World Series of Poker bracelet winner Gal Yifrach is facing 25 years in prison and $750,000 of penalties for two felonies, illegal gambling and money laundering.
Operating an Illegal Casino
The Illegal gambling accusation is coming from having an illegal slot machine business, and the money laundering accusation is coming from taking money from illegal casinos and exchanging it for clean money, which ended up being used for investing and purchases.
Investigators believe Yifrach exchanged $200,500 worth of casino checks in November 2018 and turned them into paper checks.
He was also put on pre-trial restrictions to deny him bail as it was risky for him to run away. After some negotiations, he was allowed bail. However, he had to give up his passport and limit his movement to just a part of California. He was also restricted to being out from 10 pm to 6 am.
Yifrach has to submit his DNA test, not be in possession of any firearms, not have contact with his co-defendants, and was not allowed to dispose of any assets worth $5,000 or more.
Yifrach Was Not Working Alone
Yifrach was not alone in the illegal business. Schneur Zalman Getzel Rosenfeld pleaded guilty, and Yifrach is the only one left facing both felonies. The other two are Jesus Cisneros Sanchez and Phuoc Tran, and both of them have warrants for their arrest.
Another suspect in the illegal operation, Shalom Ifrah, used cash from illegal gambling to buy other valuable things to hide the source of the money.
The whole operation started in January 2018, and investigators believe the illegal gambling operation was running till July 2023 and continued even after the charges were filed in March 2022. Yifrach is still out on bail.
Yifrach’s Poker Career
He started his live MTT poker career in 2011 with his first cash-in $1,500 Triple Chance WSOP event and continued to play until 2024. His total live MTT earnings are $2,384,662, and he is currently in 560th place on the US All-Time Money List.
Yifrach won his first WSOPC ring in 2017 when he won $3,250 No Limit Hold’em – High Roller for $90,005 which was also his most significant cash at that time. One year later he won $3,000 No Limit Hold’em – 6 Handed WSOP event and won his first bracelet and $461,798 which is his second biggest cash.
The most significant cash of his career came in 2021 when he came third in the $50,000 No Limit Hold’em High Roller – 8 Handed WSOP event and won $495,305.
He also participated in Hustler Casino Live cash game streams for over 100 hours, winning $204,490 with a win rate of 7.44BB.
