A federal judge has ruled that poker pro Phil Ivey and an associate must repay Atlantic City’s Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa .1 million stemming from baccarat winnings Ivey had at the casino in 2012.
The case involved Ivey and associate Cheng Yin Sun using “edge sorting” to gain an advantage in the game and see which cards were coming next out of a shoe. The court had previously ruled that Ivey and Sun had not defrauded the casino, but had gained an unfair advantage, violating New Jersey’s casino regulations.
The casino had been seeking more than $15 million from Ivey, but U.S. District Court Judge Noel Hillman set the award at $10.1 million, which includes winnings at the baccarat game and money he also won playing craps.
Ivey exploited a defect in the cards used in the game that allowed him to read the cards before they were dealt. During the game, Ivey asked dealers to arrange the cards so he and Sun could read them, a technique called edge sorting.
“This case involves the whims of Lady Luck, who casts uncertainty on every hand, despite the house odds,” Hillman wrote in his opinion according to the Associated Press. “Indeed, Lady Luck is like nectar to gamblers, because no one would otherwise play a game he knows he will always lose.”
Hillman’s ruling acknowledged that the two gamblers were allowed to ask for the cards to be arranged in a certain way under New Jersey’s casino rules, but ultimately, by gaining an unfair advantage, violated the state’s Casino Control Act.
Hillman said deciding the case involved “voiding a contract that was tainted from the beginning and breached as soon as it was executed.”
Ivey’s attorney Ed Jacobs said the ruling shows Ivey did not cheat or commit fraud.
“What this ruling says is a player is prohibited from combining his skill and intellect and visual acuity to beat the casino at its own game,” Jacobs told the AP. “The casino agreed to every single accommodation requested by Phil Ivey in his four visits because they were eager to try to win his money.”
Ivey has maintained that the casino was responsible for protecting the integrity of the cards used in the game and he had simply used skill and observation to win.
Jacobs said Ivey will appeal the ruling.
The Borgata had been seeking $15.5 million form Ivey using a formula that anticipated what the casino might have won had Ivey and Sun not been edge sorting. Hillman ruled that the formula was too speculative. The judge also rejected a request by the Borgata that Ivey repay nearly $250,000 in comps given to Ivey while he played, the AP said.
