Phil Ivey is the talk of the town now that the World Series has begun, but it’s not for the usual reason – which is him winning or getting close to winning another bracelet. It’s because of that law suit he filed against Full Tilt Poker. There were mixed reactions from the community when he announced the lawsuit and also his decision to boycott this year’s WSOP. Some said they admired him for it, and yet others were skeptical of Ivey’s real reasons for doing what he did. Some poker pros have spoken out about their thoughts on the whole ordeal, among them Andrew Robl, Daniel Negreanu, Tom Dwan, and Mike Matusow.
Pro-Ivey: Dwan and Negreanu
One of the pros who sided with Ivey on the whole matter was PokerStars frontman, Daniel Negreanu. Negreanu said that he ‘admires’ Ivey in that Ivey’s willing to forego the WSOP in order to make a statement, knowing how important the tournament is to Ivey. Also, Negreanu lambasted Full Tilt, saying that its response to Ivey’s lawsuit was ‘low class’ and how quickly it responded to Ivey’s statement compared to how it hasn’t even given a concrete statement regarding payments. “I couldn’t walk these halls with a patch on for a company that is keeping people on the rail”, says Negreanu, a parallel of Ivey’s feelings on the matter.
Tom Dwan, Ivey’s fellow Full Tilt Pro, did not speak out against Full Tilt, but did express his admiration for Ivey and for what Ivey’s doing.
Anti-Ivey: Robl and Matusow
Andrew Robl is perhaps the most vocal of all anti-Ivey’s on this issue. He posted on his blog that Ivey’s statement was ‘solely self-serving’, and that Ivey’s merely trying to “cover his own ass” by disassociating himself with Full Tilt. He also went on to point out that Ivey is one of the primary equity holders of Full Tilt and has actually gained more profit than nearly anyone from the site. Robl also said that if Ivey honestly cared about the players, then he would promise to return every cent of his profits to the players just like Tom Dwan did – a statement made even more poignant by the fact that Dwan’s not even an owner like Ivey is. Furthermore, Robl says that Full Tilt has been trying to get a bridge-loan/investment in order to facilitate the payments, but then Ivey’s rep-damaging statement just pushed that back even further. As such Ivey’s not really helping the US players, he’s hurting them in an effort to save his own reputation as well as his own money.
Mike Matusow was in agreement with Robl, saying in his Twitter account, “just read this ivey lawsuit what a big bunch of bull*** from a person that cares only about himself and not any players!”
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