Nevada playing regulators have formally barred former skilled baseball participant Wayne Joseph Nix from getting into any licensed on line casino within the state, pointing to his position in a sprawling unlawful sports activities betting operation that drew federal scrutiny and touched a number of high-profile figures.
Throughout a public assembly on Thursday (February 26), members of the Nevada Gaming Fee voted unanimously so as to add Nix to the state’s Listing of Excluded Individuals. The designation, sometimes called the state’s on line casino blacklist, prohibits people deemed a menace to the integrity of regulated gaming from stepping inside licensed properties.
The order, revealed the next day, instructs all nonrestricted license holders throughout Nevada to make sure Nix shouldn’t be allowed onto their gaming flooring or different on line casino premises.
Nix, 49, lives in Newport Coast, California. Federal prosecutors charged him in 2022 with working an unlawful sports activities wagering enterprise that dealt with hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in bets by way of an offshore web site known as Sand Island Sports activities. Investigators mentioned the enterprise ran for greater than six years, taking wagers, transferring cash out and in, and sidestepping state playing legal guidelines.
In April 2022, Nix pleaded responsible to conspiracy to function an unlawful playing enterprise and to filing a false tax return. He’s scheduled to be sentenced later this yr.
Nevada determination on Wayne Nix follows widening federal investigation
The state’s determination comes as federal authorities proceed to untangle the broader community tied to Nix’s bookmaking operation. In February 2026, a Los Angeles jury discovered former Major League Baseball star Yasiel Puig guilty of obstructing justice and making false statements through the federal probe into the betting ring.
At trial, prosecutors described how Puig positioned a whole bunch of sports activities wagers, although not on baseball, by way of a intermediary related to Nix’s enterprise. Proof offered in court docket confirmed that Puig guess practically $1 million between Might and September 2019. A few of these wagers have been made at MLB stadiums earlier than and after video games.
When interviewed by federal brokers in 2022, Puig denied figuring out key particulars concerning the betting exercise and the individuals concerned. He later pleaded not responsible and took the case to trial. The jury in the end convicted him on one obstruction rely and one rely of creating a false assertion. His sentencing is anticipated later this spring.
In line with the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace for the Central District of California, Puig’s betting losses included roughly $282,900 early in 2019. Prosecutors mentioned he later wired $200,000 in an effort to pay down a part of what he owed, then continued wagering.
The bigger federal investigation that ensnared Nix additionally led to costs and plea agreements for a number of associates accused of serving to handle bets, accumulate money owed, and distribute payouts. Courtroom filings outlined how the operation generated hundreds of thousands whereas underreporting earnings to tax authorities.
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