LAS VEGAS, June 2 (UPI) -- Phil Ivey, the world's top-ranked poker player, has dropped out of the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas because potential rivals have had their funds frozen.
Ivey called on Full Tilt Poker, his former sponsor, to reimburse players whose funds were blocked in April when the U.S. Justice Department brought an indictment against Full Tilt Poker, an online gambling site, the Las Vegas Sun reported.
"I am not playing in the World Series of Poker as I do not believe it is fair that I compete when others cannot," Ivey said in a statement posted Wednesday on his Web site. "I am doing everything I can to seek a solution to the problem as quickly as possible."
The World Series of Poker began Tuesday. Many fans at the time believed Ivey had simply decided not to compete in the first of 58 events, the Sun said.
