Phil Ivey Gets Support From Poker Community in Wake of Borgata Allegations, Suit
The poker community by and large voiced support for one of the game’s most recognized players, Phil Ivey, following allegations by Atlantic City’s Borgata Hotel and Casino that he had taken advantage of card defects during games of baccarat.
The casino is suing Ivey for $9.6 million. In its suit, the Borgata alleges that in 2012 Ivey was able to spot tiny variations in the pattern printed on the backs of the cards used during four game sessions in a method called “edge sorting”. The casino is also suing the card manufacturer, Gemaco Inc. of Blue Springs, Missouri, as well as a female acquaintance of Ivey’s, Cheng Yin Sun.
Ivey had previously been accused of partaking in a similar scheme at London’s Crockford’s Casino. That casino refuses to pay the poker pro and he has since filed suit against them.
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Dylan Ginn tweeted:
If #philIvey was just reading defected edges of cards,I got nothing wrong with him swindling millions from casinos.Good memory, not cheating.
BagsMunman tweeted:
Still not sure how these casinos think they aren't to blame for this. Maybe not totally moral, but still.
Poster ZenForest on the TwoPlusTwo.com forums writes:
I don't see it being that much different (in principal) to Card Counting in Black Jack.
The same information is available to all players......so it's not really "cheating", but the Casino also maintains the legal right not not allow a known "card counter" to play.
Will be interesting to see how the two different suits get settled.
Poster DueceKicker1 writes:
Although I have an overall negative opinion of Ivey - due to his involvement with FTP (which is for a different thread) - in this case I'd have to side with him.
Wrongdoing/cheating at the pits is based on tampering directly with casino equipment, or using a mechanical aid (e.g., a clocker at a roulette wheel). Ivey did neither. I'd consider Ivey similar to a BJ card counter. It was Borgata's failure/greed to not keep with the news (Ivey and the London casino) and stop Ivey from playing further, or at least putting in the countermeasure needed to eliminate the player's edge.
I'm guessing Borgata's angle is to play up Ivey's request to have cards rotated as somehow being the same as tampering. Borgata has a very weak case imo.
But not everyone was prepared to let Ivey off so easily.
Chris Robinson tweeted:
I tried to tell everyone #PhilIvey is a cheat, just like his buddy @howardlederer . We all know why Phil gets a pass don't we. Oh yes we do.
Poster Snyth_Floyd on TwoPlusTwo.com writes:
Clearly this is premeditated fraud if he went out of his way to find one of these decks, bring his Asian friend to talk to the dealer in Mandarin and turn the good cards a certain way and be able to read the cards and win millions.
- Ace King, Gambling911.com
