Former NBA superstar Gilbert Arenas was arrested on Wednesday for his connection with a federal indictment that alleges the three-time All-Star hosted illegal high-stakes poker games at his mansion in Encino, California, per United States Attorney's Office of Central California.
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BREAKING: Gilbert Arenas and five other defendants – including a suspected high-level member of an Israeli transnational organized crime group – were arrested today on a federal indictment alleging they operated an illegal gambling business in which high-stakes poker games were… pic.twitter.com/i9KxTwn2Xb
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) July 30, 2025
In view of the charges, Arenas is facing one count of conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business, along with one count of operating an illegal gambling business, and one count of making false statements to federal investigators.
Furthermore, Arenas' is being tied to working with a member of an Israeli organized crime group, Yevgeni "Giora" Gershman, who has been indicted and arrested for previous involvement in this type of business (September 2021 to July 2022).
According to the indictment, Gershman and other defendants ran illegal "Pot Limit Omaha" poker games in Arenas' mansion, where they collected a cut from each pot contested. In addition, allegedly the group hired chefs, valets and armed security guards to staff the games, servers that provided massages and offered companionship to the poker players in exchange for tips, which the co-conspirators also took a cut from (per ESPN).
If convicted, Arenas and the other defendants would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for each count.
Gilbert Arenas was mocking Malik Beasley for getting in trouble for gambling last month 😭
He was arrested today for allegedly running an illegal gambling business with 7 other members.
He also congratulated Terry Rozier for his case getting dropped. pic.twitter.com/5cMDFdvFER
— SM Highlights (@SMHighlights1) July 30, 2025
Notably, this is not the first time Arenas has been caught up in trouble relating to card games, as when he was a member of the Washington Wizards (2009), he got into an altercation with a teammate that led to him bringing guns into the locker room. Later it was revealed this incident was a result of a card game gone wrong on a team flight.
Arenas is scheduled to make his first court appearance and be arraigned in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
Related: Gilbert Arenas' Fiancée Gives Engagement Ring to Him Two Weeks After Ex-NBA Star Proposed To Her
