Wednesday, June 1, 2011 | 9:20 a.m.
Poker's biggest superstar, Phil Ivey, says he's skipping the World Series of Poker because he's disappointed and embarrassed that his sponsor, Full Tilt Poker, hasn't paid back player deposits after pulling out of the U.S. market.
Ivey says in a statement posted on his Facebook page late Tuesday that he's angry that players who support him have been treated poorly by the company facing severe legal problems.
Seven executives and others tied to Full Tilt were indicted in April as part of a federal crackdown of online poker operators, including PokerStars and Absolute Poker.
Since then, the sites have made deals to begin repaying customer money in online accounts. But only PokerStars has started refunds.
Ivey says he's suing Full Tilt. It's not clear where the lawsuit has been filed.
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