Andrew Robl Criticizes Ivey’s Statement

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Online poker pro Andrew ’Good2CU’ Robl posted on his blog he considers Phil Ivey’s statement to be “solely self-serving” and that he was deeply disappointed in Ivey, who is one of his personal heroes.

Andrew Robl
Andrew 'Good2CU' Robl

As I wrote, Phil Ivey filed a lawsuit against Full Tilt Poker and announced he would not participate in WSOP 2011 as long as FTP did not initiate cash outs for their US players. The pro contacted Las Vegas lawyer David Z. Chesnoff who sued FTP parent company Tiltware in the District Court of Clark County, Nevada. According to the lawsuit, Ivey is suing for breach of contract and for lost business opportunity and income as well as for damaging his professional and personal reputation. In all, these are worth over $150 million; approximately the amount of money Full Tilt Poker owes its US players. Ivey is most likely planning on paying US players from the money, but this is just an assumption.

Full Tilt Poker did not take long to react to Ivey’s statement; they stated the pro was not considering the interest of his fellow players but that of his own and they were ready to prove that, in case a lawsuit did take place.

The “Ivey vs. FTP case” is the subject of much of the discussion all around the poker community; most recently, Andrew ‘Good2CU’ Robl has offered his views on the question on his blog:

“I normally hesitant to gossip or make comments about other poker players and companies as I try to avoid causing drama or creating drama at all costs.  But due to the fact that I have a large sum of money on Full Tilt and the fact that I have much more information about this matter than the general public I feel obligated to comment.

Phil Ivey’s statement was solely self-serving.  He is trying to cover his own ass and unassociate himself with full-tilt’s current legal situation/non-paying of players. Phil Ivey is one of the primary equity holders of full tilt and has profited off their business more than almost anyone. If he really cared about the players he would pledge to return every cent of the MILLIONS of dollars he’s made from Full Tilt to the players as Tom Dwan (who is not a owner) has done.

Instead he made a public statement that dramatically hurt Full Tilt’s reputation and brand at a critical moment.  Full Tilt has been searching for a bridge-loan/investment to cover all player funds and Phil Ivey’s statement has hurt their chances to do so.  It is a lot harder to sale an investment in a poker site who’s most marketable player is making damning public statements against them.

Phil Ivey used this statement all to save his own ass and his own money.  He has hurt the US players chances of being paid in a timely fashion under, the guise of helping them.

As Phil is one of my personal heroes I have to say I’m shocked by his actions.

There has been a lot of speculation on why Full Tilt hasn’t paid.  The information I have suggests Full Tilt didn’t have their funds fully segregated as Pokerstars did  so while the DOJ unfroze a large % of pokerstars assets as pokerstars could say these are player funds and we need them to pay the players – Full Tilt was unable to do so, as a result a much bigger % of Full Tilt’s assets remain frozen.  On top of that they have many more owners who they paid out very aggressively (*cough* Phil Ivey *cough*), so they had much less of a cushion in case like something like this happened.   In spite of all of this and Phil Ivey’s damaging statement I remain optimistic US players will be paid out.

Disclaimer: Most of the my statement is coming form limited information/sources and I could be wrong – and Phil Ivey could be in the right.  But I believe strongly enough in what I’m saying to make a public statement.

Edit:  I do not think that Phil Ivey did anything shady.  I also believe he is correct/in the right in most of the statements he made.  However, I do think what he did hurts the chances of US players being paid – which is bad for me and most of his fans,” Robl wrote.

Not everybody agrees with him, however; four-time WSOP champion Daniel Negreanu, for instance, has tweeted the following:

“Read Ivey's statement on not playing the WSOP. Tough spot, but I definitely admire his decision to put the players funds before bracelets. I imagine it was an uber tough decision because Ivey loves WSOP, but he couldn't in good conscious play while US customers haven't been paid.”

Although the FTP Pro’s statement was celebrated by almost all in the beginning, it is now becoming a more and more controversial topic in the industry.