The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City has taken care of immediately a countersuit filed by professional poker player Phil Ivey, saying that their destruction of cards found in his controversial baccarat sessions were damaged before the casino became aware that such a thing suspicious may have happened on those dates.

The response comes after lawyers for Ivey and Cheng Yin Sun filed the countersuit alleging that the Borgata had intentionally destroyed the cards in order to undermine their defense.

The dispute has ended four sessions that took place at the Borgata over the length of several months in 2012.

Ivey and Sun played baccarat in a private vip area, winning a total of $9.6 million from the casino throughout the visits.

Borgata Becomes Suspicious After Crockfords Incident

The Borgata paid Ivey their winnings without incident.

But when Crockfords, a casino in London, refused to pay Ivey after he likewise won millions playing baccarat using them, the Borgata took notice and sued Ivey so as to recover their losses.

In both cases, the dispute is over Ivey’s use of a technique referred to as edge-sorting, one that is either an advantage play or even a form of cheating, according to who you ask.

Interestingly, the facts in these situations are hardly in dispute by either side; it is actually a matter of how those things of the casino and Ivey should really be interpreted.

In the baccarat sessions, Ivey and Sun asked the casino to utilize a very specific set of playing cards manufactured by Gemaco. In addition they asked for that the games be played with a shuffler that is automatic.

The casinos consented to these conditions, and were likewise compliant when Ivey asked dealers to make the high cards in the shoe 180 degrees, fundamentally for superstitious reasons.

Whatever they did not realize was that the Gemaco cards in question were imperfectly cut, allowing Ivey to identify which cards have been turned while looking at them face down.

Knowing whether specific cards had been high or low ended up being enough to offer Ivey an advantage that is substantial the casino. In a single specially successful session in July 2012, Ivey won $4.8 million from the Borgata over the course of 17 hours.

Countersuit Alleges Deliberate Destruction of Proof

After the Borgata sued Ivey and Sun, the defendants filed a countersuit, saying that the case must be dismissed simply because that the casino had destroyed the cards found in the games. They also sought fees that are legal damages under laws associated with the filing of frivolous lawsuits.

But inside their response, the Borgata says that the cards were destroyed as a matter of due program, which occurred before there clearly was any dispute within the baccarat winnings.

‘Some of the cards used in the play at issue in cases like this were destroyed in the course that is regular of’s company operations, prior to plaintiff’s becoming aware of defendants’ scheme and the defect in the playing cards, and pursuant to applicable regulations,’ the response read.

Solicitors for the Borgata also say that Ivey and Sun cannot recover damages because of their ‘fraudulent conduct,’ and state that the statute of limitations has expired in the allegations the defendants are making.

Ivey can also be taking part in a lawsuit that is similar Crockfords, in which he sued the casino in an effort to force them to pay him their winnings. While courts initially ruled and only the casino, an appeal is anticipated to be heard later this year.