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Poker pro sues over cheating allegation

A professional poker player has countersued an Atlantic City casino that claimed he won $9.6 million by cheating at baccarat. Phil Ivey, who has won nine World Series of Poker bracelets, is alleging that the casino knew about defects in the cards and then destroyed evidence.

A professional poker player has countersued an Atlantic City casino that claimed he won $9.6 million by cheating at baccarat. Phil Ivey, who has won nine World Series of Poker bracelets, is alleging that the casino knew about defects in the cards and then destroyed evidence.

Phil Ivey and Cheng Yin Sun filed a countersuit last week against the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, which sued the pair last year. The Borgata suit said Ivey and Sun took advantage of a defect in cards made by Gemaco that enabled them to sort and arrange good cards in baccarat.

In their suit, the two say Gemaco was responsible for producing cards within contractual and industry standards and should be held responsible for any damages. They also say the Borgata knew the card-manufacturing process did not produce perfectly symmetrical card backs.

The suit says that the Borgata intentionally destroyed the cards at issue, "eviscerating the defendants' ability to prove the lack of any defective cards."

They demand unspecified compensatory and punitive damages against the Atlantic City casino.

The casino claims the technique called edge sorting that was used by Ivey and Sun violates New Jersey casino gambling regulations.

Ivey lost a similar lawsuit last year in Britain's High Court. The court agreed that a casino there didn't have to pay Ivey $12.4 million he had won through edge sorting.

He denied any misconduct and said in a statement after the ruling that he believes his strategy to exploit the casino's "failures to take proper steps to protect themselves against a player of my ability" was a "legitimate strategy."

The Borgata lawsuit claims that Ivey and his companion instructed a dealer to flip cards in particular ways, depending on whether it was a desirable card in baccarat.

The numbers 6, 7, 8, and 9 are considered good cards. Bad cards would be flipped in different directions, so that after several hands of cards, the good ones were arranged in a certain manner - with the irregular side of the card facing in a specific direction - that Ivey could spot when they came out of the dealer chute.