Phil Ivey has been labeled as the greatest poker player on the globe by quite a few of the top-ranked professionals. He was born in Riverside, CA and moved to NJ before his first birthday. His grandpa taught him penny-ante Five-Card Stud poker. From that point on, Phil was hooked on poker and wished to pickup anything he possibly could about poker. He would tell his parents that he was planning on being a professional poker player. Phil didn’t allow the detrimental comments from other people kill his ambition of becoming one of the strongest poker competitors on the planet.
He began playing seriously after acquiring a false ID with the name of Jerome. He sharpened his techniques at the casinos in Atlantic City. The first number of years for him were a learning period and coming away with a win was not a regular thing at the time. Phil made his mark at the 2000 WSOP where he made 2 final tables and won his 1st World Series of Poker bracelet, in a $2, 500 Pot-Limit Omaha game. At the closing table he defeated a number 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 skills to the successive level and moved out west to Sin City. Phil continues to compete in in "The Big Game" at the Bellagio with the best players on the planet. Ivey credits his achievements to hard work and a continuing love for the game of poker. Phil states that he’s picking up skills every day and is quite humble about his achievements. Phil knows he makes mistakes in each session of poker and constantly aspires to improve.
Even though Phil has come first in some large tournaments, he prefers destroying money games on a normal basis.
