Phil Ivey!

[Henry09]

How good is this guy,

I have red numerous articles on Phil and have caught a few replays of him in action and he is a freak. Yesterday when I checked he was down to a 20k stack in the Main event, this morning he is up to 300k!!!!

If he gets to the final table you have to like his chances.

[Dolphins813]

He's my fav player on the tour!!!!!!!!!!!

[Henry09]

Originally Posted by Dolphins813

He's my fav player on the tour!!!!!!!!!!!

There saying he will go down as one of if not the greatest of all time.

I can't wait to see some replays of the main event.

Ivey was @ 26.00 to make the final table.

and when he was down to 20k he was @ 400 to 1 to win outright

It's looking like a good investment right now.

[Seanie Mac]

very very agreessive. he loves putting his chips in the middle of the table.

[Henry09]

Originally Posted by Seanie Mac

very very agreessive. he loves putting his chips in the middle of the table.

Your right,

here is a great article on him.


A Glimpse of Greatness

When you get to the top of the poker world, you meet people of prodigious intelligence. Andy Bloch has degrees form Harvard and MIT; Chris Ferguson holds a Ph.D. in artificial intelligence; Phil Gordon attended Stanford. For those who really understand poker, the prominence of those who have succeeded in the academic world makes perfect sense. Poker is a game of analysis, where those who have the greatest facility for discovering and interpreting the data around them will eventually profit.

Among poker’s brightest and most successful, there is one player who garners the highest praise. Howard Lederer said this player would before long be known as the best player who ever lived. Chris Ferguson called him a “genius.” Barry Greenstein, who doesn’t give out compliments lightly, refers to him as one of the five best in the world and notes that he’s still improving. Erick Seidel said he has “a searing intelligence.”

These players were speaking of Phil Ivey. At the age of 29, Ivey not only leads all players in tournaments winnings per event played, he’s also playing in the world’s biggest cash games. And according to everyone in the know, he’s one of the most successful players at that level.

It is, I think, safe to say that Ivey is a generational talent - a Gary Kasparov, a Michael Jordan, a Lance Armstrong.

In the opening days of the WSOP main event, I spent some time trailing Ivey, with the hopes of witnessing some of his genius at work.

I found Ivey playing in the third of the opening flights, sitting a couple of tables in from the spectator walkways. From the eight seat, he had his back to the rail, which saved him from the distraction of the crowds eager for a glimpse of his play. Among the railbirds was an older couple wearing homemade Ivey paraphernalia – t-shirts silk-screened with Ivey’s image and massive buttons sporting his picture. The man held a placard with the words “Go Phil Ivey” assembled from large black stencils.

At the table, Ivey seemed detached from the surroundings. Bose headphones covered his ears and he sat back in his chair. The message for tablemats was clear: I’m not here for conversation. This is not to say that Ivey was unpleasant. When someone asked a question or proffered a joke, he listened and smiled politely or responded briefly. Then the headphones went back on.

Ivey has a reputation of being one of the loosest and most aggressive players on the tour. Often, you’ll hear people group him with Negreau and Hansen – players who love to involve themselves in far more pots than most could profitably manage.

At times, Ivey may play much like these players. But as I watched Ivey for the early levels of the main event of the 2005 WSOP, I was surprised to find that the style he employed wasn’t especially loose or aggressive. He was more active than most, but he was far from maniacal. Rather, he seemed to extend the concepts of solid play that are so familiar to players who have studied poker.

At his first table, Ivey could be counted on for at least one raise per orbit, sometimes two, and that raise was always three times the big blind. Usually, if it was folded to him in the cutoff or on the button, he’d raise. Sometimes he’d take down the blinds. Others he’d be called. If he was forced to play after the flop, he could be counted on to bet two-thirds of the pot on the flop, whether in or out of position. Usually the bet was enough to take a pot, but on occasion he’d was raised or check-raised. Most of the time, he folded to the pressure.

Ivey would also call raises in position, from either the cutoff or on the button. In these situations as well, he could be counted on for a bet if checked to.

The reasonably simple strategy of raising and then following up on the flop worked amazingly well. While he had to fold a number of hands after facing raises, his gains far outweighed his losses. And the predictability of Ivey’s action had the effect of forcing the players around him to define their hands. With Ivey’s bets all but inevitable, his opponents needed cards in order to bet or raise.

Ivey seemed privy to a stream of information his opponent’s lacked. He knew when they had a hand. All they knew was that he was betting yet again.

When action extended beyond a single flop bet, you could be certain that both Ivey and an opponent held a decent hand. And at these points, Ivey was surprisingly circumspect. When he had a hand worthy of a showdown, he’d often call bets on multiple streets, keeping the pot relatively small. For example, with blinds at 50/100, Ivey raised under-the-gun to 300 and was re-raised to 1000 by the big blind. Ivey called. On a flop of [2]-[3]-[6], Ivey called a 2k bet. On the turn and river, a [9] and [2], both players checked. Ivey showed down pocket jacks to the opponent’s [A]-[K], and he took the pot.

At times when Ivey called a bet in position, I felt like I was watching a cheetah on the prowl. He targeted and isolated the weakest players, those who couldn’t stand pressure from a universally feared player.

As he picked up a number of small- and medium-sized pots, Ivey equipped himself with a stack that could withstand both episodes of bad luck and the occasional bad play.

With the blinds at 100/300, Ivey raised under-the-gun to 900 and was called by a late position player and the small blind. On a flop of [2♠]-[6♦]-[4♠], the big blind checked to Ivey, who bet 2400. After a late position fold, the blind, who’d been playing aggressively, raised to 5400. Ivey quickly called. On the turn, [2♦], the blind moved in for his remaining 12,850. Ivey took some time, his eyes darting as he considered the situation. It was a draw-heavy board, full of potential straights and flushes. The opponent seemed to be playing as though a fold from Ivey would be a welcomed outcome. Ivey called, and was displeased to see his opponent’s pocket [4]s. He’d flopped a set and hit a full house on the turn. Ivey had pocket [9]s and lost a considerable pot.

For most players in the WSOP such a misread means a trip to the rail. But Ivey had collected enough chips in the previous rounds to leave himself with a reasonable stack after this hit.

This loss and the diminished stack did nothing to slow Ivey. He continued to employ the strategy that had treated him so well.

Over the hours that followed, Ivey continued to gradually build his stack, adding 1000 or 1500 at a time. He was never among the chip leaders, but he stayed around average or slightly above average.

He moved to the second day or play in the middle of the vast pack.

The early stages of day 2 treated Ivey well. After some initial setbacks, he caught a fortunate flop, hitting the nut diamond flush to an opponent’s lower flush.

A short while later, Ivey’s late-position aggression seemed ready to reap great rewards. With blinds of 400/800, Ivey raised to 2400 form the cutoff. The blg blind raised, making it 7k. Ivey wasted no time and moved all-in. The blig blind called. Ivey, who could have made that initial raise with almost any two cards, held pocket [K]s to his opponent’s [A♥]-[Q♥]. The board came [Q]-[10]-[5]-[3]-[Q], and Ivey lost more than 31k from his stack.

Down to under 20k for the first time in hours, and possessing less than 30 big blinds, Ivey was unbowed. He stole pots and doubled up again. And yet again, he was back in the mix.

Midway through day two, with around 50k in chips, Ivey was a long way from the chips leaders, one of whom had as much as 600k. But nobody’s counting Phil Ivey out, and no one wants this immense talent at his table.

[Seanie Mac]

good article. i watch alot on tv and he doesnt make bad calls, just gets bad beats, its rare to see him go all in without the best hand

[Henry09]

Phil Ivey started on 89k at the start of play today and is now up to 550k.

It would be suprising not to se him at the final table.

Here is the present top 30 list

Place Poker Player Chip Count
1 Rodney Purdey $ 706,000
2 Greg Raymer $ 700,000
3 Tim Phan $ 675,000
4 James Pollack $ 572,000
5 Phil Ivey $ 550,000
6 Minh Ly $ 500,000
7 Michael Mizrachi $ 475,000
8 Yakov Hirsch $ 445,000
9 Chris Ethier $ 440,000
10 Mike Matusow $ 430,000
11 Tiffany Williamson $ 420,000
12 John Lane $ 395,000
13 Russell Salzer $ 390,000
14 Bob Hutch $ 378,000
15 Farzad Bonyadi $ 320,000
16 Mark Tenner $ 290,000
17 David Plastik $ 280,000
18 Layne Flack $ 260,000
19 J.C. Tran $ 250,000
20 Russ Hamilton $ 250,000
21 James Butt $ 240,000
22 Kenna James $ 240,000
23 Olga Varkonyi $ 200,000
24 Dustin Woolf $ 190,000
25 John Juanda $ 160,000
26 Hung La $ 137,000
27 Peter Tran $ 133,000
28 Howard Lederer $ 130,000
29 Mike Wattel $ 130,000
30 Rene Wexler $ 125,000
31 Jim Meehan $ 104,000
32 Joe Beevers $ 100,000
33 Mike May $ 80,000
34 Paul McKinney $ 80,000
35 Gary Bush $ 70,000
36 Mike O'Malley $ 46,000
37 Pat Poels $ 42,500
38 Lee Watkinson $ 40,000

[House Money]

When is Matusow gonna implode?

[rio132]

Originally Posted by House Money

When is Matusow gonna implode?

he has done it several times so far this tournamnet, but has found a way of rebounding

[Henry09]

Originally Posted by House Money

When is Matusow gonna implode?

I am up for a stack of cash if Flack makes the final table.

he got up to 500k,

and then just lost 300k

[Henry09]

Originally Posted by henry09

I am up for a stack of cash if Flack makes the final table.

he got up to 500k,

and then just lost 300k

Flack is gone

[ripnowski]

on 810 sports radio they said all the big shots were done except for Greg Raymer. I also heard that bluffmagazine.com has the fastest updates for those of you who are into this tourny.

[BigNuttsSpartanFan]

I haven't been following this at all yet this year. Greg Raymer has a legitimate chance of defending his title from last year. That would be amazing if he can join the Doyle Brunson club.

[Henry09]

Back 2 Back Flack did it aswell I think

[jaypasco]

Not main event, He won 2 of the smaller events in a row in the same year.