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Phil Ivey is a name that has always been in the headlines. For the most part, whenever Ivey’s name appeared on PokerNews, it was because he had emerged triumphant from a huge cash game, or taken down yet another tournament. Over the past few years, however, Ivey has been the talk of the town for all the wrong reasons.
PokerNews reported news that Ivey was in the process of suing the Genting-owned Crockfords Casino for £7.8 million back in July 2013. The then nine-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner had been playing Punto Banco, a form of baccarat, at Crockfords Casino in London during August 2012.
'I am deeply saddened that Crockfords has left me no alternative but to proceed with legal action, following its decision to withhold my winnings.'
Ivey is said to have been playing for £50,000 per hand with a “beautiful Oriental woman” and was stuck for £500,000 during his session. Ivey and his partner were granted permission by the casino’s management to increase the stakes to £150,000 per hand. The pair went on an extraordinary winning streak that resulted in Ivey not only winning back his initial losses, but finishing with £2.3 million profit.
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It is thought that Ivey returned to Crockfords the following night and finished a total of £7.8 million ahead. The casino, however, decided to withhold Ivey’s winnings.
“I am deeply saddened that Crockfords has left me no alternative but to proceed with legal action, following its decision to withhold my winnings. I have much respect for Gentings, which has made this a very difficult decision for me.
“Over the years I have won and lost substantial sums at Crockfords and I have always honoured my commitments. At the time, I was given a receipt for my winnings but Crockfords subsequently withheld payment. I, therefore, feel I have no alternative but to take legal action,' said Ivey of Crockfords' failure to pay him the £7.8 million.
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Ivey denies cheating; admits edge sorting
Ivey vigorously denied he and his partner, identified only as Kelly, had cheated the casino, although he admitted the duo had used something called “edge sorting” to help them identify cards. Kelly was later identified as Cheung Yin Sun.
According to the Daily Mail newspaper, which managed to get hold of Ivey’s court submission, Ivey and Kelly made several requests for decks of cards to be changed at the end of hands and Crockfords complied. Kelly and Ivey were able to identify a deck or decks of cards where the pattern on the reverse side of the cards was asymmetrical.
The court submission continued: “Kelly would ask the dealer to reveal each card in turn by lifting the edge furthest from the dealer so that Kelly could identify whether the card was a seven, eight, or nine — the key cards in the game,' the claim continues. 'The first time that Kelly identified a key card, she told the dealer that it was a 'good' card which she wanted the dealer to rotate in the opposite direction to all the other cards and the dealer complied with the request... The cards in the deck were increasingly orientated so that 'good' and 'bad' cards faced in the opposite direction.”
Ivey maintained his claim that Crockfords’ owners were aware of how edge sorting worked and that they should pay him his £7.8 million winnings as they only had themselves to blame for allowing Ivey and Kelly to work the deck in their favor.
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British judge labels Ivey a cheat
During 2014, Ivey won his 10th WSOP bracelet and also found himself embroiled in another baccarat court case with the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City. It was in Oct. 2014 that Judge John Mitting determined that Ivey’s “edge sorting” technique constituted cheating under civil law and he ruled in favor of Crockfords Casino.
Speaking after the court case, Ivey said: “I believe that what we did was a legitimate strategy and we did nothing more than exploit Crockfords' failures to take proper steps to protect themselves against a player of my ability. Clearly today the judge did not agree.”
Judge John Mitting determined that Ivey’s “edge sorting” technique constituted cheating under civil law
Ivey and his legal team launched an appeal and in Nov. 2016 the Court of Appeal again ruled in favor of Crockfords. Lady Justice Arden and Lord Justice Tomlinson dismissed the appeal, but Lady Justice Sharp said the term “cheating” was misconstrued by the initial judge, Judge John Mitting.
“This decision makes no sense to me,” Ivey told the Telegraph after the failed appeal. “The trial judge said that I was not dishonest and the three appeal judges agreed, but somehow the decision has gone against me. Can someone tell me how you can have honest cheating?”
Ivey takes his case to the UK Supreme Court
In February 2017, the UK Supreme Court granted Ivey permission to once again appeal the Crockfords case. The Supreme Court is the United Kingdom’s highest court of appeal for civil cases and only reviews cases of general public importance.
One of Ivey’s three lawyers working on his case, Matthew Dowd of Archerfield Partners LLP, said of the Supreme Court appeal, “The Court of Appeal’s ruling left the interpretation of Section 42 of the Gambling Act totally unclear and the decision to grant permission to appeal demonstrates that the Supreme Court agrees with that view.”
Five Supreme Court judges unanimously upheld the Court of Appeal’s decision in Nov. 2017, which meant Crockfords did not have to pay Ivey the £7.8 million he believed he was owed. Ivey had lost another appeal.
Lord Hughes of the Supreme Court explained that Punto Banco was a game of pure chance with neither the player nor the casino being able to beat the randomness of the cards involved.
“What Mr. Ivey did was to stage a carefully planned and executed sting, which further suggests opposing ideas of what constitutes ‘cheating’ in the minds of the parties involved,” said Lord Hughes to the BBC.
This has been a landmark case in how the courts approach cheating in the modern day.
Paul Willcock, the President and COO of Genting UK, said of the case, “This has been a landmark case in how the courts approach cheating in the modern day. This entirely vindicates Genting’s decision not to pay Mr. Ivey, a decision that was not taken lightly.”
The Supreme Court’s ruling came less than a year after U.S. District Court Judge Noel Hillmanordered Ivey and Sun to pay back $10.1 million ($9.6 million stemmed from baccarat winnings) to Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City.
Judge Hillman ordered the $10.1 million must be returned in order to get the casino and the players back to the state they were in prior to Ivey and Sun’s other “edge sorting” baccarat win. This included some of Ivey’s other winnings at the casino, including profits made from playing craps.
While the judge reiterated he did not believe Ivey had broken the rules of baccarat nor had he committed fraud, Ivey had breached the casino’s contract with his edge sorting technique and was therefore not entitled to his winnings.
Ivey has shied away from the limelight since the conclusion of his court cases, but in Nov., 2017 revealed he had been playing cash games in Macau and Manila, and planned to return to the live circuit during 2018. This is great news for Ivey’s fans and fans of poker in general because the game needs its biggest stars performing on the biggest stages.
The VerStandig Law Firm, LLC represents poker professionals, sports bettors and advantage players across the United States. The firm assists clients in connection with legal issues including personal LLC formation and operation, tax planning that focuses on gaming deductions and exemptions, casino disputes, and personal matters spanning from divorce to criminal dust-ups.
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Phil Ivey
A player from New York successfully chose all six numbers in Tuesday night’s Mega Millions drawing. However, Pennsylvanians fared well, too, notching $1 million+ wins in the last two contests.
The most recent Keystone State win occurred during the first jackpot draw of 2019 on Jan. 1. One fortunate Pennsylvania resident correctly selected the five white balls (34, 44, 57, 62 and 70) that popped into the machine.
The winner also had the prescience to select the Megaplier option. The randomly-selected multiplier for this drawing quadrupled the win, meaning that someone is $4 million richer in 2019.
Six other players joined the lucky Pennsylvanian in the Match 5 winners circle. Bettors from New York, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas will add an extra $1 million to their net worths, although the Pennsylvania winner was the only one who selected the Megaplier.
The Mega Millions big prize is the big story, but not the only one
Of course, most people are interested in details about the single winner of the actual jackpot. The player, who purchased their ticket in New York, won a jackpot of $437 million, or just under $262 million via the cash option.
The win was the eighth largest in Mega Millions history, according to a press release. The only other time a bettor has won a jackpot on New Year’s Day was when a Texas player scored in 2008.
The Jan. 1 drawing was a particularly fruitful one for players from New York. In addition to the jackpot winner, three of the Match 5 millionaires hail from the Empire State.
However, no other state besides Pennsylvania featured sizeable winners in consecutive drawings. A D&J Sandwich Shop patron in Readingsecured a $1 million prize during the Dec. 28 Mega Millions drawing.
Neither Pennsylvania winner nor the New York jackpot recipient has identified themselves yet. Most experts agree that discretion and caution are essential for the safety and security of jackpot winners.
2019’s drawings have big shoes to fill
Mega Millions personnel are no doubt thrilled that the first day of the year awarded a jackpot. However, the PA Lottery and other state lotteries will have to work to eclipse its performance in 2018.
Last year, players won more than $3.2 billion in jackpots from Mega Millions. That figure eclipsed the yearly total of any two of Mega Millions’ previous years.
Obviously, the main engine behind the record-setting 2018 was the Oct. 23 jackpot. That drawing, which was the last to award before this one, carried a value of $1.537 billion on its jackpot.
A single ticket in South Carolina matched all six winning numbers in that drawing. The new billionaire has not revealed themselves yet, presumably for the same reasons listed above.
Of course, the jackpots have ballooned in recent years due to Mega Millions personnel making alterations in the odds of winning. The odds of winning the jackpot are so astronomical (1 in 302,575,350) that purchases from most of America’s citizenry might still not produce a winner.
In other words, someone wins Mega Millions these days only because somebody eventually has to. There’s no telling when or where lightning will strike next.
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