While the Chinese continue to draw killer glances from random people waiting to board aircraft the world over, one citizen from the great red nation is used to it.
Awkwafina has drawn stares like a baby mermaid in a specimen jar since she starred in 2018’s Warner Bros’ ‘Crazy Rich Asians,’ and the poker community is soon to join the trend.
The Chinese-star will star in a forthcoming flick based on Phil Ivey’s edge-sorting debacle. The movie carries the tentative title of “The Baccarat Machine,” named after an article of the same name penned by Michael Kaplan for Cigar Aficionado.
Ever since, Phil Ivey and Cheung Yin “Kelly” Sun fleeced the casinos for millions playing baccarat (before being caught, and forced to return or renege on those millions), the focus has been on the former king of poker.
Not anymore.
Like the new steak bake vegan option in Greggs bakery, the public is about to get an entirely different taste.
The movie will focus on the cunning and skills of Cheung Yin “Kelly” Sun, the mastermind behind the edge-sorting tactics that earned her the reputation as one of the most accomplished and feared gamblers in the world.
SK Global, the production company behind Crazy Rich Asians, will finance and produce the new movie, and joint CEO’s John Penotti and Charlie Corwin spoke of their delight at casting Awkwafina in the role of Sun.
“We can’t think of a better way to start this project than by announcing that our friend Awkwafina has come on board,” SK Global co-CEO John Penotti said, “she is uniquely equipped to bring Kelly to life onscreen and will infuse the role with genuine humour and humanity. Along with our partners at Sharp, we’re thrilled to bring this unbelievable story to the screen.”
The “Sharp” that Penotti refers to is the sharp in ‘Sharp Independent Pictures.’ Lovelace scriptwriter, Andy Bellin, is also going to pen this one. Awkwafina is the only confirmed cast member.
Awkwafina
Since becoming a crazy rich Asian, Awkwafina has starred in the woeful but widespread Jumanji: The Next Level alongside poker fan Kevin Hart, and recently won a Golden Globe for Best Lead Actress in a Musical or Comedy for ‘The Farewell.’ She also stars in Comedy Central’s ‘Awkwafina is Nora From Queens.’
The Baccarat Machine in a Nutshell
You’ve heard it all before, so a recap is as useful as a dessert wine, but here’s the nutshell version in case someone new is tuning in.
Cheung Yin “Kelly” Sun learned that she could gain an edge at the Baccarat tables by noticing slight imperfections in the top design of Gemaco cards.
As it got harder and harder for Sun to get action, she befriended Phil Ivey, and the pair took Crockford Casino in Mayfair, London, and the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey for millions of dollars.
Crockfords were the first to smell a rat, refusing to wire him his frozen £7.7m winnings. When the story began circulating the associated press, representatives from the Borgata perked up an ear and eyeball. A lawsuit slipped into the equation with Ivey and the Borgata going at it tooth and nail, the upshot of which is Ivey has to return $10.1m in Baccarat winnings.
The Borgata trial is somewhere in the court appeal process.
So far, Ivey has lost every round.