Ivey Says Borgata Casino Uses Booze and Boobs To Distract High Rollers

The battle of words between the world’s most famous poker player Phil Ivey, and one of Atlantic City’s biggest casinos is heating up ahead of a multi-million dollar court case. In 2012, Ivey won $9.6 million playing baccarat at the Borgata, money the casino now wants backs, after accusing Ivey of exploiting one of its defective decks of playing cards to gain an unfair advantage over the house.
However, Ivey maintains ‘edge-sorting’ is a legitimate strategy used by gamblers, and that the casino failed to “take proper steps to protect themselves against a player of my ability.” Ivey has since moved to countersue the Borgata for having destroyed the precise playing cards at the heart of the court case. In his latest salvo aimed at the Borgata, Phil Ivey has lifted the lid further on the tactics used by casinos to part customers with their money, and as Ivey’s legal team explains, “each side in the gaming world utilizes its own devices to gain an advantage over the other.”
Elaborating further, Ivey said that while he was wagering up to $150,000 per hand, the Borgata would regularly try to distract and gain an advantage over him by offering free booze served by only the most voluptuous, flirty waitresses in the casino. As the 39 year-old poker legend explains:
“It distracts you from your playing. I mean, anything they can do to give themselves an advantage. Everyone knows that alcohol impairs your judgment, and they offer that, and they have the pretty cocktail waitresses and they’re all very flirty. They’re talking to you, you know. I got quite a few numbers.”
Phil Ivey’s lawyers has even sought a sworn deposition from the Borgata’s food and beverage manager about the so-called ‘Borgata Babes,’ who also appear on an annual calendar the casino sells. So far, the request has been refused, leading his lawyers to conclude that the casino is trying to conceal ‘evidence of its own institutional methods to disadvantage high rollers’ like himself.