In August 2012, Phil Ivey turned £1 million into £7.3 millionat the exclusive Crockfords Casino in London. However, he has yet to see any of that money. And now, the man who is viewed by most as the greatest poker player in the world is suing Crockfords.

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In a statement, Ivey said, “I am deeply saddened that Crockfords has left me no alternative but to proceed with legal action following its decision to withhold my winnings. I have much respect for Genting, which has made this a very difficult decision for me. Over the years, I have won and lost substantial sums at Crockfords and I have always honored my commitments. At the time, I was given a receipt for my winnings, but Crockfords subsequently withheld payment. I, therefore, feel I have no alternative but to take legal action.”

In late August of last year, Ivey certainly both won and lost substantial sums at Crockfords. Starting with £1 million, Ivey was wagering £50,000 a hand on Punto Banco and was eventually allowed to escalate those bets to £150,000 each. He soon found himself down £500,000, but by the end of the night, he was up £2.3 million. He returned to the nosebleed stakes Punto Banco table the next night, winning another £5 million.

When Ivey went to collect his winnings, he requested that the money be electronically transferred to his bank account. Unfortunately, it was a bank holiday in the United Kingdom, so the transfer would have to wait until Tuesday, August 28, or so the casino said. When Ivey left expecting to see his money in a couple of days, Crockfords began investigating him for cheating.

The odd thing about the investigation was that it did not seem like there was any reason to initiate it. There were no allegations by anyone that Ivey had done anything to manipulate the game nor were there any suspicions of collusion with casino staff.

Genting, the parent company of Crockfords, sent an investigator to the casino to check things out. He interviewed the staff that was working the nights Ivey played, watched security footage, and inspected the cards that were in use. There did not appear to be any evidence of cheating.

The only people at the game were the croupier, inspector, and a female companion of Ivey’s. The latter’s membership to another casino had been suspended, but other than that apparent hit to her reputation, she had not given anyone reason to suspect she was up to no good.

Nevertheless, Crockfords did not, and has not, released Ivey’s funds. Thus, he has resorted to legal action.

For those unfamiliar with the game, Punto Banco is a Baccarat variant, a game that is purely based on chance. In Punto Banco, the house serves as the Banker during every “coup,” or round. In each coup, a Player’s hand and Banker’s hand are both dealt and gamblers can bet on either hand or a tie. Punto Banco traditionally has one of the lowest house edges of any casino game if one bets on the Player or Banker; the house edge on a Player bet is 1.24%, while it is just 1.06% on a Banker bet.

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