Every sport, game, or popular activity has its icons. It could be Michael Jordan for basketball or Garry Kasparov for chess, but what about poker? There are at least a few worthy candidates, and Phil Ivey would definitely be in that group.
For the last twenty years, Phil has been widely regarded as one of the best poker players on the planet, and to this day, he stays one of the calmest and most feared opponents you can encounter at the poker table. What are the roots of the great esteem Ivey has gained during his career?
The exact beginnings of Phil’s career are unknown
Just like in the case of Daniel Negreanu, it has likely involved a lot of underground games and a lot of illegal gambling as a teenager. Another similarity to Kid Poker is that Ivey’s rise to the status of poker star is also strongly connected to his results at the World Series of Poker, traditionally held in Las Vegas. Phil scored his first WSOP cash in the 7 Card Stud event during the 31st edition of the series, held in 2000. At the time, he was only 23.
Ivey did not have to wait for his first bracelet too long. Over a dozen days after his first cash, he won his first WSOP bracelet in a $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event. As it turned out, it was the start of an impressive and widely admired poker career. Two years later, in 2002, Phil managed to win three bracelets in the same year (in Limit Seven Card Stud, Limit Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo, and Limit S.H.O.E), a feat only a few people in poker history managed to accomplish.
Over the years, Phil Ivey amassed an impressive World Series of Poker bracelets collection. As of early 2023, he owns ten WSOP bracelets, which is good enough for a tie for second in the all-time ranking, losing only to Phil Hellmuth, who has 16 trophies.
What’s surprising is that none of the ten titles won by Ivey were awarded for a Holdem event! So what do Phil’s results in Holdem look like? The closest he was to the bracelet was not too long ago; in 2022, he lost a heads-up in a WSOP tournament – $100,000 High Roller at the 53rd edition of the series, cashing over $1.1 million.
It’s also worth noting that Phil finished in the top 25 of the WSOP Main Event three times between 2002 and 2009.
Despite the lack of World Series of Poker bracelet in NLH event, Phil Ivey is considered a Hold’em expert
Throughout his career, Phil amassed over $38 million of live tournament winnings, most of which came from No-Limit Holdem events. Among many notable results to his name, there are: a second place at European Poker Tour Barcelona Main Event in 2006 (for over $470,000), a World Poker Tour title won in the 2008 $10,000 L.A. Poker Classic (worth over $1.5 million), and a victory in the $250,000 Challenge in 2014 at Aussie Millions (where Phil scored his best result to date – over $3.6 million).
You can find a complete and very lengthy list of Ivey’s poker tournament results in his Hendon Mob profile. A quick study of his scores is a great testament to his skills. Since Phil Ivey reached the top for the first time back in the early 2000s, he has been showing a consistency that other poker players can envy.
Phil was also never shy about playing poker on TV
Despite being a very calm and composed poker player (unlike Kid Poker (LINK), Phil Hellmuth, or many other poker celebrities), Phil Ivey is no stranger to televised poker. In fact, his stoic manner of playing has won him over quite a lot of poker fans over the years. He was also among the first players to regularly appear in the most popular poker shows: High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark (we’ve covered the top poker shows to watch on our blog). To this day, he’s one of the most anticipated names a televised cash game can include.
Being no stranger to spotlights and being a high-stakes regular is a strong combination, resulting in several appearances in the biggest high-roller tournaments and cash games ever televised. For the last few years, the poker world has been passionate about the tournaments with higher and higher buy-ins, and Phil has been able to deliver good results in these constantly. In 2022, out of the 20 paid places he scored, 17 were achieved in tournaments with a buy-in of at least $25,000.
Ivey was acclaimed for his performances and inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2017
The only reason it took so long for Phil to be officially considered a part of poker history is the age requirement – since 2011, any new candidate for this prestigious award has to be at least 40 years old.
However, if there is one thing that Ivey lacks, it is a great passion for online games. Like many other great players of his era, he’s not an online poker regular. Admittedly, there was a time when Phil was a part of the Full Tilt Poker pro team, and as a part of such, he played the highest stakes available online, but since Black Friday, he’s not an online grinder.
The esteem Ivey has among professional poker players is unmatched
He was one of the best before and during the poker boom and still stays on the top. Whatever the highest poker stakes will look like, there’s likely more to come from Phil Ivey.
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