He told the court that he regarded his technique as legitimate gamesmanship. He brought an action against the club after it refused to pay out on the grounds of cheating.
Ivey did not touch any cards, but persuaded the croupier to rotate the most valuable cards by intimating that he was superstitious. Ivey admitted relying on a technique called 'edge-sorting' - spotting tiny differences in the backs of playing cards - to tilt the odds in his favour. In Ivey v Genting Casinos Ltd t/a Crockfords, the court today unanimously dismissed an appeal from Phil Ivey to recover winnings from a 2012 game of punto banco in Crockfords Club, Mayfair. A Supreme Court judgment that a professional gambler cheated his way to a £7.7m casino win could change the course of criminal trials by ruling that a 35-year-old test for dishonesty is no longer fit for use.