Phil Ivey Free to Launch Appeal After Gemaco Ruling

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Monday, April 2nd, 2018 | Written by Charles Washington

Gemaco, the manufacturer who in 2012 inadvertently supplied defective cards to the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, has won a major victory in court after a federal judge ruled that it was only liable for $26.88 of the more than $10 million won by Phil Ivey and Yin “Kelly” Sun at the casino’s high stakes baccarat tables.

In other words, Gemaco is only being held liable for the original cost of the defective playing pack used, while Ivey must now accept responsibility for having taken advantage of the casino by using an “edge-sorting” technique.

Next Stop: Court of Appeals

In 2016, a New Jersey court ruled that Ivey and Sun had breached a contract with the casino by taking advantage of Gemaco’s defective pack, and so owed the Borgata the $10 million they won. Nevertheless, Borgata also sought similar damages from Gemaco for their part in the incident, leading to U.S. District Court Judge Noel Hillman ruling that Ivey and his legal team should delay taking their case to the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia before the situation with Gemaco was resolved.

With the card manufacturer’s liability now reduced to just $26.88, Gemaco and Borgata Casino have now been given 15 days to respond to the decision, after which, barring no surprises, Ivey will be free to start his appeal procedure.

Gemaco Refutes Liability

Gemaco disputed any liability for Ivey’s big win from the start, and denied any negligence in the matter, claiming that the casino should have known that it is impossible to “perfectly cut” cards. Furthermore, the company said that a 2011 contract with the Borgata excludes it from shouldering “any liability for gaming losses,” and that the casino also shouldn’t be attempting to seek “duplicate recovery” from both Ivey and Gemaco.

Judge Hillman’s Ruling

In his 27-page opinion, U.S. District Court Judge Noel Hillman wrote that Gemaco’s contract reduced its liability to just the defective playing cards being replaced or purchase price refunded, and only if notified by the casino in writing within 90 days of the cards being sent back and received by Gemaco. As Hillman noted in his ruling, Borgata’s claim that the patterns on the back of Gemaco’s cards were not perfectly symmetrical was not credible or sufficient to demonstrate that this alone was the precipitating cause of the elaborate scheme devised by Ivey and Sun. As Hillman subsequently pointed out in his opinion:

“Thus, it is not Gemaco’s cards that were the ‘but for’ cause of Borgata’s losses, but rather all the subsequent required elements requested by Ivey and agreed to by Borgata, each a required and integral part, which together caused Borgata’s losses. It is true that the scheme would not have worked without asymmetrical cards. They were necessary for the scheme. But they were equally insufficient. Out of the box, asymmetrical cards are symmetrical until strategically turned and maintained in that orientation. In that sense, it was Borgata’s acquiescence in Ivey’s accommodations that were the but for cause of Borgata’s losses.”

In other words, it wasn’t Gemaco who forced the Borgata to use the cards during Ivey’s baccarat game, nor was it Gemaco’s fault that Ivey managed to persuade the casino to use that specific deck during all four of his mini-baccarat sessions at the Borgata. Therefore, Judge Noel Hillman refused to apportion any blame or financial responsibility on the Kansas City-based card maker.

Phil Ivey

Phil Ivey is considered one of the best poker players in the world, and over the years has amassed $23,856,033 in winnings and 10 WSOP bracelets playing live tournaments, as well as a further $16,759,180 playing cash games online. However, the Hall of Famer has had to endure waning fortunes over the past few years, including an expensive divorce settlement with ex-wife Luciaetta, losing $2,483,564 on PokerStars between 2012 and Dec 2015, in addition to losing his £7.7 million ( $10.2m) edge sorting case with Crockfords Club in London last year.

Furthermore, these days, Phil Ivey has deliberately slipped away from poker’s limelight, and despite being the world’s 8th highest earning live tournament player has cashed in just three events since 2015. These days, Ivey seems to be contented to play cash games on the other side of the world in Macau, where he competes at the highest stakes against some of Asia’s wealthiest businessmen.