Biopic Of Cheung Yin “Kelly” Sun To Be Produced

The life story of Phil Ivey’s famed edge-sorting partner is going to be turned into a movie and will soon hit the big screen.

Cheung Yin “Kelly” Sun emerged from poverty in China to become the world’s greatest female gambler.

Sun’s high-stakes gambling adventures will take centerstage in ‘The Baccarat Queen’, which will be produced by Ivanhoe Pictures, the production outfit behind the success of the 2018 romantic comedy-drama film Crazy Rich Asians.

Sun’s movie is inspired by a 2017 article published on American magazine Cigar Aficionado entitled ‘The Baccarat Machine’, written by Michael Kaplan. This movie will be produced in partnership with Jeffrey Sharp of Sharp Independent Pictures.

Sun was forced to grow up in poverty after her family’s wealth was stripped by the Chinese government. Motivated by revenge, Sun developed an obsession with cards and built a lucrative career out of playing baccarat, conquering casinos for tens of millions in less than a year, with one of the world’s most prolific poker players Phil Ivey as her partner.

Using “good luck” as her main bait, Sun would convince dealers to turn certain cards, easily predicting key cards to beat the house. She and Ivey mastered the technique, amassing more than $30 million from major casinos all over the globe in a short period of time.

Legal Battles

However, in 2012, the London-based Crockfords Casino refused to pay the pair around £7.8 million in winnings over alleged cheating which both Ivey and Sun denied. The duo admitted they had used an edge-sorting technique which Ivey claimed the casino was fully aware of. Ivey was forced to sue Crockfords in July 2013 due to non-payment of their winnings. After a series of appeals, the UK Supreme Court reached a decision in October 2017, upholding a previous Court of Appeals ruling in favour of Crockfords.

The UK Supreme Court decision followed a US District Court ruling in favour of Borgata in Vegas, which ordered both Ivey and Sun to repay a total of $10.1 million of baccarat winnings, $9.6 million of which was won by the pair using their signature edge-sorting technique.

More Details Coming Up

Ivanhoe Pictures President John Penotti said the movie will feature a diverse international cast, in line with the company’s goal to become global storytellers. Bringing the female-driven story to the big screen is something both Sharp and Ivanhoe are excited about.

The Baccarat Queen is primarily an English-language film that features Asian characters. More details on the movie will be released soon.