As the biggest event on the poker calendar kicked off yesterday, you’d think it would be impossible for any other poker story to overshadow the World Series of Poker. Lo and behold, Phil Ivey, arguably the biggest name and best player in the game, accomplished just that with a simple press release. Poker’s biggest star has announced that he will be boycotting the WSOP this year!
Absent at the Start of the $25,000 Heads-Up Event
Phil Ivey
Creating infinitely more buzz by staying away from the felt than by playing, Ivey’s absence is meant to protest Full Tilt Poker’s inability to begin paying out money to U.S. players for over 6 weeks since Black Friday. This absolutely heroic and selfless move means Ivey is depriving himself of the opportunity to play on poker’s grandest stage and potentially accumulate additional winnings and championship bracelets.
To read Ivey’s statement (this poker blogger highly recommends doing so!) in full, check out his website. Indeed, until now, Full Tilt Poker has been noticeably quiet about its intentions to return players’ money, only periodically posting updates on poker forums, as opposed to full press releases (or actually refunding the money!). Ivey had enough of the stalling and has electronically filed suit against the marketing company behind the online poker site.
PokerStars Still Grinding In Tough Times
Not that they were necessarily the best behaved kids on the block either, but this poker blogger has always recommended PokerStars as his online poker room of choice. The fact that they stepped up and did everything in their power to immediately refund US players over $100 million shows that indeed they deserved to be the #1 online poker room in the industry. If only to prove that they want to remain #1, PokerStars has announced new start times for the Sunday majors, which will now be geared towards their primary (read: European) market. To mark the change, they’ve decided to double the guarantees for the upcoming Sunday majors (June 5th).
About Robbie StrazynskiRobbie has years of experience in the gaming industry. Having lived for over a decade and a half in Southern California, arguably the center of the poker world, he has also made dozens of visits to other gambling hubs around the world, including Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Monte Carlo, Reno, and London. Robbie learned how to play poker “around the kitchen table” as a child and has been a die-hard fan of the game ever since. He has also helped to raise thousands of dollars for worthy causes by running many successful charity poker events.
An expert on the U.S. gaming industry, Robbie has also had many articles published in the prestigious iGBAffiliate Magazine and their gaming industry blog.
