It would be remiss of us to run a series on the legends of poker and not include the great Phil Ivey. While there are no doubt many contenders for the title of greatest player on earth, the widely held belief among many of the world’s top players is that Ivey is the best of those still with us today.
With his cold, peering eyes and emotionless face, Ivey seems to have a penchant for looking deep into an opponent’s soul before crushing them with a perfectly calculated move. The 37-year-old boasts tremendous all-round ability. A winner of nine World Series of Poker bracelets to sit fourth on the all-time list, he has scored wins in everything from Pot Limit Omaha, 7 Card Stud and 2-7 Draw Lowball as well as in a number of mixed events.
He is also a regular in the world’s biggest cash games and can often be found playing in the “nosebleed” stakes online where blinds start around the $200/$400 mark and can go as high as $1,000/$2,000 and above. Winning or losing US$1 million in a day is nothing new to Ivey.
Perhaps Ivey’s most memorable moment came in 2006 when he and a number of other professionals took on Texan billionaire Andy Beal. Known as “The Corporation”, those players included the likes of Todd Brunson, Jennifer Harman, Chip Reese and Gus Hansen who pooled their money in an effort to match Beal’s enormous bankroll. After the first week or so of play, Beal had beaten “The Corporation” out of more than US$13 million – prompting them to turn to Ivey to turn their fortunes around. Over the course of three days, Ivey did just that – winning US$16 million before the Texan eventually threw in the towel.
Currently fourth on the all-time money list, Ivey has already forged his name into poker folklore but with so many years still ahead could we one day be speaking of him as the greatest of all time? It wouldn’t surprise.
