Judge: Evidence Against High-Stakes Poker Player Should Be Tossed Out

High-stakes poker player Paul Phua, who was arrested this past summer with other defendants for what the feds said was an illegal online sports betting operation run out of villas at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, scored a win in court this week as the judge said that the evidence against him is not admissible because of how it was obtained, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Leen said that law enforcement provided “false and misleading statements” in their efforts to get the OK to search the villas. She said that what happened was “not intentional, but reckless.”

Prosecutors have two weeks to respond to Leen’s ruling and possibly appeal.

Phua’s Las Vegas attorney David Chesnoff claimed that her decision “is a triumph for citizens everywhere, showing that courts will enforce the constitution.”

Phua is rumored to have a networth between $300 million and $400 million and allegedly has ties to organized crime in Asia.

A total of eight defendants were charged in the case, including Phua’s son.

Phua, a businessman from Malaysia, has been a frequent competitor in the biggest poker cash games in the world, including on the Internet where he lost more than $4 million. The allegations against him in Las Vegas center on World Cup betting, not poker. Last month, the court said that Phua can’t play poker in casinos while awaiting trial.

Poker pro Phil Ivey helped bail Phua out of jail.

Five of the defendants have pleaded guilty, and a case against another was dismissed.

Here’s a look at the 32-page court document filed Monday:

Phua Case Recommendation

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