It looks like Phil Ivey’s divorce is about to get as messy as his contentious relationship with Full Tilt Poker. Carri Geer Thevenot of the Las Vegas Review-Journal is reporting that Ivey’s ex-wife (the couple was officially divorced in late 2009) has filed a petition to the court over concerns of Judicial Bias stemming from campaign contributions made to Family Court Judge Bill Gonzalez by Phil Ivey and his lawyer’s law firm.

Apparently both Ivey and attorney David Chesnoff (through a variety of channels) donated $5,000 to the Family Court Judge’s campaign, totaling 14% of the judge’s donations. The article quotes University of Nevada, Las Vegas law professor Jeff Stempel as saying that the donations are an indication that “obviously” meant he was happy with the divorce settlement “and may have anticipated possible challenges.”

Ivey’s ex-wife Luciaetta is also claiming that other donations to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008 the two (to her knowledge) have never donated to any political campaigns, and Ivey’s one-off contribution to the Family Court Judge who presided over his divorce settlement was the only campaign contribution he made in 2010.

Luciaetta is also claiming that Ivey has not paid spousal support since April, with Ivey’s attorney David Chesnoff citing that the divorce agreement “permitted Phil to cease doing so as he was no longer receiving income from one of the businesses.”

All-in-all, 2011 seems like a year that many poker players would rather forget altogether.

Tags: Barack Obama, Campaign Contribution, Campaign Contributions, David Chesnoff, Divorce Agreement, Divorce Settlement, Family Court Judge, Full tilt Poker, Geer, Judge Bill, Judicial Bias, Las Vegas Review Journal, Law Professor, Nevada Las Vegas, Phil Ivey, poker players, Political Campaigns, Professor Jeff, University Of Nevada Las Vegas, Vegas Review Journal

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