Pro poker player Phil Ivey sued by Atlantic City casino Borgata

The casino, which is 50 percent-owned and managed by Las Vegas-based Boyd Gaming, claims that Ivey, one of the world’s best known poker players, manipulated a defect in the playing cards through a special manner of dealing, which he requested.

According to the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in New Jersey, Ivey was assisted in the scheme by an associate who spoke Mandarin Chinese with the dealer.

Ivey has won nine World Series of Poker individual champion gold bracelets and has earned more than US$ 19 million in tournament poker winnings, according to the PokerPages.com database.He was accused by the Borgata of “edge sorting,” which violates New Jersey casino gambling regulations. A spokesman for Boyd Gaming declined comment Friday.

The lawsuit claimed Ivey and the associate were able to exploit the defect in playing cards, which were produced by Gemaco, a Kansas City, Mo.-based manufacturer, through the dealing method.

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.”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 wagered between US$ 25,000 and US$ 100,000 a hand during several trips to the Borgata between April and October that year, winning a total of US$ 9.6 million.

Last year, Ivey was accused of cheating by Crockfords, a British casino owned by Malaysia-based Genting Group, during several gambling sessions in 2012. In papers filed in Britain’s High Court, the casino claimed Ivey cheated at PuntoBanco, a form of baccarat, and withheld payment of nearly US$12 million in winnings.Ivey sued the casino to collect his winnings, but the case is still pending.

In the Borgata lawsuit, the casino claims the methods of dealing requested by Ivey at the Borgata and Crockfords were similar.Ivey is tied for fourth with the late Johnny Moss for most career World Series of Poker bracelets. He has earned more than US$ 6 million at World Series of Poker events.

Ivey, who was connected to the Full Tilt Poker website, stayed away from the World Series of Poker in 2011 following the “Black Friday” federal crackdown on Internet poker. He returned to the tournament in 2012, reaching five final tables in individualevents. He now operates a website, IveyPoker.com, that offers various poker products and training opportunities from professional poker players.