Phil Ivey May Have To Give Up His 2019 WSOP Winnings

Phil Ivey failed to add another World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet to his resume this summer, but it wasn’t a bad run after all as he managed to cash in four different events, including making the final table of the $50,000 Poker Players Championship.

However, Ivey’ 2019 WSOP winnings could be on the line as the Borgata continues to go after his assets.

Media reports show that Jeremy Klausner who is the legal counsel for the Borgata has served notice to WSOP executives, informing them that the casino acquired a writ of execution on June 18 against Phil Ivey which Borgata rights to $10,130,000 that the poker pro owed and an extra $215,518 in accrued interest.

This is the latest development in an ongoing legal saga involving the 10-time WSOP bracelet winner. In February 2019, a federal judge in New Jersey granted the Borgata Hotel and Casino the green light to go after Ivey’s assets in Nevada. The decision came after the casino won a high-profile court battle in 2016 over Ivey’s illegal edge sorting techniques from which he amassed huge sums of money.

Considered one of the world’s best poker players, Ivey has more than $25 million in tournament earnings. The Poker Hall of Famer hasn’t been at his best in recent years and has made the headlines more for his legal battles than for his accomplishments on the felt.

This summer, Ivey scored four in-the-money finishes at the 50th edition of the WSOP. He finished 64th in Event #37: $800, No-Limit Hold’em Deep Stack for $3,700, finished 76th in Event #44: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Bounty for $2,752, and then followed that up with an 82nd place finish in Event #55: $1,000 WSOP.com Online Double Stack for $2,533. These mini cashes did not gain much interest from Borgata’s legal team, until Ivey’s performance in the $50K Poker Players Championship where he finished 8th and won $124,410.

Borgata Goes After Ivey’s WSOP Winnings

As soon as Ivey hit the rail in the PPC event, Borgata’s lawyers immediately served a notice seeking to seize the player’s winnings. Ivey’s participation in high-profile tournaments in a state where a judgement against him had been obtained puzzled the poker community.

The poker community shared their thoughts on the matter on the popular Two Plus Two poker forum where some suggested that Ivey might have taken side bets and cross books to play at the 2019 WSOP.

As of now it is not clear whether the Borgata has been successful in capturing any of Ivey’s WSOP winnings. As long as the February judgment against him continues to stand, Ivey might want to step back from playing tournaments in Nevada or even elsewhere in the US.