Gal Yifrach, an Israeli poker pro who is facing federal illegal gambling charges, was detained on July 20 at the Los Angeles airport by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
It is unclear why the 2025 PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Main Event champion was taken into custody or where he flew from. But an online search shows he is currently in custody at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in Southern California. PokerNews has reached out to the facility requesting further details about the situation and are awaiting response.
Additional Legal Troubles for Poker Player
Yifrach, who has over $2.9 million in live tournament cashes recorded by The Hendon Mob, was indicted in 2022 on one count of conducting an illegal gambling business and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. The case is still pending trial.
According to the indictment, beginning around January 2018 until January 2022, the poker pro conducted an illegal gambling business involving “supplying, operating, and maintaining video slot machines and devices.”
The money laundering accusation part of the indictment involved taking the cash from the illegal casino and exchanging it for clean money, investigators say. As stated in the indictment, he then used those funds to invest in real estate and make other purchases.
Authorities claim Yifrach laundered money in a few different ways. One was to exchange the alleged illegal gambling revenue for casino chips at a “casino in Bell Gardens, California,” referred to in the document as “Casino 1.” He would then allegedly take those casino chips to the casino and exchange them for checks, which he would deposit into his bank account.
Yifrach, a Los Angeles high-stakes cash game player who appeared multiple times on Live at the Bike and Hustler Casino Live, had not been in custody since his arrest four years ago. He has continued to play poker while awaiting trial, and he even won the NAPT Main Event at Resorts World last year for $543,025, beating out 405 entries in the $5,300 buy-in PokerStars-branded tournament.
The win came just a few days after he celebrated his 39th birthday. But his immigration status could have him locked up on his upcoming 40th birthday. Yifrach is an Israeli citizen who has long resided in the United States. He became a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner in 2018 when he took down a $3,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em event for $461,791,
