Phil Ivey is one of the most famous online poker players. He
used to be a regular at the highest stakes tables at the online
poker site FullTilt.com. His daily
transactions ran into hundreds of thousands of dollars. Ivey is
a poker player who has made it big at both online poker sites
and land casinos. Therefore FullTilt.com had made Phil Ivey one
of their most prominent brand ambassadors.
Black Friday changed online poker in the United States. FullTilt.com was one of the three online poker sites that were seized by the federal authorities, the others being PokerStars.com and AbsolutePoker.com. All three online poker sites were able to make arrangements with the federal authorities for unfreezing their accounts for returning the balances of their members. PokerStars.com has already refunded several millions of dollars. FullTilt.com has been unable to start paying off its members and it is because of this that Phil Ivey is on the war path.
Ivey posted a scathing piece on his Facebook page. He expressed disappointment and embarrassment that the online poker site he represented has not been able to play its players. As a result many of the players have been unable to compete in tournaments like the prestigious ongoing World Series of Poker (WSOP). Ivey has an excellent record at WSOP and is one of the stars of the show. But this year he will not play at WSOP in order to show solidarity with those who are unable to do so.
Ivey has gone one step further. He has alleged that FullTilt.com did not take the correct and timely decisions that were required to enable it to pay the players. The online poker site’s reputation has taken a hit. Because Ivey was the brand ambassador, his “name and reputation have been dragged through the mud” as well. Therefore Ivey has filed a lawsuit against the owners of the online poker room. Finally he has assured all FullTilt.com players that he will dedicate his entire time to finding a solution to the repayment problem.
FullTilt.com in a retaliatory statement has pointed out that Ivey’s ill-timed and frivolous lawsuit was a selfish step. Because of the lawsuit, negotiations which would have enabled the players getting back their money have broken down. The online poker site also alleged that they had sought Ivey’s cooperation in finding solutions, but Ivey declined to help.