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Did Phil Ivey Cheat or Outsmart the Casinos?

With the latest announcement of a Borgata lawsuit against @Phil Ivey, it looks like poker media might well have to start regular court watch columns about one of poker's greatest stars of all-time. RankingHero reviews Ivey’s court history:

Divorce 
What started out as an ordinary divorce settlement in 2009, developed into a lengthy legal battle and ended up In Nevada Supreme Court, which in April 2013 ruled in Phil Ivey’s favor (dismissing objections related to alleged connections between Ivey and the judge who heard his divorce case).

Ivey married his high-school sweetheart, Luciaetta, in 2002.

 

Full Tilt
In May 2011 Phil Ivey publicly shared his outrage and openly sided with the wronged players whose Full Tilt funds were frozen:
I am deeply disappointed and embarrassed that Full Tilt players have not been paid money they are owed. I am equally embarrassed that as a result many players cannot compete in tournaments and have suffered economic harm.
I wholeheartedly refuse to accept non-action as to repayment of players’ funds and I am angered that people who have supported me throughout my career have been treated so poorly.

Ivey filed a lawsuit against Tiltware LLC, seeking more than $150 million in damages. Tiltware immediately responded calling the lawsuit ‘frivolous and self-serving’ and accused Ivey of "putting his own narrow financial interests ahead of the players he professes to help". The exchange speeded up negotiations between the parties and the lawsuit was “voluntarily dismissed without prejudice by the plaintiff” on June 30, 2011.

Crockfords (August 2012):

In August 2012 Ivey played a lucrative three-day Baccarat session at one of London’s oldest casinos - Crockfords - accompanied by an unidentified Asian woman. He ended up winning about $12 million and while the casino immediately transferred his £1 million deposit to his bank account, they withheld payment of his winnings.

A year later, in May 2013, Ivey filed a claim against the Genting Group (a Malaysian gaming corporation and owner of Crockfords) in London's High Court. The casino promptly responded by accusing Ivey in court of cheating and claimed that his winnings were invalid since they were ‘based on illegal acts’.


"The fact that I have issued a lawsuit in the face of what they are alleging says everything about how comfortable I am with my conduct and the validity of my win. Any allegations of wrongdoing by Crockfords are denied by me in the very strongest of terms."

This is an Associated Press report on the case of May 15, 2013: 

"The court papers say that Ivey and his accomplice, after some trial and error, found a "shoe" that contained decks of cards with an asymmetrical design. They were then able to convince the dealer, after cards were revealed, to turn the card either sideways or end over end. The staff was not suspicious because the accomplice, who spoke Cantonese with the dealers, acted like she was superstitious and just changing the way the cards lay for good luck, court papers say.

The effect was that the dealer inadvertently sorted the cards so that 7, 8 and 9 cards were distinguishable from others. Ivey sustained his success, the court papers claimed, by asking that the cards be shuffled automatically by a machine, which meant the way the cards were arranged was not altered as the game progressed. The court papers also claim that Ivey specifically asked for an Asian dealer so his accomplice could communicate with that dealer in a language not known by the rest of the casino staff."

 

Full bleed Gemaco plastic cards: "Gemaco has produced a classic full bleed design with a traditional look and feel. The Weave design is intended to deliver the quality which serious card players expect at an affordable price. Gemaco Weave plastic playing cards are nicely packaged in a clear acrylic storage case. Give them a try!"

 

Borgata (April-October 2012)

According to the federal suit filed by Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa last week, Ivey contacted the Borgata requesting special arrangements for a baccarat game in 2012 and eventually won $9.6 million in four sessions. He asked for a private pit, dealer who spoke Mandarin Chinese, and an automatic card shuffler. And he was accompanied by a woman, Cheng Yin Sun, who spoke to the dealer and asked for specific flipping of cards. The Borgata claims that "Ivey and an associate exploited a defect in cards that enabled them to sort and arrange good cards and gave him an unfair advantage in baccarat on four occasions between April and October 2012":

Ivey reportedly won:
$2.4 million on April 11, 2012
$1.6 million on May 3, 2012
$4.8 million on July 26, 2012
$824,000 on Oct. 7, 2012

The fourth and last session coincided with reports about the withheld payment of his winnings in Crockfords.

While it is as yet unclear whether the accomplice is the same ‘superstitious’ lady who was with Ivey in London, there are striking similarities between the allegations. Ivey has already admitted to reading the cards but claims the casino should have been  aware of flawed cards and the risk of edge sorting and taken measures to prevent it. “I read the cards but I’m no cheat", Phil Ivey has been reported as saying by the Daily Mail.

So far the poker community seems inclined to side with its own star but we will have to wait for the court rulings on whether or not he actually operated an 'illegal scam'.

 

Glossary of terms

Punto Banco:

Punto Banco Baccarat is played with six or eight decks of cards placed in what is called a dealing "shoe." The goal in each hand, which consists of two or three cards, is to get closest to nine — the best first cards are a 7, 8 or 9 since a 10 or a picture card counts as zero. Players can bet that they will win, that the bank will win, or that the hand will be a tie.

#EdgeSorting:

Essentially, taking advantage of flawed full bleed markings to distinguish specific cards. Read on: http://apheat.net/2012/06/28/what-is-edge-sorting/

#FullBleed

Full bleed is printing from one edge of the paper to the other without the standard borders by which most personal printers are limited. See photo above.

Bleed is a printing term that refers to printing that goes beyond the edge of the sheet before trimming. In other words, the bleed is the area to be trimmed off. The bleed is the part on the side of a document that gives the printer a small amount of space to account for movement of the paper, and design inconsistencies. Artwork and background colors can extend into the bleed area. After trimming, the bleed ensures that no unprinted edges occur in the final trimmed document. (Wikipedia)

Gemaco:

The manufacturer of the flawed cards named in the Borgata lawsuit against Phil Ivey.

 

6 Comments Display all

#philivey rulzzz

New hashtag on RankingHero with all the crime&court stories in poker :) #PokerCrimeFiles 

like it ! :)