Last week Phil Ivey, former World Series of Poker player, and globally known gambling guru, found himself in some hot water after accusations of card counting came to light. The Borgata Hotel and Casino has recently decided to bring a law suit against the card shark, alleging that he cheated on four separate accounts. The method of cheating of which he’s been accused is a method called “edge sorting.” When edge sorting, a particularly savvy and astute gambler is able to take note of physical flaws of the edges of various cards in the deck, memorize which cards have those flaws, and therefore better the odds in their favor in future games with the new knowledge of where different cards are located at various points during the game.
The allegations at the Borgata are not the first of this nature which have been raised against Ivey. Before this threat of legal action was brought up, the professional poker player was brought up on charges with yet another UK casino, the Crockford casino, for similar allegations. With the total earnings from these games during which he’s been accused of cheating totalling over $20 million, Ivey’s career might be in serious jeopardy if he is found guilty. With every eye within the poker world watching the case, casinos, players, and fans are all anxiously awaiting the outcome of legal proceedings. The outcome of this game could ultimately bring changes to the methods used to monitor games.
The legality of card counting is already a hotly debated topic within the poker community. With these new allegations on the table, the conversation and debate over this subject has simply grown even more active. Both supporters and objectors to the idea of card counting have taken up arms to sound off as to whether or not Ivey is guilty, and whether or not he should have been charged in the first place. One thing is for certain, though. The stakes of the charges against Ivey couldn’t be higher for himself, his career, or the world of poker at large. The world is waiting for answers, and the answers could very well bring a lot of changes to the gambling world as we know it.
