Full Tilt Poker and Phil Ivey clash in ugly separation

After speaking out for the first time since Black Friday, Phil Ivey lashed out at Full Tilt Poker through his Facebook Fan Page with a series of status updates where he derided the way Full Tilt Poker has handled US player withdrawals, going so far as to announce he is suing Full Tilt Poker, and will not participate in the 2011 WSOP.

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 whole heartedly 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.

This was followed by the lawsuit (actually a complaint) being filed in a Las Vegas court, where we learned quite a bit about why Ivey is suing -the main reason seems to be that he wants a non-compete clause from his Full Tilt Poker contract nullified. You can read the entire Complaint on scribd.

This was followed by a venomous response from Full Tilt Poker, where they questioned Ivey’s motivations for filing the lawsuit:

“Contrary to his sanctimonious public statements, Phil Ivey’s meritless lawsuit is about helping just one player - himself. In an effort to further enrich himself at the expense of others, Mr. Ivey appears to have timed his lawsuit to thwart pending deals with several parties that would put money back in players’ pockets. In fact, Mr. Ivey has been invited — and has declined — to take actions that could assist the company in these efforts, including paying back a large sum of money he owes the site. Tiltware doubts Mr. Ivey’s frivolous and self-serving lawsuit will ever get to court. But if it does, the company looks forward to presenting facts demonstrating that Mr. Ivey is putting his own narrow financial interests ahead of the players he professes to help.”

It appears that not only will more details come out regarding the situation between Ivey and Full Tilt Poker, but it also looks like however this plays out the situation is going to end with a lot of hard feelings on both sides.