A new movie is in the pipelines which is set to tell the story of 10-times WSOP bracelet winner WSOP Phil Ivey and his infamous multi-million dollar edge-sorting schemes. The movie, The Baccarat Machine, will focus on Ivey’s playing partner, Cheung Yin “Kelly” Sun, and how she was involved in the baccarat scheme that ultimately cost her and Ivey millions in lawsuits against them.
The Ivey saga began when the poker player and Sun used ‘edge sorting’ (noting and distinguishing manufacturing defects in baccarat cards to give them an edge over the casino) in two different baccarat sessions from 2012. These took place at the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City and Crockfords Casino in London, where the pair won around $10 million each time by using this technique.
Crockfords refused to pay Ivey and Sun their $10 million winnings, saying that edge-sorting constitutes cheating. Ivey sued the casino, but lost his bid after the UK Supreme Court ruled against him. After he lost the case, Ivey said about the ruling: “It makes no sense that the U.K. Supreme Court has ruled against me, in my view, contrary to the facts and any possible logic involved in our industry.”
“At the time I played at Crockfords, I believed that edge-sorting was a legitimate ‘advantage play’ technique and I believe that more passionately than ever today… As a professional gambler, my integrity is everything to me. It is because of my sense of honour and respect for the manner in which gambling is undertaken by professional gamblers such as myself that I have pursued this claim for my unpaid winnings all the way to the Supreme Court.”
Borgata Casino initially paid out the winnings but then sued Ivey and Sun and demanded that they return the funds. Last year, after Ivey managed to cash in on four WSOP events, his winnings were confiscated by Borgata when representatives of the casino turned up at the event with a writ.
In the movie, Sun will be played by the actress and comedian, Nora Lum (aka Awkwafina). It has not yet been announced who will play Phil Ivey.
