Ivey wagered between $25,000 and $100,000 a hand during several trips to the Borgata between April and October that year, winning a total of $9.6 million. However, the lawsuit claimed the dealing method enabled Ivey to sort and arrange so-called “good cards” that gave him an unfair advantage in the game.

Ivey, through the associate, asked that the cards be dealt in a special manner because of “superstition.” The dealer was given “special instructions” by Ivey’s associate on “how to turn the cards as they were dealt.” The lawsuit claimed Ivey and the associate were able to exploit the defect in playing cards, which were produced by Gemaco Inc., a Kansas City, Mo.-based manufacturer, through the dealing method. He was accused by the Borgata of “edge sorting,” which violates New Jersey casino gambling regulations.Ī spokesman for Boyd Gaming declined comment Friday. Ivey has won nine World Series of Poker individual champion gold bracelets and has earned more than $19 million in tournament poker winnings, according to the database. District Court in New Jersey, Ivey was assisted in the scheme by an associate who spoke Mandarin Chinese with the dealer. The casino, which is 50 percent-owned and managed by Las Vegas-based Boyd Gaming Corp., claims Ivey, one of the world’s best known poker players, manipulated a defect in the playing cards through a special manner of dealing that he requested.Īccording to the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. Professional poker standout Phil Ivey has been sued in federal court by the Borgata in Atlantic City, which claimed the $9.6 million he won at the casino in 2012 was earned through cheating at high-stakes mini-baccarat. Ivey, poker's biggest superstar, says he's skipping the World Series of Poker because he's disappointed and embarrassed that his sponsor, Full Tilt Poker, hasn't paid back player deposits after pulling out of the U.S. 7, 2009 file photo, Phil Ivey looks up during a hand at the final table of the World Series of Poker at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Borgata jackpot winners