I Ran an Illegal Gambling Ring on TikTok & Made $100K — Then Got Caught | Blake Fitzgerald

Locked In with Ian Bick

Ian Bick

Society & Culture

4.8 • 745 Ratings

🗓️ 10 August 2025

⏱️ 104 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Blake Fitzgerald was just a regular guy from Minnesota—until a side hustle on TikTok turned into a six-figure illegal gambling operation. After dropping out of college and bouncing between jobs, Blake discovered the world of gambling livestreams. Within months, he was pulling in over $100,000 running an underground gambling ring through social media. But the fast money came with heavy consequences. What started as a business turned into an addiction, and eventually, the law caught up with him. In this interview, Blake shares how he built the operation, how it spiraled out of control, and how he managed to escape prison time through a plea deal. #IllegalGambling #TikTokScam #TrueCrime #GamblingAddiction #LockedInWithIanBick #SocialMediaCrime #NoPrisonTime #UndergroundGambling Connect with Blake Fitzgerald: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@klozer10x_2.0 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/klozer10x/ Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ Get 50% off the Magic Mind offer here: https://www.magicmind.com/IANB50. #magicmind #mentalwealth #mentalperformance Presented by Tyson 2.0 & Wooooo Energy: https://tyson20.com/ https://woooooenergy.com/ Use code LOCKEDIN for 20% OFF Wooooo Energy Buy Merch: http://www.ianbick.com/shop Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction & The Shocking Call 00:34 Blake's Background and Upbringing 02:56 Childhood, Parents, and Lessons Learned 05:54 Family Dynamics & Early Life Challenges 13:04 College, Early Work, and First Adult Steps 17:15 Launching a Career: Sales, Oil Fields & Construction 20:51 Discovering Gambling Streams & TikTok Live 24:55 Explosive Growth on TikTok 31:36 Gambling Becomes a Business 38:28 The Illegal Gambling Model Starts 41:08 Managing Money, Moderators, and Viewers 43:43 High Stakes, Big Nights, and Addictive Success 47:35 TikTok Fame, Haters & Legal Gray Areas 55:10 The Investigation and Downfall 01:01:38 Facing Charges & Navigating the Legal System 01:09:03 Plea Deals, Consequences, and Community Service 01:13:15 Addiction Continues: Gambling Beyond TikTok 01:17:17 Embracing Recovery: Gamblers Anonymous 01:21:14 Life After Gambling: Fast Cars and Family 01:28:25 Social Media Reflections & Giving Back 01:32:33 Media Coverage, Public Perception, and Reputation 01:35:01 Lessons Learned: The Dangers of Gambling Culture 01:41:12 Moving Forward, Staying Sober, Final Thoughts Powered by: Just Media House : https://www.justmediahouse.com/ Creative direction, design, assets, support by FWRD: https://www.fwrd.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	My brother just keeps calling me and texting and calling it.
0:04.1	And I was like, what the hell does he want? Like, dude, just leave me alone, bro. I get back to you. And I opened my Snapchat from him. Like, fine. And it said, bro, they're looking for us. And I called him. And he's like, bro, they're looking for us. And I was like, what are you talking about? He's like, they got warrants. And I'm like, for what?
0:20.4	And he's like, the casino, the TikTok, the gambling.
0:23.2	And I was like, what are you talking about? He's like, they got warrants. And I'm like, for what? And he's like, the casino, the TikTok, the gambling. And I was like, no way, bro. Blake Fitzgerald had a normal
0:26.2	life, raised in Minnesota, went to college for auto body, worked a few jobs, nothing out of the
0:32.1	ordinary, but everything changed when he discovered gambling live streams. What started as a hobby quickly turned into a booming business.
0:39.9	Within months, Blake was running an illegal gambling ring on TikTok and making over $100,000
0:45.6	in profit.
0:47.0	But the money came with a price.
0:48.8	He developed a dangerous addiction and eventually found himself facing criminal charges.
0:53.7	In this episode, Blake opens up about how
0:55.9	fast it all spiraled the moment it caught up with him and how he managed to avoid prison time
1:01.4	with a plea deal. Welcome to Lockton, man. Thanks so much for coming out today. Thank you, man. Appreciate
1:09.3	you having me. Yeah. Where do you come from today?
1:12.2	So I'm from Fargo, North Dakota right now, originally from Minnesota, and I also was just in New York, so I came, stayed in New York for a few days. Come see you.
1:22.0	Awesome. I think you might be our first North Dakota guest. Not too many people there, man.
1:29.0	That's like the middle of nowhere.
1:36.2	Fields, just straight up fields. Way different than your scene outside, a scenic route that I got from New York coming here today. Yeah. Yeah, it's beautiful. And this was probably more
1:39.8	comparable to North Dakota, right? This is a drive. Like here?
1:44.2	Yeah.
1:44.6	This is more like Wisconsin, which I've lived there too in Minnesota. I lived there when I was in prison for a year. Did you? I was in Oxford, Wisconsin. Oh, wow. You were federal. Yeah, yeah. Oh, okay, yeah. I did a little time in Wisconsin myself. That was a state charge? State charge.
1:59.6	Okay.
	...

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