Professional poker player Phil Ivey, a 10-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, has been ordered by a federal judge to give back more than $10 million dollars in winnings to Atlantic City's Borgata casino. The order comes two years after Ivey and his associate, Cheung Yin Sun, were sued by the establishment for allegedly "cheating" at baccarat.
Both Ivey and Sun argued that they simply used observation and skill to amass a fortune while playing at the Borgata. They claimed they used a technique called edge sorting, which was detailed in depth by The New York Times this past summer. As the Times explains:
After mastering the painstaking edge sorting process, Sun eventually got Ivey on-board with the strategy. Ivey did the betting, and Sun did the edge sorting, tipping him off as to when to wager on the banker and when to wager on the player. Frankly, like card counting, it seems like a fair strategy, but as you may have noticed, casinos seem to have carte blanche to refuse payments to whoever the hell they want. And apparently, the courts backed the Borgata on this one.
Not coincidentally, this is the second time Ivey and Sun have lost out on eight figures due to edge sorting, as back in 2011, they were refused a payment of $11.7 million by London-based casino Crockfords. Ivey still seems to be doing pretty well for himself, but missing out on $20 million doesn't sound like much fun.
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