The Full Tilt Saga further deepens as another skeleton in the closet is revealed, this time pertaining to none other than Phil Ivey, Full Tilt Poker’s Frontman. In something that seemed like a weird plot twist, it was revealed that Ivey was actually buried in a $6.2 million debt. Who does he owe that money to? Get this: Full Tilt Poker. Insane? Perhaps. Then again, the online poker industry hasn’t exactly been sane after the Black Friday incident, so perhaps we really had this coming. Full Tilt practically alluded to it in when they blasted Ivey right after Ivey unleashed a lawsuit upon them.
Ivey’s Story
When the Black Friday incident first broke out, Phil Ivey was being pretty quiet. But then he suddenly broke that silence by posting a manifesto about how abhorrent Full Tilt is for not paying back its customers. Ivey also claimed that Full Tilt dragged his name through the mud. Ivey also decided to boycott the WSOP to show his solidarity with the players who are unable to play because of Full Tilt’s nonpayment of funds. Full Tilt sharpened its claws and responded in kind, actually encouraging Ivey to come out and face them in court so that they may expose all of Ivey’s dirt. Before anything could come to fruition, though, Full Tilt chanced upon a deal with a bunch of European investors. One of the clauses in their agreement, as it turns out, was for Ivey to drop the lawsuit. So he did.
A Scandal
However, Subject: Poker Editor-in-chief, Noah Stephens-Davidowitz posted on the two plus two forums some data about Phil Ivey’s alleged debts to Full Tilt. Apparently, FTP allowed Ivey to borrow over $10 million over the past two years. Ivey was able to pay off about $4 million, which means that he now has a little over $6 million in debt. This amount was loaned in increments of $500,000 to $1 million. David Benyamine is also said to be in a similar condition and is also in debt to Full Tilt. What annoys people the most, however, was the fact that Benyamine was allowed to withdraw $5,500 from his funds for travel expenses – that happened after the Black Friday incident, so while everybody else could not touch a cent of their money, Benyamine managed to get at least $5,000 of his.
Ivey and Benyamine have yet to respond to these accusations, but it’s sure going to be interesting when and if they do.
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