Phil Ivey has been widely considered the best poker player in the world for years. He has won almost $14 million on the live tournament circuit, countless more millions in the highest stakes games both live and online, and owns eight World Series of Poker bracelets. His stoicism at the tables is intimidating, his skill even more so. There is only one problem with the legend of Phil Ivey: he has not played for almost all of 2011.
The hiatus, self-banning, or whatever one wants to call it began when the Black Friday disaster struck. Ivey saw his Full Tilt Poker go under, along with millions of dollars in players’ funds. Angry at Full Tilt for not taking care of player deposits (it was eventually found out that the funds were, for all intents and purposes, stolen by the Full Tilt Board and management), he sued the online poker room in June for its irresponsibility. He has always claimed he was innocent of any wrong doing and feels that he, himself, is a victim, as many players have demanded that he use his wealth to repay their lost funds.
“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,” Ivey said on his website. “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,” he continued.
He also decided to not play in this summer’s World Series of Poker, saying:
“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.”
But yesterday, at the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Macau, what would have normally been a perfectly standard APPT event became the talk of the poker world as Phil Ivey strolled to his seat near the end of the second level. There had already been rumblings that he was in town and then his name on the list of registered players, but since he had not appeared for the first level, nobody quite new for sure whether or not Ivey was going to break his almost year-long absence from the game.
Ivey survived Day 1A, finishing with 51,200 chips. Leading the field as they await the completion of Day 1B before combining for Day 2 is Shih-Chieh Su with 171,800 chips.
