This week has featured poker pro Phil Ivey (pictured) spinning his side of his now infamous edge-sorting tale. Ivey, a 10-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, has been in hot water on both sides of the Atlantic by virtue of allegedly edge-sorting in order to gain an advantage at forms of baccarat. As we reported last week, you can catch his side of the story on a special “60 Minutes Sports” segment on October 7.

Ivey gave his reasoning in a witness statement for his trial in London, according to Bloomberg. The news agency reported that Ivey argued, “As a professional gambler, my job is to seek to lawfully reverse or reduce the perceived house edge… I would not be doing my job very well if I did not seek to use to my benefit weaknesses that I identify in the way that casinos set up or offer particular casino games.”

Ivey had allegedly exploited errors in a deck of playing cards in order to gain an advantage against Crockfords Casino in London and against Borgata in Atlantic City. His actions could be akin to counting cards in blackjack, which is generally frowned upon by the casino. Whether the practice of edge-sorting is illegal, or merely shunned, is apparently up to the courts to decide.

To that end, Ivey contended, “It is not in my nature to cheat, nor would I risk my reputation by acting unlawfully in any manner… Casinos don’t like card counters, shuffle trackers, bias wheel players, or any skilled or advantage players, though none of these advantage-play strategies are considered illegal.”

Ivey’s lawsuit in London is against Genting Casinos, which runs Crockfords. Ivey won £7 million in August 2012 playing a variant of baccarat called punto banco.

In May 2013, Ivey filed a lawsuit against Crockfords after the casino refused to pay out his winnings. He pointed out at the time, “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.”

Stay tuned to PocketFives for the latest on this still developing story.

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