Pro Poker Player James Kerr Laundered $800K from Illegal Games, Cops Say`
- 08 Apr 2025
- Gambling News
A Florida poker professional is confronting money laundering charges after authorities alleged he operated an illegal gambling establishment in Winter Haven, Fla.
James Kerr, 39, has total tournament winnings of $687,248 on the poker circuit, as recorded by the Hendon Mob database. This includes a score of $228,038 for winning first place at the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Poker Classic.
Authorities assert that he was also organizing secret, unlawful poker games, primarily from a former law office located in Winter Haven, south of Orlando. Prosecutors claim he earned roughly $800K from these activities.
"We learned that James Kerr was running a big-time operation and making hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told Tampa Bay’s Fox 13.
“Now keep in mind he’s also a professional gambler. If you search him up online, you’ll see he’s won a lot of money legally gambling. But guess what? He became greedy and decided to set up his own illegal game. That’s when he got arrested,” the sheriff explained.
Covert Mission
After receiving a tip, undercover officers managed to penetrate the game. Investigators assert that between 2021 and 2023, Kerr executed several transactions across different bank accounts to hide $833,478 in illegal earnings over the three-year period.
Kerr was apprehended on Tuesday, April 1, and is facing three charges of money laundering involving more than $100K, as stated by the Sheriff’s Office.
During a hearing this week, a judge in Polk County Court set a $60K bail and required Kerr to wear a GPS monitor if he posts bail.
Poker Participants in Trouble
Kerr is the most recent among a series of poker players who have encountered legal issues. In December, Corey Zeidman, a WSOP bracelet winner, admitted guilt in a federal court in New York for deceiving clients in his sports betting enterprise.
Federal prosecutors claimed that Zeidman and his co-defendants deceived customers into paying for gambling advice by asserting they had insider information, “only to provide them with falsehoods and pocket millions from their savings and retirement funds.”
At the same time, Tom Goldstein, a leading attorney who played “ultra-high-stakes poker” on the side, has been charged with evading $5.3 million in taxes on his poker earnings.
According to prosecutors, Goldstein is thought to have earned over $50 million in various heads-up matches against affluent businesspeople in California and Asia between 2016 and 2021 — earnings he did not report to the IRS.
