Phil Ivey Returning To Court

Phil Ivey Returning To Court

Monday, 30 November 2015

The lengthy legal battle initiated by Phil Ivey in hopes of receiving the £7.8 million ($11.7 million) he won while playing punto banca at London's Crockfords Club in August of 2012 is set to continue next month.

The ten-time World Series Of Poker( WSOP) bracelet winner secured the pay-day following a two-day session but the English venue soon suspended the payout, initiated an investigation and refunded the American’s £1 million ($1.5 million) stake after suspecting that something wasn’t quite right.

To secure the pay-day, 39-year-old Ivey had admitted to using the ‘edge-sorting’ technique, which allows a skilled player to identify small design imperfections on the back of the cards in order to ascertain their value. Genting Casinos, the owner of Crockfords Club, argued that this was not a legitimate strategy and that it was well within its rights in withholding the cash prize.

In an attempt to get this windfall, Ivey initiated High Court proceedings against Genting Casinos in May of 2013 but a judge found for the defendant in October of last year. Three months later saw Ivey granted leave to challenge the ruling by Court of Appeal Judge Lord Justice Lewison and this case is now set to kick off from December 10.

“As I said at the time of the London verdict last October, it is not in my nature to cheat, which is why I was so bitterly disappointed by the judge’s decision a year ago, even though he said that I was a truthful witness and that he was sure that I didn’t believe that what I was doing was cheating,” said Ivey.

“This wording from the Court of Appeal that the grounds of our appeal raises an important question of law and have real prospects of success is quite simply the best news I’ve had since I won the £7.8 million at Crockfords Club over three years ago in August of 2012.”



Tags: Phil Ivey, Crockfords Club, Genting Casinos, High Court