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A former top Las Vegas casino executive faces up to five years in prison after admitting to assisting an illegal gambling ring run by a former minor league baseball ballplayer who carted duffel bags full of cash to The Strip.

Scott Sibella pleaded guilty on Wednesday to his role in Wayne Nix’s illicit sports betting ring, which catered to VIPs including NBA legend Scottie Pippen and LeBron James‘ business manager Maverick Carter.

According to a plea agreement, Sibella turned a blind eye when Nix arrived at the MGM Grand in 2018 with $120,000 in cash to pay off a gambling debt, failing to file a suspicious-activity report in violation of federal anti-money laundering rules.

Sibella also lavished Nix with free hotel stays, complimentary meals and golf outings with other high-rollers between August 2017 and February 2019, according to the plea agreement. 

The MGM Grand and another MGM Resorts property, The Cosmopolitan, agreed to pay $7.5 million in fines as part of a non-prosecution agreement over Nix’s activities, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

Former Las Vegas casino executive Scott Sibella pleaded guilty on Wednesday to his role in Wayne Nix’s illicit sports betting ring, which catered to VIPs and professional athletes

According to a plea agreement, Sibella turned a blind eye when Nix arrived at the MGM Grand in 2018 with $120,000 in cash to pay off a gambling debt 

In a statement through his attorney, Sibella said: ‚I take full responsibility for my actions and inactions, but I must make clear I took no action for my personal benefit or inurement.‘ 

DailyMail.com reported in August that the federal investigation of Nix’s gambling ring had extended to Las Vegas, where agents questioned current and former employees at the MGM Grand and Resorts World.

Sibella was president of the MGM Grand for eight years, until joining Resorts World Las Vegas as president in 2019. 

He was fired from Resorts World in September, with the Genting Group-owned casino saying at the time that it was ‚was recently made aware that Mr. Sibella violated company policies and the terms of his employment.‘

Nix, a former pitcher for Oakland Athletics farm teams, pleaded guilty in 2022 to conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business and filing a false tax return.

Prosecutors say he ran a massive illegal sports betting operation in California that used other former pro athletes to take bets, and took wagers from celebrities including active professional players.

The sprawling investigation into the betting ring has continued, leading to charges against a celebrity accountant, ex-MBL star Yasiel Puig, and others. 

The charges against Sibella are the latest fallout from the investigation, which is being run by federal prosecutors in Los Angeles.

Sibella insisted to investigators in 2022 that he did not know how Nix earned the money he used to gamble at MGM properties. 

‚I didn’t want to know because of my position,‘ he said, according to the Journal. ‚If we know, we can’t allow them to gamble…I didn’t want to know I guess because he wasn’t doing anything to cheat the casino.‘ 

Nix, a former pitcher for Oakland Athletics farm teams, pleaded guilty in 2022 to conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business and filing a false tax return 

LeBron James’s business partner Maverick Carter, seen with the NBA star above, admitted to placing a bet with Nix, but has not been charged in the case

Scottie Pippen (left), the retired NBA Hall of Famer and Michael Jordan’s longtime Chicago Bulls teammate, admitted to placing at least one bet with Nix

But prosecutors say that in January 2019, Nix told Sibella that an MGM Grand customer, who was known to Sibella, had placed a $5 million bet on the Super Bowl through Nix’s business, according to documents.

Nix also used luxury golf outings provided by MGM Grand to lure in new clients for his betting operation, prosecutors say.

And at least two casino hosts assigned to Nix were also aware of the betting ring, and on one occasion Nix told a host that he would be upset if one of his clients traveled to Vegas to gamble before paying off a sports betting debt to Nix.

Sibella faces up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 after pleading guilty to failing to file suspicious activities reports while employed at MGM. 

‚I am pleased to have this investigation and its findings reaching a conclusion,‘ said Sibella’s statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

‚I am proud of my 35 years of contributions and leadership to the industry that has meant so much to and has supported me,‘ he added. ‚As this process comes to a conclusion, I look forward to continuing to provide my knowledge, skills and insights to support the continued growth, evolution and professionalism of the gaming industry.‘

Sibella, 60, was a veteran of the Las Vegas Strip, and previously held high-level positions at the Mirage, Treasure Island, Tropicana and Golden Nugget.

He also served as an executive at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, and the Tropicana’s Atlantic City outpost.

In 2011, when he was President and COO of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Sibella starred in an episode of Undercover Boss, posing as a blackjack dealer on the casino’s floor. 

In 2011, when he was President and COO of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Sibella (center) starred in an episode of Undercover Boss, posing as a blackjack dealer

Surveillance video shows a confrontation between Robert Alexander (on scooter) and RJ Cipriani (standing) in Crockfords, a Hilton-managed hotel at Resorts World Las Vegas. The incident is the subject of a pending lawsuit naming Sibella as a defendant

In 2019, he departed the MGM Grand and took a new job at Resorts World. He was fired from Resorts World in September, with the company issuing a public statement claiming he ‚violated company policies.‘

Sibella is also a defendant in a lawsuit filed by Las Vegas high roller Robert ‚RJ‘ Cipriani in October. 

Cipriani, a high-stakes professional blackjack player, in the suit alleges that Sibella brushed off his July 2021 warnings that felons with fraud and illegal gambling convictions were playing at Resorts World.

The suit alleged that the famed casino allowed a convicted fraudster to menace and harass Cipriani from the back of a mobility scooter, claiming negligence, civil conspiracy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Sibella’s attorney previously denied the lawsuit’s claims in a statement to DailyMail.com, calling them ‚the latest rehashing of allegations against Resorts World and Mr. Sibella that have been thoroughly investigated and determined to be baseless by Nevada gaming authorities and others.‘

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While many of us are in no way experts, and we just tag along to a casino to have a little fun, and see if fate happens to be on our side, there are actually games that you should prioritise when playing. Why, you ask? Well, many of these casino games actually come with odds or an edge that you can know about before you start playing. What an edge specifically means is, there is a degree or a percentage that works against you and is in favour of the casino winning. While the percentages can vary for each kind of game you play, it is important to know these values, especially if you are a beginner. It can help you give yourself the best chance of winning, which should be anyone’s goal when they play at land-based casinos or a casino online!

Casino Games With The Best Odds

Before we do start going into detail of the games with the best odds, it is important for you to know that not all casino games will be generous or favourable to you and your wallet. In fact, there is a saying that the house always wins, due to the odds that are against you before you even start playing. This is why many of the professionals are constantly forming strategies and methods of heightening their gambling techniques when they are in the game, which is what you will most likely do as you become more experienced. Nevertheless, use this article as means to become more familiar with the games that you happen to introduce to yourself along your journey.

The best games to play

So, when you first enter the casino hall, you need to remember one thing. Casino table games will always have better odds at winning than your standard slot games on the casino floor. There is not a ‚why‘ to this reason, it is just the way it is, so always keep that in mind when you are making your selections. It certainly will help you when you build up the confidence of playing.

Blackjack: 49% chance of winning

Blackjack is a firm favourite of the gambling community, that there is no doubt. A simple game when you first contemplate playing it, but of course the further you get into it, the more opportunity you have if exploring betting opportunities that the game has to offer. This game has you playing against the dealer, and more than one person can play alongside you, but you will not be playing it out with each other, all that force will be directed to the dealer only. Whoever gets the closest hand to 21 is the winner and will of course win bets placed within the game. It could be you, it could be the dealer, but go into it knowingly, that the odds against you will be 51%, which is huge but still one of the best games out there for odds in your favour.

Winning blackjack will always be about the chance more than the skill, as the cards that happen to be in your hand you do not choose, it is all by random occurrence of course. Next time you happen to be in Vegas and pop down to the Venetian Resort, you should definitely be at a bit of an advantage, knowing which games pay you the best, right?

Craps: 50% chance of winning

Casino Games With The Best Odds

Craps is another game that you need to add to your list to play. The entire game is composed of you and other players, alongside a shooter that will roll the dice. The coming out roll, is the first roll that is played within the game essentially. For the shooter to win (who you are betting against), they need to roll a 7 or an 11. If you happen to make a pass line wager within the game, that possesses the odds of 50/50, which is the highest variant of odds in the game. There are more outcomes that are not so achievable and will have harder odds to achieve, so be less specific about the bets you want to make!

The worst games to play

Slots: 1 in 49.8 million chances

You heard us say that slots are not the best for you to try out earlier, and we meant it. Did you know that slot games are super difficult to win, as there are so many outcomes that could happen when you spin that wheel? Usually players often spend huge amounts to get just one win, which is never guaranteed as a large amount. Often it is the smaller payouts that have a better chance of winning, when you chose to play a low variance slot.

Big Wheel/ Wheel of Fortune: 26% chance of winning

When you play this game, you will bet on the wheel landing and stopping on a label that you prefer. It can be any money variants, or of course a Joker. Whatever the wheel stops on, is what you will win. Usually you can bet on super low limits, meaning it is possible to actually bet $1 and come out with more, but that is a small possibility. The payouts are pretty low, as yet the casino edge is high, so stay vigilant!