, he'll normally lose it all - it just takes time.

When a credit player is playing 5k+ a game, he will beat you if you don't know what you are doing. He might even beat you if you're sharp, but not as badly.

I'd bet the hold for credit players is much lower than post-up players.

[Sam Odom]

The sheriff’s office is accusing Valenti of running the Web sites www.betcris.com and www.bigonsports.com; Melton is accused of operating www.tradewinds.com.cr/trdwd.com; Pokrass is accused of running www.allsportsnow.com; and DiPiero is accused of running www.vipsportswagers.com. Some of the Web sites have been taken off-line.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/88450

[WileOut]

When a post-up player sends $500, he'll normally lose it all - it just takes time.

When a credit player is playing 5k+ a game, he will beat you if you don't know what you are doing. He might even beat you if you're sharp, but not as badly.

I'd bet the hold for credit players is much lower than post-up players.

I'd be willing to bet that the ratio of squares to sharps is about the same for credit players as it is for post ups.

Books would not extend credit to players if they were losing anything by doing so. The big timers are just as square as the small timers.

[Shuswapper]

The owner of MW posted on his site that this info should disregarded, and slagged other site owners for reporting it. Seems like this guy has stopped even pretending to care about bettors and their problems getting paid. Most of the other big sites are reporting about Bodog's foot-dragging re payments, but no mention of it on MW. I see that Ayre and the Major Wager guy, Ross Hawkins are both from Canada. Who can you trust in this business?