WSOP 'November Nine' Profile: Phil Ivey

by Bodog Poker | Aug 20 2009

Unless you've been living under a rock for seven years, you know who Phil Ivey is. He's considered to be the best all-around poker player in the world, and he's won just about everything in poker except the WSOP Main Event Championship. Ivey has been extracting money from the poker community for over a decade, despite the fact that he’s only 33 years old. This year he could even surpass his feat from 2002 when he won three WSOP bracelets in one year. He's already won two bracelets in '09, and if he can add the Main Event Championship to that it will undoubtedly be the greatest WSOP feat of all time.

Ivey's exploits are legendary despite the fact that he's considered to be part of the new young generation of poker players. Ivey is the best at any table, whether it's a group of old-school players playing big stakes in Bobby's Room at the Bellagio, or up against a group of the best young online cash game players in a cyber poker room. It's been said that watching him play live Pot Limit Omaha cash games is like watching an artist mold a sculpture. Ivey plays every poker variation at the highest level and is probably the most feared player on the planet.

Ivey will have his work cut out for him if he manages to come from behind to win this year's Main Event. He's severely short stacked, with less than five times that of the chip leader. Despite the fact that he's so short stacked, he's still getting 4/1 odds to win the 2009 WSOP Main Event. He certainly has two big edges against his opponents - he is by far the most skilled and he will certainly be feared by the other November Nine players. If he's able to double his chip count before the blinds get too high he will have a good chance to achieve the ultimate poker dream.

If he's able to win this year's WSOP Main Event he will add the championship to a long list of poker accomplishments. It would be his eighth WSOP bracelet and third this year. It will be his 36th WSOP cash, and whatever amount he wins he'll add to the $3.5 million that he's already won at the WSOP tournaments alone. His career live tournament earnings total over $9 million, and one can only guess how many millions he's earned playing live and online cash games. He once won $16.6 million in a three-day heads-up match against mathematician Andy Beal.

If Ivey wins the WSOP Main Event it won't change his life very much. Besides the millions he's won playing poker, he also has a big stake in one of the biggest online poker rooms. The money won't mean anything, but poker will surely get a boost if he pulls it off. Poker professionals will be cheering for him to become the first big name pro to win the Main Event since Carlos Mortensen did it back in 2001. Poker fans at home will be cheering for him because he's the only recognizable name in the field. His destiny will be decided in November; it just really seems like it's his destiny to become Main Event champion someday.

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