The American professional poker player Phil Ivey has lost his legal battle against the Crockfords Club’s owners. The case was estimated to £7.7 million. The court has officially announced that the player had lost the appeal against the previous ruling.
In some reports, the case has been described as the the most serious legal battle in the casino history.
Two years ago, Ivey lost the High Court case against Crockfords Club in London. The player was accused by the casino owners that he had cheated to win a £7.7-million Punto Banco version of baccarat in August 2012. At the time of the game, the American was initially told that the casino would pay him all his winnings. However, he later found that only his £1-million stake was wired back to him, but the winnings were not paid.
Phil Ivey admitted that he had used the so-called “edge-sorting” technique at the time he visited the Crockfords Club in London in 2012. However, he objected the accusations he had been dishonest and had claimed that he had not cheated. The edge-sorting technique allows players to observe if there are any irregularities on the backs of the playing cards used in order to identify if the edge of one side of the cards is a bit longer than the edge of the other and improve their odds of winning.
The Genting brand, which currently runs over 40 casino venues on the territory of the UK, explained that the “edge-sorting” technique was not a legitimate strategy to use. The casino accused Phil Ivey in cheating. In 2014, the High Court found Ivey guilty of cheating, saying that the poker player had got an advantage in the game.
The American appealed the decision of the High Court, addressing the case to the Court of Appeal. He had also asked the court to consider the definition of cheating.
Now, the Court of Appeal upheld the decision against the American poker player, and one of the appeal judges argued that a player is able to cheat without having the intention to deceive. According to the court’s ruling, Phil Ivey was honest, but objectively speaking, he had cheated while playing the baccarat game at the Crockfords Club in August 2012.
Lady Justice Arden explained that the winnings of the poker player had been accumulated through manipulating Crockfords’ facilities without the London club’s knowledge. She, however, explained that she personally did not consider dishonesty as a fundamental part of cheating as a criminal offence.
The President and Chief Operating Officer of the Genting UK operations Paul Willcock commented on the ruling shared that the team of the casino was very pleased with the decision of the Court of Appeal.
- Author
Harry Evans
