Phil Ivey’s long-running woes related to his edge-sorting cases continued this month when lawyers representing the Borgata Casino seized his WSOP winnings.
The Borgata in Atlantic City was one of two casinos that he won $10million from back in 2012. The London Crockford’s the other when he and an accomplice used a flaw in the playing card design to beat the house at Punto Banco, a Baccarat variant.
After endless legal battles, which saw Phil Ivey lose every time, the Borgata were finally given the right to chase Ivey’s assets in Nevada.
When the legendary poker player ran deep in the $50k PPC at the recent World Series, Borgata’s legal team swooped on his winnings.
WSOP Vice President Jack Effel was served with the writ of execution against Caesars Entertainment, which included the line: ‘Please ensure that Caesars/Rio/WSOP does not make any payments to Mr. Ivey in violation of the duly served writ.’
The writ coincided with Ivey finishing 8th in the $50k Poker Player’s Championship, a finish worth $124,410 – a payout that he would never see.
Complying with the court order, the WSOP instead handed the cheque for Ivey’s winnings over to the US Marshal’s Service…
For those who haven’t been following the edge-sorting saga, here’s a timeline to bring you up-to-date.
2012
April-October: Ivey and accompliceCheng Yin ‘Kelly’ Sun use an edge-sorting technique to win $9.6million across four sessions at Atlantic City’s Borgata Casino. The Borgata paid them in full, including $560k they won at craps.
August: The duo repeats their performance at Crockfords in London, winning the equivalent of $12million. The casino reviewed security footage and refused to pay out the winnings.
2014
April: Borgata launches a lawsuit against Ivey to recover their losses and costs.
October: Ivey and Sun appear at the High Court in London having sued Crockford’s for their unpaid winnings. They lose their case.
2016
October: Ivey is found to have breached his ‘contract with the Borgata’ by a New Jersey judge, although fraud and RICO ‘charges’ were not proven.
November: He takes his Crockford’s case to the UK Court of Appeal, losing again. “It is for the court to determine whether the interference was of such a quality as to constitute cheating. In my judgment it had that quality” was the damning indictment of one of the three appeal judges.
2017
October: Phil Ivey loses his third UK legal battle at the Supreme Court. Lord Hughes states:’What Mr. Ivey did was to stage a carefully planned and executed sting.’ Ivey’s Crockford’s case is effectively ended.
2018
August: Federal Judge Noel Hillman denies Phil Ivey a stay of payment on his Borgata lawsuit after lawyers for the poker player claimed it would have a ‘devastating impact’ on his gambling career and cause ‘irreparable harm.’
2019
February: The same judge gives the Borgata the go-ahead to seize Ivey’s assets and winnings in the state of Nevada.
August: Ivey’s WSOP winnings are seized.
What he does now remains to be seen, but playing poker in the US doesn’t seem to be a realistic option.
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