Phil Ivey Biography – One of the Best Poker Players in the Business

Phil Ivey Jr. was brought into this world on February 1^st, 1976 to his father, Phil Sr. and his mother, Pamela. Although he was born in Riverside, California, he spent the majority of his young life in the small town of Roselle, New Jersey. It’s no surprise that someone so talented at playing cards learned how to play them at a very early age. His grandpa actually taught him how to play poker when he was only eight years old.

Phil’s grandpa was impressed with how quickly he was able to pick up on the games’ rules, and he was surprised when he started coming up with his own strategies to win. His grandpa was probably one of the first people that recognized his talents and could see that he had the potential to one day play poker professionally.

It would take Phil many hours of hard work and dedication in order to hone his poker skills. When he was about sixteen, he would regularly participate in a weekly poker game that took place at one of his friend’s house. He often won, but not much money was ever at stake. While still in high school, Phil would use a fake id to sneak into the casinos of Atlantic City in hopes of finding more opportunities to win money.

He did win some money here and there, but he wasn’t winning as much or as often as he had hoped.That didn’t keep him from playing though; he actually was nicknamed “No Home Jerome,” during this time because he rarely left the tables and because his fake id stated that his name was Jerome. Phil eventually moved to Atlantic City, so that he would have even more time to invest into playing. Once he turned twenty-one, he could finally enter the poker circuit under his real name.

World Series of Poker Main Event (2009)

Once Phil Ivey no longer had to use someone else’s name to set foot in the casinos, he started entering as many tournaments as he could. The first tournament he ever won was Trop’s Customer Appreciation Invitation Tournament in Atlantic City; he instantly won $1000 and was hooked on tournament play. Just a couple years later, he would enter his first World Series of Poker where he was able to place first at the Pot Limit Omaha event. Not only did he walk away from the competition with $195,000 in his pocket, but he won his first WSOP gold bracelet. Below we have provided a complete list of the WSOP bracelets Phil Ivey has won thus far.

Not many people can say they have won ten WSOP gold bracelets, and even fewer people can say that they have won three bracelets in the same year. Phil Ivey’s success at the World Series of Poker is unmatchable, and his talents don’t end there. He has competed in several other major tournaments and has managed to win millions of dollars through them as well.

Let’s start by mentioning his performances at the World Poker Tour. His first time entering that competition, he managed to take 4^th place in the No Limit Hold’em main event in Mashantucket. The following year he managed to take 2^nd place in a similar event in Tunica. He would continue to play well at various events of the WPT until 2008, when he effectively took home his first World Poker Tour title by winning the No Limit Hold’em Championship event for nearly $1.6 million dollars.

Back to back years in 2014 and 2015, Phil took first place in the Aussie Millions Poker Championship in Melbourne, Australia. The first year he won over $3.5 million dollars and competed against thirty contestants, while the second year he won a little over $1.7 million dollars, as he was only competing against 25 contestants.

Phil has appeared on a couple poker themed television shows including NBC’s Poker After Dark, where he won $120,000 on the show’s Earphones Please Tournament beating other professionals such as Andy Bloch, Tony G, and Phil Hellmuth among others. He also participated in seasons three and six of Game Show Network’s High Stakes Poker.

When Phil’s not playing in tournaments, he can often be found playing for very high stakes at Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio Casino. He often participates in what’s called, “The Big Game,” where high rollers from all of the world come together to compete against some of the best players in the business. Phil has had the opportunity to come in contact with many poker greats including Johnny Chan, Doyle Brunson, and Daniel Negreanu.

All In Magazine named Phil Ivey, “Poker Player of the Year”, in 2005 and 2009. What makes Phil Ivey so successful at the tables is that he’s always working on improving his game. This involves constantly setting goals for himself and never being satisfied with doing anything other than his best. One of his more recent goals is to surpass the number of WSOP bracelets Phil Hellmuth has. He’s only four bracelets away from tying him.

He may not have beaten Phil Hellmuth, but he has beaten Andy Beal. For years, a cluster of professional poker players known as “The Corporation,” have teamed together to compete against the mathematical theorist, Andy Beal. By the time Phil Ivey had an opportunity to compete against Andy Beal, “The Corporation” was down $10 million. Luckily, Phil wasn’t there to mess around. After three straight days of playing Texas Hold’em, Andy Beal walked away with over $16 million less than what he started with. His entire team raved at his victory; he truly showed his worth.

Every great player has a signature move or style, and Phil Ivey’s is definitely intimidation. He’s known for staring deeply into his competitor’s eyes, often times scaring them into making the moves he wants them to make. His stare doesn’t work on everyone, but those who have never experienced it firsthand will be caught off guard by the intensity of it.

ARIA Resort & Casino recognized Phil Ivey’s talent by creating an exclusively high limit poker room in his honor. This room, better known as “The Ivey Room,” officially opened in 2010 with a $1 million freeroll where people had the opportunity to win the $250,000 first prize. Anyone who successfully is able to eliminate Phil from the table will also be awarded a $100,000 bonus.

Phil Ivey spoke out about his career as a professional poker player when he published this to his Facebook page,