The 38 year old poker star Phil Ivey was accused of cheating while playing Punto Banco at Crockfords Club Casino. According to representatives of the casino, Ivey used an edge-sorting technique that helped him win around £7 million; they claim that these actions of Ivey were illegal and refuse to payout his winnings.
Ivey did not negate using the technique, which he has learnt by his friend Cheung Yin Sun. As was reported, Yin Sun showed this edge-sorting technique to Ivey at Mayfair Casino in April 2012. The mentioned technique involves sorting cards that have some special marks, signs or defects on their back sides. With this information, Ivey gained advantage over the casino and was able to win huge amounts of money.
“I consider all the strategies I use to be lawful and I would never cheat in a casino. It is not in my nature to cheat and nor would I risk my reputation by acting unlawfully in any manner,” said Ivey when asked about the case. He added: “I use a variety of strategies whilst playing in casinos. No system is fail-safe and each time I play I risk failing to execute the strategy properly.”
This war between Phil Ivey and Crockfords Club is carefully observed by the Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa – another casino that filed a suit against the player.
Similarly to the first case, Borgata AC is accusing Ivey of cheating while playing the same Baccarat game and illegally winning $9.6 million in 2013. According to casino claims, he was using the same edge-sorting technique while playing Punto Banco accompanied by Cheung Yin Sun.
However, Phil Ivey strongly opposes these allegations; people will have the opportunity to hear his view on things on October 7, 2014 on the 60 Minutes Sports programme where he will be interviewed by James Brown.