A £7m casino win raises suspicion in Mayfair

Mayfair casino calls investigators after poker player makes a fortune from Punto Banco...

15:12 09 October 2012

Shortly after poker player Phil Ivey won £7.3 million in a game of Punto Banco, the owners of Crockfords Casino in Mayfair reportedly called Malaysian investigators. 

 

Phil Ivey, thought to be one of the best poker players in the world, played at a private gaming table at the casino. According to a report by the Mail Online, he transferred £1 million into the casino’s bank account as a sign of goodwill, and a casino inspector sat close at hand during his games.

 

Ivey visited Crockfords, one of the world’s oldest private casinos, for two consecutive nights over the August Bank Holiday. He played the card game Punto Banco which resulted in a whopping £7.3 million win that raised eyebrows among Crockfords owners.

 

The casino has allegedly refused to pay him his winnings and has reportedly brought in investigators from Malaysia where Genting, the gaming corporation that operates the casino, is based.

 

Based on reports, the investigators have pored over the surveillance footage, inspected the cards and the dealing show used in Mr. Ivey’s card game, and interviewed staff – all of which did not discover any signs of wrong doing. The police were not contacted. 

 

Although the casino has since returned the £1 million that Ivey deposited into their account, according to a report by Mail Online, his lawyers are now locked in a battle with casino lawyers over the rest of his winnings.

 

It is not clear what prompted the casino to hold Ivey’s winnings back as it is understood they had expressed an intention of paying. It looks like the two camps could meet in the High Court for a settlement of this matter.