Phil Ivey statement on Full Tilt Poker payouts

From Ivey's Facebook: (http://www.facebook.com/philivey)

For many years, I have been proud to call myself a poker player. This great sport has taken me to places I only imagined going and I have been blessed with much success. It is therefore with deep regret that I believe I am compelled to release the following statement.

I am deeply disappointed and embarrassed that Full Tilt players have not been paid money they are owed. 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 do 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.

My name and reputation have been dragged through the mud, through the inactivity and indecision of others and on behalf of all poker players I refuse to remain silent any longer. I have electronically filed a lawsuit against Tiltware related to the unsettled player accounts. As I am sure the public can imagine, this was not an easy decision for me.

I wholeheartedly refuse to accept non-action as to repayment of players funds and I am angered that people who have supported me throughout my career have been treated so poorly.

I sincerely hope this statement will ignite those capable of resolving the problems into immediate action and would like to clarify that until a solution is reached that cements the security of all players, both US and International, I will, as I have for the last six weeks, dedicate the entirety of my time and efforts to finding a solution for those who have been wronged by the painfully slow process of repayment.


wickedchops Wicked Chops Poker



Breaking: Phil Ivey Facebook message confirmed real. Post coming shortly...

8 minutes ago

Wow - definitely epic and apparently true. I just can't make any sense of it though. I don't think Ivey's personal reputation was taking any damage from this and I can't imagine what grounds he's suing them on. Also won't boycotting the WSOP guarantee he loses millions in bracelet bets?

You have to think on another level, ( sorry Phill ). He's really telling the US Gov that they are going to LOSE, not just 25% of his WSOP winnings, but millions in related income and taxes because of his boycott of the event in response to the DOJ's ( Dept Of Jerks ) actions. FT and it's owners ( an independant business ) are under attack by the US Gov, what better way to show them the error of their ways than to withhold their revenue? If all the "pro's did the same , the house of cards would fold. The Gov 'allows' smoking and alcohol, both are adictive and both kill. But they produce Gov income through taxes so they don't give a crap. I really feel sad for you US citizens. Your Gov feels it nessesary to control you to the extent that your not even allowed to spend your own money unless they approve of it.

up until this statement I was pretty confident we would be paid.

Now after this statement it sure worries me about the state of affairs at FTP.

I completely feel the other way now. It sure seems like our money is gone.

Pothole: if that were the case why would he be suing Tiltware?

Coolnout: it's been clear for weeks that YOUR money is gone, that's why they're been trying to raise capital.

Wow! This is shocking.

ivey ivey ivey!!!!

Would be nice if Ivey grew a set of balls and went after the DOJ, which has our money, this was a lame move on his part.
PS I posted the same on his page...Not even a aka pro will see less from me, this makes me sick.
This PUSSY deleted the post, that should show you.

Not quite sure what you mean by "the house of cards would fold", but if you are trying to imply that if all the pros simply stopped playing poker, and by extension, stopped paying taxes (assuming that the majority of them were doing that in the first place), that it would somehow 'damage' the American federal government, then you are vastly over estimating the value of poker taxation, and vastly under estimating the total tax revenue the government collects from all sources.
The money that is 'declared' as revenue and taxed is certainly not a pittance, but it is also not an amount that the Treasury Department is going to go broke over.
And to say that the DOJ is committing some kind of 'error' by prosecuting people for bank and wire fraud? I don't get that. Bank and wire fraud is pretty clear cut. It has nothing to do with whether poker is a game of 'chance' or 'skill' at all.

The MFer Blocked me, that should show how much this POS cares, i will be posting the same thing to 2+2 forums

Since the Edit button is not here, it's been posted on 2+2 of how much of an ass he was

Even if this whole thing is legit, LOL if you think Phil Ivey personally operates his own promotional Facebook page. It'll be some lackey posting stuff and blocking people on his behalf.

Right now he got a PM, it's been posted on 2+2 forums, how much of an ass he is
HE nor his staff picked the wrong one to mess with!!!!

ya it's all by his management team most likely.

I hope Phil Ivey is doing this. It's good of him to care about poker as a whole and the people who play it. FTP looks shady by comparison when players got their Poker Stars money rather quickly and FTP has refused to make the similar agreement Stars did.

What needs to happen now is for the rest of the non-US poker world to stop playing on FT.

The remaining players at FT should have clear knowledge now that any future failure at FT will result in THEM losing their funds as well.

I would return to Stars in a heartbeat if made possible. They were el-quicko with my check.

FT will NEVER see me again under any circumstances. How they don't believe this will affect them worldwide is unfathomable. Can you imagine Howard and crew showing their faces at live poker events like WSOP now ?? Have they been spotted at any recent 'live' functions?

Will be interresting to see IF/WHEN they have anything to say about Phil's stance.

***********************************

Hooray for Phil!
http://philivey.com/
Tweet by Tom Dwan -
Yo @philivey poker isn't a sport... Rest of your statement is awesome though.

"Would be nice if Ivey grew a set of balls and went after the DOJ, which has our money, this was a lame move on his part.
PS I posted the same on his page..."
HUGE sigh & double face palm. You're kidding right?
I think this post by Ivey is AWESOME!!!! Good on ya Phil!!! Finally a 'red pro' Fulltilt player is not only speaking out but is taking action. I think a boycott of the WSOP speaks volumes.
Again, WTG Phil Ivey!!! (although I will now have to scratch you from my WSOP Fantasy League picks, lol).

+1

Happy that i stop playing there and move to Stars. I was not having any feel of trust from FTP wich make me decide to leave.

About Ivey statement (if is legit). I do think that Ivey's personal reputation was been hurt with all this, at least all the people that get close to him every time that play to ask about the money on FTP should be so anoy. An even when smart people should know that is not he´s fault, the fact that his face was one of the faces of FTP make some people believe that he is one of the owners who steal the money.

So good for him to finally speak.

IVEY IS THE STONE-COLD IMMORTAL NUTS WITH CHERRY ON TOP!

From what I understand FTP is a sponsor of Ivey and many other well known players. If FTP is failing to pay them because of DOJ actions then they have no right to use the pros image in their site, software, academy, TV spots yada yada yada.

That and the fact that indeed the pros are the real face of the company, making them sitting targets for all the annoying reasons makes his stand against FTP understandable. I'm sure that no one with such a visibility as a poker pro would start a lawsuit against his sponsor light.

Regarding the boycot of WSOP I stand and applaud. Regardless of the reasons why DOJ is chasing the poker sites, the high profile pros standing up to represent their interests and the interests of the game and the unknown player is remarkable. The only thing I wish is that many more join Ivey and do the same.

Obviously Ivey has his own agenda. But the actions of his agenda help and support every serious player, be it recreational or professional.

I hope Chris Ferguson, Phil Gordon and pros from other affected sites like Negreanu and Helmuth speak up in the same tone. That would be a major hit.

This is the e-mail I received from FT on 4/29. Seems absolutely no effort has been made on their part to get us our funds... even though they promised an update "next week'. That would have been approx 5/6.

I think they missed the mark somewhere... by almost a month so far.

So much for "trust us, your money is SAFE with us".

-----------------------------
received 4/29/11
--------------------------------
Dear nevadanick,

As you are aware, following the recent events in the United States, Full Tilt Poker is no longer able to offer real-money play to residents of the U.S. and its territories.

Returning U.S. Players' funds is our top priority. We are working hard to achieve this and will have a further update for U.S. players next week.

We have compiled a list of the most frequently asked questions we have received from U.S. players, which may address some of your questions or concerns.

The page can be found here: http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/us-player-faq

Updates will be posted on this page when they become available.
Thank you for your patience as we work through the outstanding issues.

Kind regards,

Full Tilt Poker

************************************************** *****

kidkv you have no idea (as usual) what on earth you're talking about

Ivey is a ****ing boss, class act

Pretty clear that anyone with money on FT is never going to see it.

2+2 thread on this topic just broke over 1k posts...

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/29...ement-1046023/

Haha what a hero

So does anyone have any ideas on what possible grounds he could be suing Tiltware?

Well done Phil

I'm looking forward to seeing what percentage of people still pick him for event 3 in Fantasy poker lol

That they are doing harm to his brand by not paying US players promptly perhaps?

If he had played he would have heard nothing from the rail other than boos and cries to "Give us our money!". His release today and the lawsuit is all about repairing his image which he knows is worth a hell of a lot more than what he was getting from FTP.

Call me cynical but I also wouldn't be shocked if the whole thing (including Dwan's tweet in response) was just a setup to allow Ivey to play without the jeers. Follow me here:

1. Ivey releases his statement
2. Dwan says he agrees with Ivey but he's going to play because he's going to pay players back all the $$s he's received from FTP if Tilt doesn't pay.
3. Ivey releases a statement in a few days that he's going to play a few events with the stipulation that he'll give any winnings (up to any amount Dwan contributes) if Tilt doesn't pay.
4. Ivey plays as the hero instead of the goat.

I just honestly can't believe people would have been heckling Phil Ivey over this at the WSOP. Howard Lederer absolutely but Ivey? He's god, everyone loved / respected / feared him already and anyone dumb enough to blame him for this situation and heckle him about it in person would no doubt be mobbed by a dozen of his groupies before they could get more than a few words out.

As for doing harm to his brand you're suggesting what, defamation as a cause of action?

Obviously I'm just speculating but yeah I think defamation could be the cause and even if it's not it's certainly the reason for the suit. Also it doesn't really much matter about the lawsuit's particular merit. Phil's already accomplished the image repair (plus some) that he needed anyway.

As for how he would have been treated had he showed up like all was normal, I think you're really wrong. He would have been hounded HARD. Now if he plays he'll be worshiped more than ever.

I guess we'll never know. I just figure Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke were able to show their faces at live events with little consequence in the wake of the UB cheating scandal (something that I think rates as much, much worse than the current situation with FT) so I'd be surprised if it Ivey caught any significant heckling. The threads here and elsewhere direct most of their vitriol towards Howard in any case.

Plus internet heroes claiming they'll give him a piece of their mind if they see him at the WSOP and said heroes actually making good on the threat are two very different things - I suspect most of them probably just mumble something about him being their idol and ask for an autograph if they ever actually get face to face with him :P

Sad to see he is pulling out of the WSOP (well... for now). That's like Tiger Woods pulling out of the Masters because a ranking Amatuer was disqualified. Doesn't make sense.
All he will do now is troll the high-stakes cash tables during the WSOP and clean up.

Ivey is such a boss


Lol Tardaments