One of the biggest stories to emerge from this year’s WSOP was Phil Ivey’s decision to boycott the WSOP 2011 and to sue Full Tilt for damages that can go up to as much as $150 million. Ivey posted on his website a lengthy statement condemning Full Tilt for the slowness in which it is facilitating player refunds. Full Tilt Poker, however, would not take this one lying down, and issued its own statement in the matter – quite convincingly, might I add.
Phil Ivey’s Law Suit
In an announcement that shocked the entire industry, Ivey broke his long silence about the Black Friday incident. However, instead of asking people to cut Full Tilt some slack like a good Full Tilt pro would have done, Ivey went on to lambast the company, saying that he was ‘disgusted’ at how Full Tilt was treating its American players. He claimed that his name was ‘dragged through mud’ and that he’s “embarrassed” by Full Tilt’s actions. He says he’s not going to play at the WSOP because it seems unfair that others will not be able to do so because of Full Tilt’s ineptitude in facilitating the refunds. The community’s reaction to Ivey’s statement was pretty much mixed. Others admired him for it, while others called it self-serving. Full Tilt, of course, is first to think that the latter is true.
Self-serving, says Full Tilt
Full Tilt, as you may know, owes $150 million to the American players, and it’s doing pretty much everything it can just so that amount gets paid. But then, Ivey’s seeking to gain $150 million worth of damages through his lawsuit. Slap me if I’m the only one seeing the irony here. Either way, Full Tilt’s statement called Ivey’s statement “sanctimonious”, and said that it’s about helping just one player – himself. They say that Ivey’s only trying to build his wealth even further at the expense of others. Also, Full Tilt warned that if the lawsuit does get to see the light of a court room, then they certainly are looking forward to presenting facts that prove their point. Other poker pros in the industry are also of the same opinion and are thinking that Ivey’s just trying to distance himself from Full Tilt and that he’s not really helping anyone with all this drama of his.
Indeed, things could get really messy from this point on – not to mention interesting. It’s hard to imagine how all this would have happened a few months ago.
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