Ivey suing Full Tilt, says he will sit out WSOP

1 June 2011

By Aaron Todd

Phil Ivey, considered by many to be the best poker player in the world, has announced that he has filed a lawsuit against Tiltware, the software and marketing company behind Full Tilt Poker, and that he will not play any events at this year's World Series of Poker.

The news comes as millions of Americans await payment from Full Tilt after the company stopped allowing U.S. players to participate in real-money games in the wake of the indictment of the company's owner, Ray Bitar, and several bank executives who helped the online poker room with payment processing.

"I am deeply disappointed and embarrassed that Full Tilt players have not been paid money they are owed," reads a statement on Ivey's webpage. "I am equally embarrassed that as a result many players cannot compete in tournaments and have suffered economic harm. I am not playing in the World Series of Poker as I don not believe it is fair that I compete when others cannot. I am doing everything I can to seek a solution to the problem as quickly as possible."

While Full Tilt has many professional players on its roster, Ivey is perhaps the most recognizable. An eight-time WSOP bracelet winner, Ivey dominates the tournament scene when he plays, and was a consistent winner at the nosebleed stakes on Full Tilt Poker prior to the U.S. shutdown.

Over the last two years, Ivey has won three WSOP bracelets. Many have speculated that in past years he had been playing a higher volume of WSOP events as a result of seven-figure prop bets with Full Tilt founder Howard Lederer, among others. It is unlikely that Ivey would have been able to secure such a wager from Lederer this year, with Full Tilt no longer in the U.S. market.

Additionally, he may have wanted to avoid ugly clashes with players awaiting cashouts. While it's uncertain whether Full Tilt's failure to pay players was the exact reason, several poker media outlets reported on Tuesday that Full Tilt pro John Juanda was accosted by 2010 World Series of Poker Europe champion James Bord. Photos of Juanda show him wearing a Full Tilt patch, but according to Pauly McGuire's Tao of Poker blog, several Full Tilt pros, including Erik Seidel and Tom "durrrr" Dwan, opted not to wear patches on the first day of the WSOP.

Ivey suing Full Tilt, says he will sit out WSOP is republished from Online.CasinoCity.com.