Did Phil Ivey Get Paid His Money

Phil Ivey Reportedly Settles With Borgata, Ending half dozen-Year Legal War

July 08, 2020

Editor

Phil Ivey may finally have faded Borgata's wrath.

History of Legal Dorsum-and-Forth
Ivey's Hidden Progress
Conclusion Not Thrilling, Non Surprising

The long legal battle between poker superstar Phil Ivey and East Coast casino Borgata over nearly $10 million that the erstwhile won in baccarat may finally be coming to a close.

NJ Online Gambling reported Wednesday morning time that Ivey and Borgata had reached a settlement, citing a July 2 filing in the U.South. Court of Appeals for the Third Excursion.

Per usual in these cases, terms were not disclosed.

Ivey initially won the money all the way back in 2012, playing a serial of sessions with gambling partner Cheung Yin "Kelly" Sun under agreed-upon conditions that enabled the pair to have a sizable edge on Borgata, unbeknownst to Borgata officials.

Borgata filed suit in 2014 and a legal state of war ensued for the next half decade.

According to gaming attorney and sometime PokerNews correspondent Mac VerStandig, the only existent surprise is that the two sides took this long to come up to terms.

"It'southward unsurprising to see litigation settled, peculiarly at the appellate phase where both parties have had the opportunity to air respective grievances, and the cost of going forward may outweigh what either party stands to gain," VerStandig said. "Cooler heads unremarkably prevail sooner but it's not at all surprising to run across it come to pass hither."

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History of Legal Back-and-Forth

While the legal war started in 2014, it took until tardily 2016 for a big inflection indicate to finally occur. At that point, the judge presiding over the instance sided with Borgata and ordered Ivey and Sun to render more than $10 one thousand thousand they'd won — the at-consequence baccarat millions plus some craps winnings.

The instance continued on entreatment, and some sources reported Ivey was in danger of losing tens of millions to Borgata if things connected to become poorly in court.

Farther impairment against Ivey came when Borgata was granted clearance to seize his Nevada avails early on last yr. They followed through on that in high-profile fashion, garnishing Ivey's winnings when cashed in the $50,000 Poker Players Title.

Phil Ivey — Ivey's PPC winnings were forfeit.

However, while every turn was seeming to go against Ivey, he was all the while making some small gains in the groundwork, like a poker player stealing enough blinds to stay afloat in a tournament.

"Borgata's case has ever had serious vulnerabilities"

The appeals process was apparently going far meliorate for Ivey than the initial example. Of fundamental business organization was the issue of whether he had cheated by marker cards. While nobody disputed that he hadn't marked the cards in the traditional sense, Borgata argued that turning the cards in different directions then Ivey and Sun could identify tiny imperfections in them — "edge sorting" — constituted mark.

NJ Online Gambling reported that Ivey was likely a small favorite on appeal, a sentiment with which VerStandig agreed.

Determination Not Thrilling, Non Surprising

If Ivey were to win his appeal, the case would have connected on remand, going back to a lower court for afterthought.

Borgata would have been forced to render the $124,410 it had already seized from Ivey, and goose egg would have been guaranteed going forward. Both sides would have too been on the claw to continue shelling out chaser fees, which have been mounting the entire time in the long-running case.

Furthermore, fifty-fifty if Borgata emerged a winner in courtroom, it's uncertain whether anything just a Pyrrhic victory would accept been accomplished. A New Jersey search for Ivey's assets only turned upward a "nil-dollar" bank account, and Ivey has been keeping most of his poker-playing activities out of the U.S. and away from Borgata's reach.

NJ Online Gambling also pointed out that ultimately losing the case "could potentially create a precedent that could harm parent company MGM Resorts International in future cases involving cheating or advantage casino play."

Given that there appears to have been more downside than upside at this indicate for Borgata, the settlement seems unlikely to have been very costly for Ivey.

"Borgata's instance has always had serious vulnerabilities and Borgata is certainly justified in getting whatever settlement it tin can go and not risking those vulnerabilities on a remand," VerStandig said.