Phil Ivey has been referred to as the best poker competitor on the planet by many of the top-ranked professionals. Phil Ivey was born in Riverside, CA and moved to Jersey before his first birthday. His grandpa taught him one cent-ante Five-Card Stud poker. From then on on, he was hooked on poker and wanted to pickup every little thing he could about poker. He routinely would tell his elders that he wanted to be a professional poker player. He didn’t let the adverse comments from other people annihilate his ambition of being one of the best poker competitors in the world.
Phil started playing intently after getting a false ID with the name of Jerome. He practiced his game at the casinos in Atlantic City. The initial few years for Phil were a learning opportunity and winning wasn’t a common outcome at the time. He made his mark at the 2000 WSOP where he achieved 2 final tables and came away with his first WSOP bracelet, in a $2, 500 Pot-Limit Omaha game. At the last table he defeated quite a few of the well known pros including "Amarillo Slim" Preston, David "Devilfish" Ulliot, and Phil Hellmuth, Jr.
He decided to take his game to the successive level and moved out west to Vegas. He continues to participate in in "The Big Game" at the Bellagio with the greatest players on the planet. Ivey credits his achievements to hard work and an eternal love for poker. Phil says that he is picking up skills every single day and is very humble about his achievements. He knows he makes blunders in each game of poker and always strives to improve.
Despite the fact that Ivey has come first in some big tournaments, he prefers destroying money games on a normal basis.
