Phil Ivey

Phillip Dennis Ivey, popularly known as Phil Ivey in the poker gaming community, is a professional poker player from America. He has to his credit 8 World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets, a World Poker Tour (WPT) title, and nine appearances at the final tables of the WPT. A large number of poker players consider Phil Ivey to be one of the world’s best poker players.

Ivey’s Personal Life

Phil Ivey lives in Las Vegas and is a huge fan of Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, and Buffalo Bills, owing to which he often wears basketball jerseys. He is fond of prop betting, golf, and video games and has emerged third in the World Series of Golf, the inaugural series.

Ivey is also known for his philanthropy, having donated to a large number of charitable organizations. In May 2008, he launched the Budding Ivey Foundation to raise funds for the benefit of underprivileged children. He is also associated with a number of literacy projects for children and schemes for the homeless.

Ivey’s Poker Career

Phil Ivey, who began his poker career in Atlantic City, has to his credit 8 WSOP bracelets and 1 WPT championship, along with a total of $13.1 million in poker tournament winnings.

He won his first WSOP bracelet when he was 23; he beat poker pros Amarillo Slim and Phil Hellmuth in the $2500 Guaranteed Pot Limit Omaha tournament. In 2002, he won the $1500 Guaranteed Seven Card Stud tournament, the $2500 Seven Card Stud Hi Lo tournament, and the $2000 SHOE tournaments, bagging 3 WSOP bracelets in the process. During the next two years, he won the World Poker Open, 2 Commerce Poker events, and 2 Bellagio Poker events. By the age of 25, he had reached the final tables of the WPT several times.

Phil Ivey won his 5th WSOP bracelet in 2005 when he played the $5k Pot Limit Omaha tournament, and during the same year, he made 2 appearances at the final tables of the WPT. He finished second at the WSOP Circuit at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe and then proceeded to win $1 million in the Monte Carlo Millions. After just 24 hours, he finished first at FullTiltPoker.Net Invitation Live poker event and won $600k.

In 2006, the UK Gaming Awards, All In Magazine, and Bluff Magazine named Phil Ivey the Player of the Year. Phil became very famous when he won more than $16 million in 72 hours, participating in the heads up tournament between Andy Beal and Phil Ivey.

In 2007, Phil bagged the Poker After Dark’s Earphones Please prize of $120,000 and then appeared at the final table of WSOP. He won his first WPT championship in 2008; and in 2009, he won two more WSOP bracelets. He finished seventh at the Main Event of WSOP 2009, winning more than $1.4 million. Ivey won his eighth WSOP bracelet in 2010, winning $329,840.

Phil Ivey refused to participate in WSOP 2011 claiming that he was upset about Full Tilt Poker’s failure to refund its US players.