A Gambino family mobster linked to a rigged NBA poker scheme was denied bail in Brooklyn court amid fears he could intimidate witnesses.

The only woman charged in the sprawling New York City mafia and NBA-linked poker scam spent years cavorting with celebrities and musicians before her stunning arrest, high-flying photos from

A big-money poker ring involving NBA figures indicted this week for allegedly cheating unsuspecting rich players echoes decades of films and TV shows, with supposed Mafia involvement adding to the drama.

Police in Sugar Land, Texas say Adrian Peterson fessed up to throwing back shots of a vodka mix at a poker game early Sunday morning ... just hours before he was arrested for DWI.

In the wake of the sweeping FBI gambling investigation that led to the arrests of Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier, questions have been raised about who else in the sports world was involved. Billups was arrested in connection with one part of the investigation, which looked into rigged poker games run by multiple Mafia families.

They used the star to do it. They had us excited. The only reason they were able to pull this off was because they had a professional athlete in place.”

Wild allegation filed this week by federal prosecutors in one of the most sweeping and sensational betting scandals in recent professional sports history.

Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Heat guard Terry Rozier were among those arrested in an FBI probe into sports gambling.