Phil Ivey, one of the best gamblers in the world, is suing a London casino who says they are not giving him his winnings calling the strategy he used cheating.
The 38-year-old star poker player used the "edge-sorting technique" in a card game called punto blanco. The strategy is executed by the player studying the cards dealt for imperfections.
"I consider that I would not be doing my job very well if I did not seek to use to my benefit weaknesses that I identify in the way that casinos set up or offer particular casino games," Ivey tells BBC.
Ivey played punto blanco over two days at the Crockfords Club in August 2012. He was told he would be wired his winnings, but they never arrived because the London casino says his strategy was cheating.
Over the course of the two days, Ivey won 7.7 million pounds, or $14.3 million, reports News.com.au. They returned his $2 million stake, but wouldn't give him his winnings.
Ivey, who lives in America and gambles at casinos for a living, said in court he would never cheat because he doesn't want to damage his reputation as a star gambler.
Since learning the technique in 2012 from his friend Cheung Yin Sun, who goes by the English name Kelly, he used the strategy to win in America and Australia, reports BBC.
"I use a variety of strategies whilst playing in casinos," Ivey said in court. "No system is fail-safe and each time I play I risk failing to execute the strategy properly - some of these are very complex or difficult to execute - which usually results in me losing a lot of money."
The case is still in progress.
