Oct. 2 (Bloomberg) — Phil Ivey, a 10-time winner of the World Series of Poker tournament, didn’t cheat to win 7.7 million pounds ($12.4 million) at a casino run by a unit of Genting Bhd., his lawyers said at the start of a London trial.

Ivey, 38, won the money playing a form of Baccarat called Punto Banco, using a technique known as edge sorting, at Genting’s Crockfords casino in London, according to his lawyers. Genting refused to pay up, saying the practice is unfair.

A casino “is a cat and mouse environment, it is an adversarial environment,” Richard Spearman, Ivey’s lawyer said in court. “It doesn’t mean you have to be dishonest.” Ivey, who sued Genting last year, argues that edge sorting isn’t dishonest and he should be paid the money.

Genting is Southeast Asia’s largest casino operator with a market capitalization of over $35 billion, according to Bloomberg data. Last year it bought a Las Vegas site, once home to the Stardust resort, for $350 million.

Both sides agree that Ivey was in the casino in August 2012 and that he won the money. “The issue is whether it amounted to cheating,” Christopher Pymont, Genting’s lawyer, said in documents filed at London’s High Court.

Edge sorting is a way a card player can gain an advantage by working out the value of a card by spotting flaws or particular patterns on the back of certain cards.

Skilled

Ivey, a U.S. citizen, was told by the casino when he won the money that it would be transfered to him. He left the U.K. to return home because of a family death, his lawyers said. The money, aside from a 1 million-pound stake, was never transfered by the casino in London’s upscale Mayfair district.

It’s agreed “in the present case that there are legitimate strategies that may used by skilled players which have the purpose and effect of providing the player, rather than the casino, with the advantage on particular bets,” Spearman said in court documents.

“Tactics, such as card marking and collusion with the dealer, are accepted by both sides,” to be cheating, Spearman said.

Ivey has career earnings of more than $21 million from live tournaments alone, according to his website, which says he is considered as “the greatest poker player in the game.”

Ivey and three experts are scheduled to testify on a range of card playing techniques.

The case is Ivey v. Genting Casinos, High Court of Justice Queen’s Bench Division, case no. HQ13X05873

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