World famous, United States-born poker star Phil Ivey is taking legal action against a Crockfords casino, a unit of Genting Bhd. over 7.8 million pounds, or $12 million, of withheld winnings, according to reports.
In Ivey's lawsuit, he claims he won the money playing Punto Banco, a version of baccarat, in August of 2012 at the London casino. Crockfords has not responded yet to the suit, and Ivey's lawyer, Matthew Dowd said that Ivey regretted that the situation had devolved to this point.
Ivey was quoted saying, "Crockfords has left me no alternative but to proceed with legal action, following its decision to withhold my winnings." Ivey is a 37-year-old, nine-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner.
According to Businessweek.com, Genting is the largest casino operator in Southeast Asia, and recently bought a Las Vegas site for $350 million. Crockfords' representation, Kingsley Nappley LLC, which is based in London, did not return phone calls from Businessweek and has yet to comment on the lawsuit, which was confirmed by Dowd.
The Huffington Post painted a dramatic picture of how Ivey earned the $12 million he is now suing for. Ivey began playing Punta Banco at the casino and quickly lost $800,000 before hitting a lucky streak. His run of good fortune lasted two nights, during which he amassed what was then believed to be $11.7 million. His unlikely streak caused suspicion among members of the casino's management.
The casino higher-ups then interviewed dealers and employees working during Ivey's run, as well as monitored surveillance tapes and the decks of cards used. Regardless of their findings, Crockfords has yet to actually accuse Ivey cheating or foul play.
The Huffington Post reports that Crockfords released a statement that read, "In line with our customer privacy policy we do not comment on matters involving individual members. However in this rare instance we are able to confirm that our position, which is supported by strong legal advice, has been made very clear to Mr. Ivey's solicitors from the start. We shall be filing our defense shortly and defending this claim vigorously."
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