James McManus, Columnist

Judge Says Poker Champ Robbed the Casino

In August 2012, Crockfords, one of London’s poshest casinos, refused to pay Phil Ivey $14.3 million he won playing Punto Banco.

October 8, 2014 at 9:38 PM UTC

By James McManus

James McManus is the author of "Positively Fifth Street" and "Cowboys Full: The Story of Poker." He has written about the game for the New York Times, Harper's, the New Yorker, Foreign Policy, Esquire and Grantland. He teaches writing and literature at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

What's he looking at?
Photographer: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

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In August 2012, Crockfords, one of London’s poshest casinos, refused to pay Phil Ivey $14.3 million he won playing Punto Banco (a form of baccarat), claiming he cheated. Ivey sued, and has now lost, in Her Majesty’s High Court of Justice. Meanwhile, in a mirror-image case, the Borgata in Atlantic City has sued Ivey to recover $9.63 million he also won playing that game.

And yes, this is the same Phil Ivey who is by consensus the best poker player alive. He’s won 10 World Series of Poker gold bracelets, more than $21 million in tournaments around the globe, and many millions more in nosebleed-stakes cash games. Given that Ivey enjoys a decided edge in skill at almost every poker table, why would he waste his money and time playing luck-based pit games such as Punto Banco, in which the casino always has a mathematical advantage?