The early days of the 2011 World Series of Poker was more or less hijacked by the news that Phil Ivey would not only be skipping the 2011 WSOP, but had filed a lawsuit against Full Tilt Poker in the process. With the announcement the poker world has been split right down the middle with some siding with Ivey, while others have been far more critical of the best poker player in the world’s motivations for filing the suit.
Ivey’s latest detractor came in the guise of fellow Team Full Tilt Poker pro Mike Matusow, who let loose on Ivey during a recent appearance on the Hardcore Poker Show. During the interview Matusow laced into Ivey, with perhaps his most stinging criticism coming early on in the show when Matusow questioned Ivey’s public statements, where he claimed to be boycotting the 2011 WSOP as a show of solidarity with the poker community as a whole: “People understand what’s going on. At first they didn’t get it, they all thought Phil Ivey was their hero, but now they realize he’s a fucking piece of shit,” Matusow would add later in the show that “Phil Ivey doesn’t give a shit about you, me or anyone else. He is a cutthroat gambler and couldn’t care less,”
Matusow went on to zero in on Ivey’s motivations for filing the lawsuit saying, “Everybody can see right through it, the real reason behind the lawsuit is pretty obvious… I don’t want to get into it at all, but it’s a pretty self-centered act from a self-centered person who made anywhere between $50 million and $100 million over the past five years into his own pockets, so you know, good luck to him. He’s trying to take people down with him,”
In Ivey’s corner have been such names as Daniel Negreanu and Tom Dwan –proving people’s allegiances are not based on sponsorship deals, while on the flipside Andrew Robl and others have been more in line with Matusow’s thinking.
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