Phil Ivey has been referred to as the best poker competitor in the world by quite a few of the top-ranked pros. He was born in Riverside, CA and moved to Jersey before his first birthday. His grandpa introduced him to penny-ante Five-Card Stud poker. From that point on, he was addicted to poker and wanted to pickup every little thing he possibly could about the game. Phil routinely told his grandparents that he was going to be a professional poker player. Phil did not permit the detrimental comments from other people destroy his ambition of becoming one of the best poker competitors in the world.
Phil started playing seriously after acquiring a fake ID by the name of Jerome. He practiced his techniques at the poker rooms of Atlantic City. The initial number of years for him were a teaching period and winning wasn’t a normal outcome at the time. He became known at the 2000 WSOP when he achieved 2 final tables and won his first WSOP bracelet, in a $2, 500 Pot-Limit Omaha event. At the closing table he defeated many of the well known professionals including "Amarillo Slim" Preston, David "Devilfish" Ulliot, and Phil Hellmuth, Jr.
Phil made a decision to take his game to the successive level and moved out west to Las Vegas. He continues to compete in in "The Big Game" at the Bellagio with the greatest players on the planet. Phil credits his achievements to hard work and an undying love for poker. He says that he’s picking up skills every single day and is very abashed about his achievements. Phil knows he makes errors in each game of poker and always strives to get better.
Despite the fact that Ivey has won some big-time tournaments, he prefers destroying cash games on a regular basis.