Cory Zeidman, who told PokerNews he wouldn’t plead guilty, entered a guilty plea on Thursday for his role in a $25 million sports betting fraud case.

The longtime poker player pleaded guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud more than two years after his arrest. He issued a statement shortly after his 2022 indictment, quoting a German philosopher in the process.

“In the words of (German philosopher Friedrich) Nietzsche, ‘Everything the state says is a lie and everything it has it has stolen.’ They took all my money and they seem upset that I won’t plead to things I haven’t done. I’ve been advised by my council to not get into details but I anxiously await my day in court. I have worked in the sports handicapping industry for the past 40 years starting with ‘professor picks.’ Trade secret — he wasn’t a real professor. I want to thank the outpouring of positive words in support from my close friends and family who know me best as an individual with the highest level of morals and integrity," Zeidman told PokerNews in June 2022.

Poker Player Changes Stance

Zeidman, a 2012 World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, reversed course in October when his attorneys told federal authorities that he would accept a guilty plea. He made it official on Thursday in the United States District Court Eastern District of New York, according to a news release from the United States Attorney’s Office.

Zeidman was arrested May 25, 2022 in Florida, and his case initially received extensive mainstream media coverage. USA Today, ESPN, and many other major news outlets picked up on the story.

He was accused by the government of falsely claiming to bettors to have “privileged” or inside information about various sporting events and he “falsely claimed that there was no risk associated with their wages,” court documents state. Zeidman is said to have placed radio ads to “lure victims.”

In exchange for the information, which prosecutors say “was either fictitious or obtained from an internet search,” Zeidman and his co-defendants demanded the victims pay fees and are alleged to have collected more than $25 million in fees between 2004 and 2020. The poker pro claimed the “privileged” sports betting information he had meant his clients would be taking on no risk betting on the games.

“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 news release.

Sentencing hasn’t been announced but he faces up to 20 years in federal prison and over $3 million in fines. Zeidman has been out on bond since his arrest. He has over $690,000 in live tournament cashes, according to The Hendon Mob, but none since May 19, 2022, days before the criminal proceedings began. But he has surfaced in some Florida cash games, per reports.

Zeidman is best known among poker boom era players for his infamous slowroll of poker legend Jennifer Harman at the 2005 WSOP.

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