Phil Ivey's "Edge Sorting" Accomplice Loses $3m Case Against Foxwoods

Pete - Wednesday, June 3, 2015, Written by- Wednesday, June 3, 2015, Live poker

Cheung Yin Sun, the Chinese lady made infamous for her part in the Phil Ivey "edge-sorting" scandals at the Borgata in New Jersey and at Crockfords Casino in London yesterday lost her case against Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut.

Cheung Yin Sun was one of three women who collectively sued Foxwoods for $3m following another "cheating" dispute concerning their use of what they referred to as a "legal card-monitoring practice" to win large sums of money at mini baccarat.

The incident occured in December 2011, when Cheung Yin Sun (known in gambling circles as "Queen of Sorts"), along with fellow Chinese nationals Long Mei Fang and Zong Yang Li deposited $1.6m to play mini baccarat before winning $1.1m using the edge sorting technique which involves spotting minor imperfections in the pattern on the backs of cards and using this knowledge to determine when to bet big or small.

When the trio went to cash in their winnings they were accused of cheating and not only refused their winnings, but also denied the return of their substantial deposit.

According to the Las Vegas Sun the lawsuit said Foxwoods officials knew the three gamblers used the edge-sorting strategy before they arrived at the casino because their names were in reports by casino consultants who noted the three players had been beating Las Vegas and Atlantic City casinos out of large sums of money.

However, US District Juge Janet Hall ruled that the gamblers, "couldn't sue Foxwoods because the Connecticut casino's owner, the Mashantucket Pequots, has sovereign immunity as an American Indian tribe."

This is the second case in which Cheung Yin Sun has been unsuccessful with regards to protesting her innocence over allegations of cheating. In 2012, Crockford's Casino in London refused to pay Phil Ivey the £7.3m ($12m) he had won with Yin Sun's assistance, claiming the technique was "cheating". Ivey sued the casino but ultimately lost the case despite the Judge acknowledging Ivey's honesty and accepting that he truthfully didn't believe that edge sorting was cheating.

These two judgements don't bode particularly well for Ivey's upcoming case vs Borgata, who are suing Ivey for the $9.6m he won at their mini baccarat tables back in 2012. However, it's worth noting that Ivey's chances in this case should be considerably better as Borgata is not protected by "sovereign immunity", and the case will also be tried before a jury, rather than by a judge. It has been suggested that a jury may be more likely to side with the gambler than the casino.