Just looking at the photo of Phil Ivey, it's hard to imagine that this young guy is recognized as one of the most dangerous professional poker players. He is already in the top four in all of America, since he won a dozen bracelets of the world series, and also once won the title of winner of the World Poker Tour tournament, which many players could not manage much older than him. In total, during his career, he has earned more than 23 million dollars and is currently waiting for his 40th birthday to, according to the rules, enter the Hall of Fame. This article will present a biography of Phil Ivey, as well as information on how he achieved his popularity.
Childhood
Phil Ivey was born in 1977, February 1. His homeland was the city of Riverside, located in California. However, his parents - Pamela and Phil Sr. - soon moved to the small town of Rosell in New Jersey. Here, under the guidance of his grandfather, the young man lived most of his life and learned to play cards.
Period of study
When you watch the game of Phil Ivey, it becomes clear that he honed his skills over the years. And this is indeed so, since he was first taught to play at eight. Grandfather immediately determined that the child has talent, because he very quickly understood the rules of the game and even began to develop his own, often winning strategies, which are so required for victory. That is why he supported his grandson afterwards, when he chose the game of poker on a professional basis.
Phil Ivey’s life is really filled with interesting points. He is a representative of a new generation of players playing not only in tournaments, but also in online versions of games. A good professional, who is often secretly recognized as the best player in the world, although he does not officially have such a title. But Phil got something else, namely, “the best player of the decade”, which put him among a number of real legends.
But, in fact, no matter how great his income from tournaments, he receives most of his money in an online cash game, that is, a cash game. Once, in this way, Ivy won over sixteen million dollars from one billionaire in 3 days.
Carier start
After Phil Ivey picked up the cards, he practically never parted with them. Daily devoted a huge amount of time to poker to hone their skills. By the age of sixteen he was already winning money, though he only played with friends, and the winnings were relatively small. That is why he decided to circumvent the law and went to a casino in Atlantic City, where, using a fake identifier, he tried to play. He really broke the jackpot here, but, for the most part, lost. At the same time, the first nickname was attached to him - Homeless Jerome, because this name was written on his ID, but "homeless" - because he almost never left the casino. Only five years later, when the young man was 21 years old and he became an adult, Phil finally began to speak under his own name.
Personal life
Despite the fact that first of all, Phil Ivey is a player, he really had a beloved woman. He met her at a time when he was not so passionate about poker. His chosen one was called Luciaetta. They met for several years until they decided to become spouses. Married in the gambling capital - Las Vegas. Their marriage, at first glance, was happy. Although, in fact, this was not so. The couple filed for divorce, but because the marital union was officially terminated in December 2009.
Alas, the woman turned out to be quite mercantile and managed to sue herself 180 thousand dollars a month, since Phil Ivey's salary from Full Tilt Poker was equal to almost a million dollars a month. However, she was very unlucky, since this online poker site was closed after a couple of years, because of which she lost her income. Phil's ex-wife went to court on this issue, hoping to get extra money, but the court did not accept her arguments for attention, since by that time Ivy had paid her huge debts - only about 15 million. After that, silence fell in Phil Ivey’s personal life. Information about whether he has a lover does not appear anywhere.
Ivy league
Besides the fact that Phil Ivey himself is an excellent player, he also decided to launch his own website, which has the name "Ivy League". For the most part, this is a poker training site built on the principle of a regular college. There are two training plans here - undergraduate and graduate, helping a beginner to master the latest strategies that are now used in the game.
For the most part, the site is designed to train poker enthusiasts to think like professionals. The teachers at this college were really star players, but despite this, the site was still closed in April 2017.
Life outside the game
No one, even the most immersed in the game, can deal only with it, so Phil Ivey also has its own additional interests. In particular, these include the founding of a company dedicated to Leonard Simmons, Phil's grandfather, who taught him how to play. During his lifetime, he loved to help orphans, as well as teach them how to read and develop programs that would help the disadvantaged to get a successful future. For the most part, Ivy’s company simply continues and expands Leonard’s previous work, and Phil himself simply invests, as his mother does business.
He also loves to play golf, and once participated and took third place in the First World Golf Series. That is how he got another nickname - Tiger Woods Poker.
Conclusion
Starting as an ordinary teenager who could not even legally play, now Phil is one of the most famous players in the world and often takes part in the most expensive series of games. After October 2017, he again began to take part in most tournaments, so he often appears among the winners who won more than a million dollars at a time.
A fan of betting, he does not really care about money, because he allows himself to leave huge tips to dealers. His words include the phrase that if a person cannot set fire to a hundred dollars, then he is better off not playing poker at all.