Online Poker News

Phil Ivey Sues Full Tilt Poker
Clark County District Court records show that Phil Ivey filed a lawsuit against Tiltware, the company that provides software and marketing for Full Tilt Poker, at the end of May in Las Vegas.
Case No. A-11-642387-C is listed as Phillip Ivey, Jr., Plaintiff vs. Tiltware LLC, Defendant. According to Associated Press, the company has denied Ivey’s request to pursue other professional opportunities in poker. As a result, Ivey is seeking more than $150 million for “injunctive relief, declaratory relief and damages”.
The lead attorney listed for the case is David Zeltner Chesnoff, a high-powered criminal defense attorney based in Las Vegas. No hearing on the lawsuit has been scheduled according to the court calender.
The suit comes quickly after Ivey announced his intentions through Facebook and his website.
Ivey said that he will not play in the 2011 World Series of Poker and announced that he had “electronically filed a lawsuit against Tiltware”, in a disjointed, six-part statement.
Shortly after the news broke, a cleaned-up press release went up on Ivey’s website. No verbal confirmation from the eight-time bracelet winner has been achieved at this time, and multiple Full Tilt pros in attendance on day 1 of the $25,000 heads-up event, which Ivey was absent from, said they knew nothing about the Ivey announcement.
Here is the full statement:
“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.”
Less than 24 hours after Ivey publicly criticised Full Tilt Poker and filed the lawsuit, Tiltware issued the following statement in response:
“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.”
Ivey, regarded by many as the best player to ever live, won nearly $20 million at the virtual felt on Full Tilt Poker — topping the all-time in the digital game. ♠

German Wins
PokerStars Sunday Million
The PokerStars Sunday Million returned with 4,833 entrants on the last Sunday of May. The player to top them all was Tobias “PokerNoob999” Reinkemeier. The German, who has a SCOOP title in his arsenal (from 2009), now adds a Sunday Million title to his collection plus $135,053.32. He now has more than $2.7 million in lifetime winnings.
When play got down to the serious end of things, Reinkemeier was sitting comfortably among chip leaders. The final table was reached in level 33 with blinds at 100,000-200,000 plus a 20,000 ante. Soon after the final table began, a nine-way deal was made, which saw $20,000 put to one side for whoever was the last player standing.
It was PokerNoob999 and The__Anfied who made it to heads-up play with PokerNoob999 out in front. After a few back and forths, the German pro got the better of his opponent and the final hand came with The__Anfied holding K♥ 9♦ and Renkemeier holding pocket twos. The board fell A♠ 10♠ 6♦ 7♣ 6♠ and the German stole the show with two pair. He received a total of $135,053.32 for first place while The__Anfied walked away with $129,319.
Here are the final results and payouts featuring the nine-way deal:
1 Tobias “PokerNoob999” Reinkemeier $135,053.32
2 The__Anfied $129,319.00
3 TomsBrakis $26,834.20
4 Maroc_Dk 77 $49,354.30
5 rumazon $42,861.55
6 3max $25,917.22
7 sedinoel $37,521.16
8 reutsim $42,295.27
9 swillslinger $40,773.98

Patrik Antonius
Enduring Wild Swings
At one point in the last week of May, Patrik Antonius had passed Gus Hansen on the 2011 leader board for cash-game winnings. However, Antonius imploded, giving all of his profits back in the following days.
Antonius started off the run by destroying Rui Cao for about $800,000 at $500-$1,000 pot-limit Omaha. By capturing multiple six-figures pots, Antonius was in command the entire match, sending his French opponent into surrender.
Combined with other one-versus-one sessions, Antonius had profited nearly $1 million from the European crowd in just one day on Full Tilt Poker. With nearly $3 million in earnings on the year, Antonius was now ahead of Hansen, who had been hovering around $3.5 million for the past couple of months before recently dropping about a million of his profits.
Hansen seemed to have something to say about being second on the leader board, because shortly after Antonius passed him, the Danish pro went on to help take back all of Antonius’ winnings from the week and then some.
Largely in nosebleed limit Omaha high-low eight-or-better sessions, Hansen took his fellow site pro for hundreds of thousands, sending Antonius on a downward spiral that eventually saw about $1.5 million of his recent winnings disintegrate. As a result, Hansen is back on top in cyberspace with $3.5 million in virtual currency.
Other news from that week includes American Cole South returning to action on Full Tilt Poker. South, who lists his new location as Canada, has been a huge loser online this year, but managed to win about $200,000 in sessions over the past week across the border up north.
Over at PokerStars, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom is having one of his best months since reemerging onto the scene after going broke again and again during his exciting run on Full Tilt Poker back in 2009 and 2010. Blom is now in the black about $450,000 from heads-up matches in May, but if his history is any prediction for the future, he will likely dump all of that back into the high-stakes sea. Blom has been one of the most unsuccessful six-max pot-limit Omaha players online this year.
While a player like South allegedly made the move to Canada, a high-stakes pro like Ashton Griffin is relishing in his ability to broaden his life goals and take a break from the six-figure coin flips of the nosebleed culture — check out Card Player TV at CardPlayer.com for an interview with him and other big name poker pros. ♠