Ivey vs. Crockfords

Ivey vs. Crockfords

Monday, 16 September 2013

Phil Ivey's long running dispute with London's exclusive Crockfords Casino continued late last week with the former admitting that he used an advantage technique to beat the casino.

Earlier this year Ivey managed to win £7.8 million from the casino during a two-day session of Punto Banco (Baccarat), but after suspecting something wasn't quite right the winnings were withheld pending review.

At this point Ivey was given back the original £1 million he staked but at present the rest of the balance has been locked away because Crockfords' parent company, Genting, have suggested Ivey may have cheated.

However, in a recent court submission seen by the Mail on Sunday, Ivey has admitted that he was able to read the cards but in no way was he cheating.

Although Crockfords claim he "acted to defeat the essential premise of the game", the poker pro is adamant that the process of "edge sorting" is legal and well-known by insiders in the casino industry.

Indeed, Ivey also stated in his court submission that casinos often allow high rollers to engage in advantage methods (tactics which given them a mathematical advantage) because they don't want to deter big players.

Edge sorting essentially involves a skilled player identifying small design imperfections on back of the cards in order to work out the value of them. In Ivey's case he used an associate called Kelly who was able to finally spot a flawed deck after multiple changes.

Having initially lost around £500,000 trying to spot a dodgy set of cards, Ivey's partner was then able to find an edge which resulted in a £7 million upswing.

Ivey's lawsuit against Crockfords will go to court later this year and it seems the former will now be arguing that the casino were well aware of the card reading strategy but did nothing to prevent it.



Tags: Phil Ivey, Crockfords