Phil Ivey’s lawsuit is “frivolousness” and “self-serving,” and Ivey is choosing not to “... [pay] back a large sum of money he owes the site,” according to a statement released by Tiltware.
The statement comes a day after Full Tilt figurehead Ivey filed suit against Tiltware. The suit claims that he had not been made aware of fraudulent activity that the DOJ alleged, his personal and professional reputation has been damaged and his contract led to loss of earnings through other business opportunities. The complaint, made available online, seeks $150m in damages and the release of Ivey from his contract.
Tiltware is a California-based company that officially is the software provider for the Full Tilt Poker online poker room. However, although specific company structures are kept well-hidden, many assume Tiltware plays an active role in the regular operation of Full Tilt and can be considered as Full Tilt’s parent company. In April 2009, a civil complaint filed by James B. Hicks named Tiltware as doing business as FullTiltPoker.com.
The response by Tiltware, made available to various online media outlets, is reprinted in full below:
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.
Other players have been brought in to the fray. Tom Dwan, nosebleed player and member of Team Full Tilt, tweeted promptly after the news broke in support of Ivey’s statement, but later said that he would not be joining Ivey in pulling out of the WSOP.
“[I] feel fine about it morally,” he tweeted later on Wednesday, “[because] I’ll give back 100% what I was paid by FTP if players aren’t paid in full.”
Fellow player Andrew Robl, unaffiliated high stakes player with “a large sum of money on Full Tilt,” was less complementary. In a post on his blog Wednesday, Robl states that Ivey’s statement was “was solely self-serving.”
“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,” Robl claims. “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.”
