Phil Ivey has been referred to as the number one poker player in the world by many of the top 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 then on on, Phil was addicted to poker and wanted to pickup everything he possibly could about poker. Phil routinely would tell his parents that he wanted to be a professional poker player. He did not permit the adverse feedback from other people destroy his ambition of becoming one of the best poker players on the planet.
Phil started competing seriously after getting a fake ID with the name of Jerome. He sharpened his skills at the casinos in Atlantic City. The first number of years for him were a learning opportunity and winning wasn’t a normal outcome at the time. Phil made his mark at the 2000 WSOP when he achieved two final tables and won his first WSOP bracelet, in a two dollar, 500 Pot-Limit Omaha event. At the last table he defeated quite a few of the better known professionals including but not limited to "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 Sin City. Phil continues to participate in in "The Big Game" at the Bellagio with the greatest players in the world. Phil credits his success to hard work and an immeasurable love for the game of poker. Phil states that he is learning every single day and is very abashed about his achievements. He knows he makes errors every single game of poker and always aspires to improve.
Even though Ivey has won some big-time tournaments, he prefers destroying money games on a regular basis.