Poker Pros Discuss Phil Ivey's Full Tilt Battle

Following Phil Ivey‘s extraordinary decision to boycott the 2011 WSOP in a show of his dissatisfaction with Full Tilt Poker, some of the game’s top pros have been weighing in on Ivey’s action.
When Ivey announced his decision, he also declared he was suing Full Tilt in a lawsuit ‘related to the unsettled player accounts’, as well as for the damages caused to his name and reputation.
In the meantime, however, various poker pros have their own take on the whole situation, predictably divided into the for and against camp.
Amongst Ivey’s supporters are such players as Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu and Tom Dwan.
On his Twitter account Brunson chipped in: “Kudos to Ivey. Gotta think he’s a little bit nuts though. Actually, I always knew he was.”
Likewise, Daniel Negreanu wrote: “Read Ivey’s statement on not playing the WSOP. Tough spot, but I definitely admire his decision to put the players funds before bracelets.”
Tom Dwan also expressed solidarity with Ivey’s moral decision, although he said he would still be participating at the 2011 WSOP as he was prepared to return 100% of his payments from the company to help facilitate repayments to US customers.
On the other hand, several pros have been less than impressed with Phil Ivey’s perceived motivations and see only self-serving interests at the heart of his recent bombshell. Amongst those are Mike Matusow, Andy Robl and perhaps most vocal of all, Tony G.
In Robl’s opinion: “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.”
Mike Matusow, too, didn’t hold back any punches when he wrote: “Just read this Ivey lawsuit what a big bunch of bull*** from a person that cares only about himself and not any players!”
Tony G, on the other hand, has gone full out on his attack on Ivey, saying he he has now ‘thrown Full Tilt under the bus’  and is ‘the first rat to jump off the sinking ship.’ In his opinion, Ivey has succeeded only in scuppering any potential business deals by Full Tilt, which might otherwise have facilitated the return of US players funds.
As the situation at the world’s second biggest poker room remains tentative, opinions on Phil Ivey’s stand against the website are still likely to draw some pretty extreme reactions by players for some time to come.