Phil Ivey has been referred to as the greatest poker contender in the world by quite a few of the top-ranked professionals. Phil Ivey was born in Riverside, CA and moved to NJ before reaching turning one. His grandfather taught him penny-ante Five-Card Stud poker. From then on on, Phil was hooked on poker and wanted to pickup anything he possibly could about the game. Phil routinely told his grandparents that he wanted to be a professional poker player. He didn’t allow the adverse feedback from other people destroy his ambition of being one of the best poker competitors on the planet.
Phil started competing intently after acquiring a false ID by the name of Jerome. He sharpened his techniques at the casinos of Atlantic City. The initial number of years for him were a teaching opportunity and coming away with a win wasn’t a common outcome at the time. He made his mark at the 2000 WSOP where he achieved 2 final tables and won his first WSOP bracelet, in a two dollar, 500 Pot-Limit Omaha event. At the last table he defeated many of the better known pros which includes "Amarillo Slim" Preston, David "Devilfish" Ulliot, and Phil Hellmuth, Jr.
He made a decision to take his game to the successive level and moved out west to Sin City. Phil continues to participate in in "The Big Game" at the Bellagio with the greatest players on the planet. Phil credits his success to discipline and a continuing love for the game of poker. Phil states that he’s picking up skills every day and is very abashed about his achievements. He admits to making mistakes in each session of poker and always aspires to get better.
Despite the fact that Ivey has won some big-time tournaments, he favors destroying money games on a regular basis.