Phil Ivey Countersues Borgata Over Disputed $9.6M

Professional poker player Phil Ivey, winner of 10 WSOP bracelets, has countersued the Borgata in Atlantic City over the $9.6 million the casino says he owes back because he used a technique called edge sorting to gain an edge over the house, according to court documents obtained by Card Player. The countersuit was filed Wednesday in federal court.

Ivey and his playing partner during the controversial 2012 baccarat sessions, Cheung Yin Sun, have claimed that what they did was a legal strategy. They didn’t touch the cards, which had asymmetries on their backs that were able to be spotted and used to a gambler’s advantage.

Both gamblers want the case against them dismissed with prejudice and the Borgata to pay for their legal fees and court costs under New Jersey’s law pertaining to frivolous lawsuits. They are also seeking compensatory damages, consequential and punitive damages and “any other relief the court deems equitable and just,” according to the countersuit.

They allege that the casino committed fraud against them because they say the cards in play were destroyed and it greatly diminishes their ability to defend themselves against the lawsuit.

The countersuit states: “Plaintiff’s complaint is barred because of the plaintiff’s own spoliation of evidence, specifically plaintiff’s failure to preserve, sequester or in any other way produce the actual playing cards used in the course of the defendants’ play, thereby irretrievably prejudicing defendants’ ability to secure judgment, and otherwise constituting suppression of evidence that would result in the entry of judgment on behalf of the defendants…Plaintiff intentionally destroyed each and every card and deck of cards it produced for play to defendants Ivey and Sun for that entire five month period preceding defendants’ final play at the Borgata in October of 2012.”

In March, a judge ruled against Ivey’s request to dismiss the lawsuit.

Here’s the countersuit filed by Ivey’s legal team:

Ivey Countersuit

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