Phil Ivey’s 2019 WSOP Earnings May Have Been Sized by Borgata

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Prior to the 2019 World Series of Poker, we predicted that Phil Ivey would be a potential no-show to the series due to his ongoing legal battles with the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. The casino received permission to go after Ivey’s assets in Nevada and some felt that it seemed unlikely that he would risk having any winnings seized.

Ivey surprised some by actually showing up to the WSOP and playing in several events. He made a deep run in the $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship, finishing in eight. Now it appears that lawyers for the Borgata have attempted to have those funds seized, making Ivey’s trip to the WSOP for naught.

Borgata Lawyers Serve WSOP With Papers to Attempt to Seize Ivey’s WSOP Winnings

FlushDraw.com issued a report on Saturday talking about a writ of execution filed against Phil Ivey and accomplice Kelly Cheng Yin Sun on June 18, 2019. The original amount of the judgment executed against the pair is $10.13 million.

A couple of interesting additions were added to the total amount. The first was $214,518 in accrued interest on the judgment amount starting the date the original judgment was filed. The second, and most interesting addition is a line item of $10,344,518 that listed as ACCRUED INTEREST, COSTS, AND FEES. This is assumed to be legal fees accumulated since the Borgata first sued Ivey.

This makes the total amount $20,474,992.12 that the Borgata is attempting to recoup from Ivey and Sun. Thus far, lawyers have been unable to seize any assets but that may have changed during the final day of the $50k Poker Player’s Championship.

According to FlushDraw, Borgata lawyer Jeremy M. Klausner had a copy of the writ of execution sent to the WSOP and the document was accepted by WSOP VP of the World Series of Poker Jack Effel on June 27. Later that day, Ivey finished 8th in the PPC, earning $124,410.

The question now is whether the Borgata was successful in seizing Ivey’s winnings. There are others that are questioning whether Ivey had any funds in a Rio safety deposit box, and if so, was that money seized as well.

Did Ivey Throw the WSOP Main Event Due to Writ?

Another question being posed is whether Phil Ivey threw the 2019 WSOP Main Event due to the writ of execution. In case you missed it, Ivey played on Day 1c of the WSOP Main Event and busted the even in under an hour.

This was an uncharacteristically early exit for Ivey, leaving some to wonder if this was done on purpose. The ultimate winner of the Main Event received $10 million, but with the writ executed against Ivey, he would be unable to receive a dime of that prize money. The Main Event was the last tournament Ivey played at the WSOP.

Is This the Last We Will See of Ivey at the WSOP?

With a writ of execution filed against Ivey at the WSOP and in Nevada in general, one has to wonder if we have seen the last of Phil Ivey at the World Series of Poker, or in major tournaments in Nevada in general, until he has resolved his legal issues with the Borgata.

Flushdraw also reported that Phil Ivey may not be doing as well at the poker tables as he once was. They claim that anecdotes claim the 10-time WSOP bracelet winner has been doing poorly at the tables in the last couple of years and may even be receiving backing in order to play at the highest levels.

Ivey was once worth around $100 million, but one has to wonder whether that’s still the case. Presently, most of his assets appear to be overseas and out of the reach of the Borgata and U.S. authorities. He has largely been out of the eye of the poker public at large and after recent developments, that may continue for some time to come.