Phil Ivey
Nicknamed “The Tiger Woods of Poker” (though he isn’t fond of the name), California-born, New Jersey-bred Phil Ivey is, at a mere 31 years old, widely considered one of the best poker players in the world.
Long before that, however, Ivey carried on nickname, “No Home Jerome” heralding back to the name on his fake I.D. card that he use in his teenage years to get into Atlantic City casinos. Phil Ivey’s original introduction to poker came from his grandfather who dealt him penny-ante 5 Card Stud when he was 8 years old. By the time he turned 21, Phil Ivey was already well on his way to making a living as a professional poker player.
Phil Ivey has made it to 6 World Poker Tour final tables. Interestingly, he has frequently lost these competitions with the same hand: AQ. Ivey’s highest World Series of Poker placing was 10th in 2003. He holds 5 WSOP bracelets, 3 from 2002 alone (those being $2,500 7 Card Stud, $2,000 S.H.O.E., and $1,500 7 Card Stud; the others – $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha in 2000 and $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha in 2005). More than just making him $357,000 richer, those 3 2002 wins tie him with fellow poker stars Ted Forrest and Phil Hellmuth, Jr. for the most WSOP bracelets in one year.
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One of Phil Ivey’s highest achievements to date was winning the $1 million grand prize in the 2005 Monte Carlo Millions and just one day later winning the $600,000 grand prize at the “FullTiltPoker.net Invitational Live from Monte Carlo”.
In February of 2006, Phil Ivey went heads-up in Limit Holdem against billionaire Andy Beal and three days later won $16 million of his money. In September of 2006, Phil Ivey was the runner-up in the European Poker Tour held in Barcelona, Spain, losing to Norway’s Bj’rn-Erik Glenne.
Also in 2006, Phil was invited to participate in the first ever European Poker Masters tournament’s London All Star Challenge event, here too advancing to the final table, coming in 7th. During that same London trip, Phil Ivey sat in, along with Gus Hansen, John Juanda, and Tony G., at The Poker Channel’s Million Dollar Cash Game, emerging victorious and winning just shy of $100,000. At the 2006 World Series of Poker, he earned no bracelets, but placed 2nd in Omaha Hi-Lo and 3rd in $50,000 HORSE, walking away with over $800,000.
2006 was also the year Phil Ivey was named “Player of the Year” by three separate publications: the U.K. Gaming Awards, Bluff Magazine, and All In Magazine.
He won the 2007 Earphone Please winner-take-all tournament that was part of the larger NBC Poker After Dark event, defeating Andy Bloch, Sam Farha, Tony G., Phil Hellmuth, Jr., and Mike Matusow, and going home $120,000 richer.
His career winnings from tournament games, as of 2007, is a whopping $7.5+ million. And yet lately Phil Ivey has turned his attention away from tournaments to focus more on cash games. He can frequently be seen at the Bellagio Hotel in Vegas competing in the $4,000-$8,000 mixed game.
Online, Phil Ivey plays occasionally at FullTilt Poker, the site he helped design, mainly cash games in Limit and No Limit Hold’Em and Pot Limit Omaha Hi. An avid Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers fan, Phil Ivey lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with his wife, Luciaetta, formerly his high-school sweetheart.
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