Professional card player Phil Ivey filed a countersuit against Atlantic City’s Borgata Casino. Attorneys for Ivey claimed that the gambling venue had destroyed key evidence in the lawsuit against him.
In 2012, the player won a little less than $10 million by playing baccarat at the emblematic Atlantic City gaming facility. However, he was denied his winnings as he had allegedly used the edge sorting technique, which is not particularly favored by most casinos.
Generally speaking, when using this technique, players are taking advantage of certain asymmetries and imperfections on the back of the cards in order to identify their value.
In 2014, the Borgata filed a lawsuit against Ivey alleging that he used that same technique during four visits at the casino over the period April and October 2012. According to the gambling venue, the player and his co-defendant Cheng Yin Sun knowingly took advantage of a defect on the back of Gemaco cards, which they had requested themselves.
Furthermore, while at the casino, Ivey paid the amount of $1 million to be granted a private area where he could play baccarat, a Mandarin-speaking dealer, an automatic card shuffler, and as mentioned above, eight decks of purple Gemaco cards.
Sun, who is also a popular card player and who reportedly has been prohibited to enter a number of casinos around the globe, spoke with the Mandarin-speaking dealer and instructed her to turn each of the cards in particular directions before placing them face up. Thus, according to the Borgata, the two defendants were able to easily notice any imperfections without ever touching the cards and exploit them for their own benefit.
Attorneys for Ivey and Sun explained earlier this week that the two players filed a countersuit against the casino, as it has supposedly destroyed the decks that they used while playing there in 2012. In addition, the defendants suggested that casino representatives were well aware that Ivey did not touch a single card. Attorneys also insisted that granting high rollers their special requests is a usual practice at gambling venues.
The Borgata case was not the first one Ivey has been involved in. In October 2014, the London High Court ruled against the player in a similar lawsuit. In August 2012, Ivey played baccarat at Crockfords casino allegedly using the edge sorting technique. There he won about $12.4 million. However, the gaming venue denied him his winnings and the court ruled in its favor. Ivey was granted an appeal and will go before court towards the end of 2015.
