Phil Ivey won’t be edge-sorting cards anytime soon. A British judge has ruled that, whether he knew it or not, Ivey was cheating when he won $12 
million at Crockfords, a Genting Group casino in London. “He gave himself an advantage which the game precludes,” ruled Judge John Mitting. By inducing the croupier to deal the punto banco cards from the shoe in a particular fashion, Ivey was “using the croupier as his innocent agent or tool.” Here’s how it went down, with Ivey gaining an edge ranging from 7% to 21%, violating the “gaming contract,” as Genting would have it.
Ivey’s attorney tried to put the onus on Crockfords: “If the casino fouls up from start to finish, that is something which is the gambler’s good fortune.” Perhaps this argument will work better in Atlantic City, where Borgata is suing to recover $10 million in baccarat winnings.
James McManus sees a double standard at work: 
“If a pit boss even suspects a blackjack player of skillfully counting how many aces and face cards have been played and adjusting his bets accordingly, the casino will ban him and forward his picture to every pit boss in town. But when the shoe is on the other foot, and a cunning player exploits a casino’s mistakes, it cries foul and refuses to pay him.” (You might say “when the ‘shoe’ is on the other hand.”)
Refused the opportunity to appeal the verdict, Ivey said, “It is not in my nature to cheat. I believe what we did was nothing more than exploit Crockford’s failures. Clearly the judge did not agree.”
* Penn National Gaming‘s relentless expansionism caught up with it at an Indiana legislative hearing this week. Racinos in the Hoosier State want to offer live table games, rather than electronic mock-ups. Penn protested this, 
saying that “We get a little north of 20 percent of our table games revenue from the Indianapolis metro market.” That didn’t fly with lawmakers, who noted that Penn was one of the primary exponents of casino gambling in Ohio, which has drawn off significant revenue from Indiana. Whoops.
Solons also debated whether or not to allow riverboat casinos onto dry land. Pinnacle Entertainment Vice President Troy Stremming argued that it should done one a one-for-one basis, with no increase in the actual gambling space, since not all companies could afford to make the move. Majestic Star CEO Pete Liguori knew how to play on lawmakers’ harp strings, though, saying of a move ashore, saying “it’s likely to increase the real estate tax rolls.”
* Aspirants for Japanese casinos may want to start revising their investment commitments downward if a casino bill in the Diet advances in its current 
form. Although Japan is assumed to be a shoo-in to be the second-biggest gambling market in the world, the math would change dramatically if casinos were only open to tourists. A separate law would have to be enacted for the citizens of Japan to be allowed gamble on their own soil. As an aide to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said, “With only foreigners gambling, [casinos] will not be profitable. The momentum for promoting integrated resorts may lose steam.” You tell ’em!
* Station Casinos and (irony alert) labor unions could be facing mutual defeat on Election Day in California. Opponents of their North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians off-reservation casino have outspent them 20-to-1 as the race comes down to the wire. Opposition includes the usual do-gooders but also Wall Street‘s Brigade Capital Management (financier of Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino) and nearby Table Mountain Rancheria. For Station, a loss would be a rare setback after a series of successes in Indian Country.
* Warner Gaming got the preliminary go-ahead to exorcise the evil spirit of Columbia Sussex from Lake Tahoe‘s Horizon casino and append the Hard Rock imprimatur. “We want everyone to forget the name Horizon,” William Warner told the Nevada Gaming Control Board. In Hard Rock tradition, heavy emphasis will be placed on amenities, part of a $60 million redo of the property, prompting NGCB Chairman A.G. Burnett to call it “an extreme makeover.” Judging by the Horizon’s reputation, nothing less is in order.
