Top professional poker player Phil Ivey has lost a Supreme Court challenge over the $7.7 pounds (dollars) he won from a London casino.
According to reports, the British Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that Ivey and a colleague used a technique known as “edge sorting” to gain an unfair advantage while at the baccarat table inside London’s Crockfords Club in 2012.
The 40-year-old American – often referred to as the “Tiger Woods of poker” – admits using the technique but maintains it is a legitimate way of playing.
Arkansas Online reports that the Ivey and his companion never touched the cards being dealt, but convinced the croupier to arrange the cards a certain way that allowed them to determine, in some cases, which cards were being dealt, allowing them to bet accordingly.
Crockfords accused them of cheating and refused to pay his winnings, leading Ivey to pursue his claim in court.
Supreme Court Judge Anthony Hughes said that Ivey took “positive steps to fix the deck” by tricking the croupier. He said that “is inevitably cheating.”
Ivey believes his winnings were honestly obtained.
“At the time I played at Crockfords, I believed that edge-sorting was a legitimate Advantage Play technique and I believe that more passionately than ever today,” he said after the ruling.
As noted by Sky News, edge sorting involves a player taking advantage in irregularities in the pattern on the back of a card.
The Supreme Court ruled that the croupier had no idea of the significance of what she was being asked to do.
“Mr. Ivey staged a carefully planned and executed sting,” said a summary of the judgment.
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