I can't say I have a problem with casinos not allowing Phil Ivey to walk in and grab millions of dollars whenever he feels like it because the deck is imperfect and the dealer agreeable.
The issue is, this is exactly what they did do. Then sued him over the losses. I'm curious at what point they figured out they got played. Any competent staff member should have had all flags raised.
If this were a game against other players and not the house, wouldn't you consider it cheating if someone noticed a defect in the deck and decided to keep quiet and use it to their advantage?
Absolutely not, although I would concede that this is not quite the issue. Ivey brought in his own cards that he knew had a defect. This changes things a bit, but I still have trouble seeing it as cheating. It's undeniably a dick move, but considering the casino threw away their house cards and didnt mind the dealer turning them, so I really just see it as an updated rulebook.
You and your friends are hanging out and wanting to play poker. You have a brand new pack of cards, but your friend convinces the group to use his old ones because they will shuffle better.
Can you really call your friend a cheater because he knows the wear patterns? You had every oppertunity to back out of the clearly shady situation, but instead agreed to it.
Its a dick move, its angle shooting, but I can't call it cheating.
What if you were at a poker table with such a person?
What do you do at a poker table when you spot a defect or a flashed card?
I'm not an angel, if this happens to me there is a 99% chance I will use it to my advantage.
Now let me ask you a question, if it turns out that the cards the casino was normally using had a similar defect, do you think they would repay everybody who played with those cards? At best the spotter and their table might get a refund in hopes it doesnt blow up any bigger.