Phil Ivey has been referred to as the greatest poker contender in the world by many of the top-ranked professionals. Phil Ivey was born in Riverside, CA and relocated to New Jersey before reaching turning one. His papa taught him penny-ante 5-Card Stud poker. From that point on, he was hooked on poker and wanted to pickup every little thing he possibly could about the game. Phil would tell his grandparents that he was going to be a professional poker player. Phil didn’t permit the negative comments from others destroy his ambition of being one of the greatest poker players on the planet.
Phil began competing intently after getting a fake ID with the name of Jerome. He honed his game at the poker rooms of Atlantic City. The first number of years for him were a teaching experience and winning was not a common thing at the time. Phil made his mark at the 2000 WSOP where he achieved two final tables and came away with his first World Series of Poker bracelet, in a $2, five hundred Pot-Limit Omaha game. At the final table he destroyed quite a few of the well known professionals including but not limited to "Amarillo Slim" Preston, David "Devilfish" Ulliot, and Phil Hellmuth, Jr.
He decided to take his game to the next level and moved out west to Vegas. He continues to participate in in "The Big Game" at the Bellagio with the greatest players in the world. Ivey credits his success to hard work and an undying passion for the game of poker. Phil says that he is picking up skills every day and is quite abashed about his accomplishments. Phil knows he makes errors in each session of poker and always aspires to get better.
Despite the fact that Phil has won some big tournaments, he favors winning cash games on a regular basis.