01-18-07, LearnTexasHoldem:

WSOP Profile - Phil Ivey

He has been considered the Tiger Woods of poker. Hitting the professional scene as soon as he was legal and mixing it up with some of poker's true living legends. Phil Ivey is his name, and he's one of the most feared players in the world of poker. Intense, intelligent and intimidating, he is a determined player that began playing poker before many players had been introduced to the game of Go Fish. He has jumped all over the continental United States; born in Riverside, CA; raised in New Jersey; hopping back over to Long Beach, CA, before settling where many poker pros eventually do; Las Vegas, NV.

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Played With Grandfather

From the age of eight, Ivey began enjoying the game of poker with a grandfather in New Jersey who would purposely cheat to try and teach his young grandson a lesson; gambling is dishonest, full of dishonest people with dishonest money. His plan backfired when Phil became so intently focused on the game of poker that he began to declare to all friends, family and acquaintances that he would someday be a professional gambler.

Moved to Atlantic City

As a teenager, he continued to learn new games and increase his poker education; he would take his new found knowledge, work it into skill, wrap it in the disguise of youth and win the pot from any local game he could find. As he grew older, he needed a new outlet, so he put the word out and scored a fake I.D. At 18 he became known as "No Home Jerome" to several of his fellow employees who he frequently played with; a play on his new identity that would allow him into the casinos of Atlantic City, NJ. By the age of 20, Phil was done with the action in his hometown, and moved to Atlantic City to focus more intently on poker of higher stakes. By the time he reached 21, he was becoming a force to be reckoned with.

2000 WSOP

In the year 2000, not yet 25 years old, Phil sat down in the $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha event at the WSOP and dismissed some of poker's legends en route to his first bracelet win, walking with the very respectable prize of $195,000. Over the next five years he would take four more titles before reaching the age of 30. Some of poker's greatest have said that by the time his career is in its twilight, there's a good chance that people will consider him the greatest to have ever played. He himself has set goals beyond current comprehension, stating that he wants to surpass all the greats; when asked if he could ever beat the mark of 10 WSOP bracelets set by Johnny Chan, Doyle Brunson and Phil Hellmuth, he simply stated, "I want to win 30."

Ivey's WSOP Titles:

2000: $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha - $195,000
2002: $2,500 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo - $118,440
2002: $2,000 S.H.O.E. - $107,540
2002: $1,500 7 Card Stud - $132,000
2005: $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha - $635,603

More WSOP Player Profiles:

Doyle Brunson
Johnny Chan
Phil Hellmuth
Chris Ferguson
Carlos Mortensen
Daniel Negreanu
Chris Moneymaker
Greg Raymer
Jamie Gold
Annette Obrestad

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