- A popular influencer is now banned from some casinos on the Las Vegas Strip.
- The ban comes on the heels of the NBA gambling scandal.
- Legalized betting doesn’t eliminate cheating.
A few years ago, someone very close to me used a fake ID to play blackjack at a Reno-Nevada casino, where we live.
She was the youngest person in a group celebrating another friend’s 21st birthday and didn’t see the harm in using an ID that had her real name, but boosted her age by a few months.
Needless to say, when I found out about it, I urged her to never, ever do it again. While her transgression, if she’d been caught, would have most likely “only” been a misdemeanor, according to Nevada law, it was not worth the charge, or the potential fine, or being banned from the casino.
Because it turns out that — no surprise — casinos are fussy about some things, and underage gambling is one of them.
Another no-no in casinos?
Promoting unlicensed betting operations while on the premises of Las Vegas Strip casinos.
Flouting the rules will get you banned from Las Vegas Strip casinos.
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Strip casinos ban gambling guru over unlicensed sportsbook
Promoting an unlicensed operation is what just got John Cerasani, an Instagram personality who styled himself as a top‑level gambling expert with a six‑figure following, barred from multiple casinos on the Las Vegas Strip.
Cerasani’s transgression? Endorsing the offshore sportsbook MyBookie, an operator that lacks U.S. license oversight, as reported by casino.org.
Content posted by Cerasani included referral links to MyBookie but also includes promotional offers tied to his Las Vegas casino visits, and social postings from the floor‑level in Strip resorts. According to multiple operators, once the promotional campaign was flagged, resort security and risk‑management teams acted swiftly to exclude him from entry across properties.
While Cerasani’s offenses don’t rise to level of, say, the recent NBA gambling scandal, it’s a reminder that licensed betting outfits do not mess around.
What Cerasani and the NBA have in common
Last month, the NBA found itself at the epicentre of a sweeping cheating and illegal‑gambling investigation, involving more than 30 arrests.
Charges span wire fraud, money‑laundering, and suspected rigging-the-game activity. Among those implicated were Chauncey Billups (head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers) and Terry Rozier (a guard for the Miami Heat).
Investigators described the scheme as one of the most “brazen sports‑corruption cases” in the post‑legal‑betting era.
It’s such a big deal that even the U.S. Senate is investigating.
Related: Major airline launches surprising flight between Las Vegas and Paris
The commonalities are clear: insider access, large‑platform influence, and “unregulated betting flows.” It amounts to illegal betting, which is a crime, according to the International Association of Gaming Advisors.
The Strip incident and the NBA scandal both underscore a single lesson: When access meets money and there is no, or not enough, oversight, some people take advantage of an “opportunity.”
In both cases, the dynamic was similar. On the Strip, a figure with a large reach used a regulated space (the casino lobby/stage) to channel traffic to an unlicensed operator. In the NBA case, trusted figures used status and access to exploit the betting system.
Both types of behavior threaten the integrity of regulated arenas, whether sports leagues or casino resorts.
Gambling cheating scandals in 2025
- March 2025 – Houston Poker RFID Scheme: Player used RFID-tagged cards and a hidden reader to view opponents’ hands. Source: Gambling News
- April 2025 – Toronto Dealer Collusion: Two dealers and patrons caught cheating; casino fined $120K (Canadian). Source: Gambling Insider
- May 2025 – SoCal Mississippi Stud Scam: Two gamblers charged for crimping cards to gain an advantage worth $30K. Source: Casino.org
- June 2025 – Multi-State Baccarat Ring: Six suspects stole over $1.5M from casinos in six states using hidden cameras and cut cards. Source: Casino.org
- October 2025 – Sports Betting Probe: FBI indicts Las Vegas man linked to NBA betting and poker cheating cases. Source: The Gaming Boardroom
These examples illustrate not only that cheating takes many forms, but also that the root motivator is always the same: circumventing rules for advantage.
Why casinos look for cheaters
For the casinos, the Cerasani case is about more than one dishonest guest: It’s a warning to anyone who might be trying to work the system.
Allowing influential guests to turn the floor into a marketing funnel for unregulated operators jeopardizes licenses, drives casino operators and regulators to act, and could erode trust with consumers.
For sports leagues, the NBA scandal shows how legalized betting doesn’t eliminate risk. When high‑profile individuals with access exploit grey zones, the brand value of the entire sport suffers.
Content creators and brands that attempt to monetize access in regulated spaces endanger their credentials and platform access, at the very least.
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Please make a free appointment with TheStreet’s Travel Agent Partner, Postcard Travel, or email Amy Post at [email protected] or call or text her at 386-383-2472.