Phil Ivey's poker trial persists.
The US court in New Jersey has given permission for Phil Ivey's assets to be seized in Nevada. The issue involves repaying winnings worth at least $10.16 million to the Borgata Hotel Casino in Atlantic City. This issue has been going on since 2012, but Ivey is yet to pay.
Asset search in Nevada
This legal case involving poker star Phil "No Home Jerome" Ivey is moving past the state borders of New Jersey. As Ivey has no assets in the Garden State, the parent company of the Borgata Hotel Casino in Atlantic City - Marina District Development Co. LLC - has managed to obtain a court order allowing them to search for his assets in the US state of Nevada.
Ivey lives in Las Vegas, and it's estimated his assets are worth over $100 million. The authorities and Borgata believe some of his assets could be invested in gambling in Nevada. After it was revealed that Ivey only had a "zero dollar bank account" in New Jersey, this was first reported on the popular poker news site Flush Draw.
The New Jersey Supreme Court's order followed a status conference on January 24, and a subpoena for Phil Ivey on January 30, 2019. Ivey was supposed to have deposited the money he owes to Borgata, which is nearly $8.6 million euros, at these hearings. However, the court dates so far remain empty in the case file. It's believed that Ivey didn't even attend the hearings. Ivey's lawyer, Louis M. Barbonne, hasn't issued a statement about the matter.
The result of Ivey's no-show is now a unilateral order extending the enforcement to Nevada. Federal Judge Noel L. Hillman initiated this at the request of Borgata parent company, with no protests from either Ivey or his attorney to date.
Instead of complying with the requests - which have been directed at Ivey since 2016 - Ivey and his attorney tried to prevent the plaintiff from enforcing the judgement by filing a supersedeas bond, an interpleader bond designed to "evade" Ivey's assets. Ivey had already made two unsuccessful appeals beforehand. With these developments, it's not surprising that Judge Hillman felt compelled to extend the enforcement to Nevada.
What happened
The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City invited Phil Ivey for a total of four Punto Banco baccarat games in 2012. But Ivey made some unusual requests, asking for a mechanical shuffling machine, specifying the brand of playing cards, and stipulating the croupier also had to speak Mandarin. He was accompanied by his partner Cheung Yin Sun.
Together, they manipulated the games to their advantage by using the edge sorting method - a banned practice that uses small differences on the backs and sides of the cards to gain an advantage in the game.
Yin Sun recognized these small differences, for example, peculiarities on the long sides of the cards. She instructed the Mandarin-speaking croupier to reveal high-quality playing cards. The long sides of the cards remained in the same position, while the poorer cards were turned sideways, resulting in a consistent card order for the rest of the game. The use of the shuffling machine required earlier on led to this.
The exact details of how the information transfer occurred between Ivey and Yin Sun remain unclear. However, the act of fraud has been deemed established since 2016. Ivey was able to benefit from Yin Sun's findings and thus increased his wagers at the table. Ultimately, "over 10 million US dollars" were allegedly swindled through this tactic, as stated by Borgata. Although Ivey didn't know the specific values of the cards, the edge sorting principle allowed him to make a "significantly improved assessment" of the relevance of the cards.
The story was first reported on the popular poker news site Flush Draw.
"Poker star Phil Ivey loses U.K. court battle over millions in winnings" - https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/923425981431451648
- CBS News (@CBSNews) October 26, 2017
Currently, Phil "No Home Jerome" Ivey is ordinarily known as the most well-known poker player. Along with his 10 WSOP bracelets (obtained in 2000, 2002, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2013, and 2014), Ivey also took home the World Poker Tour trophy in 2008. Furthermore, he was recently inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. Although Ivey has earned a considerable fortune in the millions, he only played in the WSOP $1,000,000 Big Drop tournament in Las Vegas in 2018. Ivey declared that paying the required sum could result in "significant professional harm" to him.
Ivey has previously been accused of cheating. The Crockford Club trial occurred in October 2017. Moreover, he won over €9 million at an exclusive London club in 2012, also using the edge sorting method. The trial lasted for five years; eventually, Ivey lost and had to repay the winnings. Coincidentally, the decision from the Borgata trial was affirmed by the New Jersey Supreme Court in September 2018. As a result, Phil Ivey is required to pay what is owed to the casino.
At this stage, it is unclear how the case will progress. That being said, it's safe to assume that Ivey could potentially face more significant losses to the casino. As per Flush Draw's poker news, Borgata applied for a triple damages claim back in 2017. The court accepted this unless Ivey surrendered without a fight.
The demanded sum would total an astounding $30 million. However, given the recent twists, it's not probable that Phil Ivey will voluntarily surrender a suitcase of cash instead of poker chips.
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Source: www.onlinecasinosdeutschland.com
