It had to be a surreal sight for a group of poker hopefuls at the PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour Macau Main Event. On Wednesday, which was Day 1A of the tournament, Full Tilt Poker pro Phil Ivey (pictured), whose home site is in the midst of trying to repay players following Black Friday, made his return. Text found on the PokerStars Blog explained everyone’s shock: “There really isn’t a headline that does this story justice unless I could put it in 72-point font. Phil Ivey just sat down at the APPT Macau Main Event. It happened here in the waning moments of the second level.”

Ivey, who filed suit against Full Tilt Poker after Black Friday in order to get out of his contract, was considered to be the top all-around player in poker when the dark day in April hit. This time out, Ivey was logo-less, wearing a blue striped collared shirt and being less than photogenic to the PokerStars Blog cameras. The U.S. Department of Justice declared his home site a “global Ponzi scheme.”

On Day 1A, Ivey doubled up courtesy of Yuji Masaki with A-4 on a 4-4-8 board. A ten hit on the turn and Masaki committed his chips with J-10, only to watch Ivey flip over the goods. Ivey vaulted to over 30,000 in chips, leading to the following observation from Masaki: “He doesn’t talk at the table, but he plays in a lot of pots and it’s really interesting to play with him. I’m glad I got another opportunity to see him in action.”

Ivey was up to his winning ways throughout Day 1A. The PokerStars Blog reporters explained, “One of the great facets to the game of Phil Ivey is how he is able to accumulate chips at a rapid rate, seemingly without ever putting himself at any significant risk… His stack mostly consists of smaller 25- and 100-denomination chips from all the blinds and antes that he’s picked up with little opposition.”

Near the end of Day 1A, Ivey charged ahead. On a board of 9-J-9-7-5, the former Poker Hall of Fame nominee put his opponent all-in after a bet of 7,300. His tablemate ultimately folded and Ivey dragged another pot to land at 75,000 in chips.

A staggered start accommodated the massive 300-player field on Day 2 on Friday. While shoppers in the United States were in fisticuffs for bargain basement televisions at Best Buy, Ivey sported a dressy white collared shirt and an oversized pair of headphones in Macau. He struggled early and fell to about 20 big blinds.

Ivey bit the dust around 7:00pm local time in Macau on Day 2 after 3betting all-in on the short stack with K-9 and running into A-J. Neither of his live cards hit and his return to live poker came to an end short of the money.

According to the Hendon Mob database, Ivey’s last recorded live tournament cash was in December following an 80th place finish in the WPT’s Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic in Las Vegas. He’s #3 on poker’s all-time money list behind only Erik Seidel and Daniel Negreanu (pictured) and has $13.8 million in lifetime tournament winnings.

Following Black Friday, Ivey sued Full Tilt Poker to be absolved of his contract, which included a non-compete clause. In early June, Tiltware officials blasted the legal filing, stating, “Contrary to his sanctimonious public statements, Phil Ivey’s meritless lawsuit is about helping just one player – himself. In an effort to further enrich himself at the expense of others, Mr. Ivey appears to have timed his lawsuit to thwart pending deals with several parties that would put money back in players’ pockets.”

Ivey reportedly brought a group of European investors to the bargaining table for a cash infusion for Full Tilt, which is currently finalizing a deal with Groupe Bernard Tapie. When Full Tilt Poker players can expect to be repaid is not yet clear. Read our latest Full Tilt Poker update.