Famous professional poker player and Full Tilt Poker legend Phil Ivey announced he refuses to participate in this year's World Series of Poker due to the fact that Full Tilt still hasn't paid out its American customers after Black Friday.

The long silence of Team Full Tilt has been broken with Phil Ivey's statement on his personal website, where the famous poker legend explained that he will not attend this year's WSOP unless USA players will get compensated.

In a communique, Ivey explained that he is proud to be a poker player and doesn't regret taking this career path, but is extremely disappointed in the current management of Full Tilt Poker that so far was not able to refund the money American players lost after the so-called Black Friday happenings.

"I am not playing in the World Series of Poker as I do not believe it is fair that I compete when others cannot. " - Is what he explained.

He added that with his action he aims to determine the company's leadership to finally take a firm stance on the player money refund issue, and do everything in its power to finally compensate the people affected by this case.

"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 […]." - He added.

Full Tilt Poker recently assured its US customers that their money that is currently deposited in Full Tilt accounts will be refunded eventually, but did not give any hints to when this might happen. Based on the current financial and legal problems of the venture several experts are pessimistic about the outcome of the situation.

Phil Ivey's decision not to participate in this year's WSOP might come as a blow to the company, since Ivey is one of the top poker players worldwide and a key contributor to Full Tilt's international image as a professional online poker website.

The WSOP is the world's most prestigious poker championship to be organized, and this year's event that started yesterday on the 31st of May will already be the 42nd edition. Ivey being one of the favorites will certainly be missed from the tables.

Tags: Phil Ivey, WSOP, Full Tilt Poker, Black Friday