SKIP TO CONTENT SKIP TO SITE INDEX SECTION NAVIGATION Search NEW YORK SUBSCRIBE FOR €0.50/WEEK LOG IN ADVERTISEMENT SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Sugar Shane Links 3 Gambling Scandals. And He’s Ready to Talk. The N.B.A. and the N.C.A.A. have been rocked by indictments accusing players and others of fixing bets and playing in rigged poker games.

Shane Hennen is named in each one. Listen · 19:37 min Share full article 29 The best gamblers, Shane Hennen believes, must use any information they can to win a game that’s been stacked against them by the house. “That’s all sports gambling is,” he said. Credit...

Ryan Pfluger for The New York Times By Santul Nerkar and Tania Ganguli Santul Nerkar reported from Jefferson, La., and New York, and Tania Ganguli from New York. June 17, 2026 Updated 11:55 a.m. ET See more of our coverage in your search results. Add The New York Times on Google Shane Hennen is among his people.

Hundreds have packed into Buffalo’s, a pool hall outside New Orleans, to compete in and wager on one of the largest billiards tournaments in America. Some are professional players; others are washed up; most everyone, he says fondly, is a degenerate gambler. “Everybody’s in here for one thing,” Mr.

Hennen says with a rasp, sipping from a bottle of grape soda. “And that’s to make money.” Mr. Hennen, a professional gambler who promotes his picks to 70,000 followers on social media, is 41 and stocky, with a short chinstrap beard that helps define his jawline a bit.

He usually favors turtlenecks, but on this late night in May, he’s in an oversize white AllSaints T-shirt and gym shorts. He moves around Buffalo’s easily, dapping up friends, former adversaries and associates from the betting world, all of whom greet him like family.

There’s no sign that he’s been indicted in three federal gambling cases and is facing decades in prison. Prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York have accused Mr. Hennen of helping the Mafia rig high-stakes poker matches, and of placing bets using inside information about the National Basketball Association.

Prosecutors in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania say he did the same for bets involving men’s basketball games in the N.C.A.A. and China. The basketball indictments center on insiders who are accused of leaking to sports bettors that players and teams would underperform, either intentionally or because of injury, enabling the gamblers to wager that the teams would lose games or score fewer points.

ADVERTISEMENT SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Two N.B.A. players, Terry Rozier and Jontay Porter, have been charged with participating in the schemes. Mr. Rozier has maintained he is innocent; his lawyer, Jim Trusty, said in a statement that he “never conspired with anyone.” Mr.

Porter has pleaded guilty and says he has a gambling addiction; he is awaiting sentencing and has been banned by the N.B.A. for life. The cases have profoundly embarrassed the leagues and called into question the integrity of their games — the exact result the N.B.A. said it had hoped to avoid when it led the push to bring sports gambling into the mainstream.

Image Jontay Porter, formerly of the Toronto Raptors, pleaded guilty to charges he participated in the basketball betting scheme. He was barred for life from playing in the N.B.A. Credit... Richard Lautens/Toronto Star, via Getty Images Altogether, 58 defendants are cited in the indictments.

Mr. Hennen is the only person charged in all three. Sugar Shane, as he’s widely known, has pleaded not guilty and intends to go to trial. Subscribe to The Times to read as many articles as you like. Santul Nerkar is a Times reporter covering federal courts in Brooklyn.

Tania Ganguli writes about money, power and influence in sports and how it impacts the broader culture. See more on: National Collegiate Athletic Association, DraftKings Inc READ 29 COMMENTS Share full article 29 Related Content ADVERTISEMENT SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Site Index Site Information Navigation © 2026 The New York Times Company NYTCoContact UsAccessibilityWork with usAdvertiseT Brand StudioPrivacy PolicyCookie PolicyTerms of ServiceTerms of SaleSite MapHelpSubscriptionsManage Privacy Preferences To leave without signing in, use your browser's Back button.

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