Poker prodigy Phil Ivey is revered as one of the most iconic gamblers. He is an internationally celebrated poker celebrity who has amassed tens of millions of dollars playing 7 card stud, Omaha, Texas Hold'em, and multiple other poker variants.
Back in the day, he was featured on the US TV news magazine series 60 Minutes where he discussed how he exploited weaknesses at casinos and poker rooms. Ivey always attempted to give himself the best advantage to win at games with mini-baccarat. None of this surprises his long list of adoring fans – Phil Ivey is a winner!
Get this: This legendary casino player won more than $20 million in less than one year while playing mini baccarat. It's an insane amount of money, but he didn't do it alone. Believe it or not, Ivey had plenty of assistance from a lady named Cheung Yin 'Kelly' Sun. This Chinese card pro was Ivey's edge sorting partner.
From the Slammer to Baccarat Maestro
Cheung Yin Kelly Sun discovered how to beat baccarat back in the day and then recruited Phil Ivey to put her talents to the test. She knew that Phil was a high-stakes player, and that's precisely what she needed to win with Baccarat. Big gamblers are the ones who do the actual betting in the casino. So long before she teamed up with Ivey, she made it a point to study the game of baccarat. Her wealthy family in northern China notwithstanding, Sun was a sucker for the casino.
Over the years, she has supposedly lost millions of dollars at casinos and gambling enclaves worldwide. The hosts of these gambling houses always rolled out the red carpet, treating her to limousine rides to/from the airport, lavish accommodations, and top-end shopping expeditions. While she was on a gambling bender at the MGM Grand, she took out a $100,000 casino marker for a friend. She reminded the friend that it had to be paid back. Any unpaid marker in Las Vegas is regarded as a bad check. People who don't make good on their bad checks have committed a felony.
Sadly for Kelly, her friend did a runner and left her saddled with the bad marker. She was arrested and locked up in a Vegas jail. She states, 'Women attacked me, and the guards wouldn't let me wear my own underwear… I lost 25 pounds in jail and didn't get out until relatives flew here with $100,000 for the casino. I decided that one day I would get back the money by playing at MGM properties.'
Not every inmate comes out of the slammer as a reformed do-gooder. Some of them become hardened criminals after short stints in jail. For Kelly, it was all about a newfound purpose to beat the casino at the one game where it was all possible – baccarat. As soon as she was released, she returned to the casino and learned all about edge sorting. This technique revolves around identifying specific cards emblazoned with patterns on their back. If these cards are unevenly cut, it's possible to gain an advantage over the casino. Plus, it's 100% legal.
She trained her eyes to identify specific groups of cards that gave players an edge over the dealer. She generated winnings of more than $1 million by using her technique against Chinese high rollers at the casino. But, it wasn't until Phil Ivey came along that everything changed dramatically.
30 for 30 Podcast with Michael Kaplan, Eliot Jacobson & Cheung Yin "Kelly" Sun:
The Dynamite Duo Won Millions of Dollars Using Edge Sorting Techniques
Phil Ivey deposited the funds, did the betting, and requested specific conditions to be met. These included the following:
* A Chinese speaking baccarat dealer
* A card shuffling machine that didn't spin the cards
* Specific decks of playing cards with uneven patterns on their backs
Cheung Yin Kelly Sun did the heavy lifting. First, she asked the baccarat dealers to turn the card around for good luck. That made it possible to identify key cards. Cards such as sixes, sevens, eights, and nines had short edges that faced the dealer. Next, Kelly relayed this vital data to Phil Ivey. This provided him with the necessary information for betting purposes.
Unfortunately, it started badly. After Phil Ivey pocketed $6 million playing poker, the dynamite duo met in Melbourne, Australia. On their first baccarat play session together, Phil Ivey lost $500,000 – he was livid. Kelly later explained that she'd never used the specific decks of cards that were in play at the Melbourne casino. The patterns on the backs of the cards were unfamiliar to her. Eventually, Phil Ivey relented and decided to try and recover his losses. Cheung Yin Kelly Sun intensely studied the card backs overnight.
The very next day, Kelly recalls winning all the money back + $3 million. The casino then cashed Phil Ivey's chips and asked them how he knew Cheung Yin Kelly Sun. One of the patrons at the casino informed management that she was a baccarat celebrity. Phil told them that she had just entered the poker room and wanted to play baccarat. Phil Ivey was convinced of her talents. So the pair decided to take the show on the road and win millions of dollars playing baccarat at casinos.
The dynamite duo played Monte Carlo, Macau, Singapore, and Montréal. She was exquisitely dressed in designer apparel, sporting the finest haute couture. They played in overseas high limit rooms, living the life of globetrotters where the action flies thick and fast – the way she remembered it. Phil Ivey's trainer also came along on these trips.
It didn't take long for the pair to set up a fabulous hustling routine at the casinos. Their routine would involve arriving at the destination, spending their first day chilling out, and then hitting the nightclub. For the next two or three days, they were playing in the casino. She recalls losing $3 million one day. Phil Ivey wasn't even upset at the time. They went back and won $5 million the very next night.
Game Over: Advantage Play Comes to an End
All the casinos hit by Cheung Yin Kelly Sun's edge sorting prowess promptly labelled her the Queen of Sorts. Likewise, Phil Ivey was designated the Baccarat Machine.
In 2012, Kelly turned 36 years old. Her lavish birthday celebrations were befitting for a casino high roller. She recalls going to the XS at Wynn. At the time, Phil Ivey had girls swarming around him. She remembers getting so drunk that she checked into a suite at the hotel rather than going home.
The following day Phil Ivey called her, and she didn't answer. A friend came up to her room and started kicking against the door. He told her they had to move because the private jet was waiting to take off. They were heading to Atlantic City's Borgata Casino to win money. But Kelly didn't have any clothing or make-up with her, let alone any luggage. So she bought a brand-new wardrobe of clothing and supplies at the Borgata in Atlantic City.
Phil Ivey didn't want her to be wasting time eating or sleeping – he wanted her at the baccarat tables winning money. That's why he was designated the Baccarat Machine – at one time he played for 24 hours, choosing to sleep on the high-limit room floor rather than go upstairs to his suite.
Together the pair and their entourage crushed casinos the world over. Kelly is tightlipped about how much money they managed to win – nobody knows for sure. When quizzed about it, she believes that it was more than $30 million. They would have won much more money if not for an unfortunate incident at Crockfords in London. They won an estimated $12 million at that casino, but the casino wasn't going to pay out that cash. They smelled a rat. Crockfords claims that Phil Ivey and Cheung Yin Kelly Sun played improperly.
The duo sued the casino for the money and whipped up a frenzy of publicity. Unfortunately for them, many other casinos started to notice what Phil Ivey and Cheung Yin Kelly Sun were doing. One of them was the Borgata in Atlantic City! According to reports, they won some $10 million from that casino with edge sorting in baccarat. After the smoke cleared, Kelly recalls that it was wrong to kick up a storm about the $12 million. Nevertheless, the publicity effectively put paid to their advantage play.
As fate would have it, she was correct. All aspects of edge sorting and any advantage it provides are null and void. Additionally, the Borgata wanted their money back. For Kelly, it all comes with the territory. She is nonplussed by her fame and fortune and never dreamed of being a celebrity. She states that she is a relatively quiet person and doesn't say much. She only wants to beat casinos!
