New Yorker Goes to Prison for Serious Illegal Poker Activities

One more defendant in a famous high-stakes poker games case was sentenced to prison.

Edwin Ting from New York City, along with another 33 people was accused in being part of an American-Russian organized crime group related to poker games. The charges were pressed in April 2013 and last week he was sentenced to spend five months in prison and pay $2 million damages, by the Manhattan federal court.

Preet Bharara, US attorney, commented that from 2010 to 2013, Ting ran different poker games with bets that reached hundreds of thousands of dollars, which is absolutely against US gambling laws.

Respected professionals took part in these games

It was not a surprise when the authorities revealed that some of the players that took part in the underground games were athletes, Hollywood stars and other esteemed senior business managers. What is not clear is why all these punters didn’t play online poker in the US, as it is already legal in three states, so that they could avoid troubles with the gambling authorities.

Playing poker is not considered a crime in America but it is absolutely illegal to gain profit from promoting it, therefore 25 of the 34 defendants pleaded guilty, hoping to avoid imprisonment and agreeing to pay a total of more than $68 million in compensations.