Phil Ivey
Phil Ivey is known as the greatest poker player in the world today.
Phillip Dennis Ivey Jr. was born in Riverside, California on February 1, 1976. Phil first showed interest in poker at 8 years old when his grandfather used to play card games with him. His grandfather would cheat a lot to show the 8 year old Phillip the risks of the game and to discourage him from gambling.
However, it had the opposite effect on Phil Ivey: he got more and more interested in the game of poker, and when he was in his early teens he had already decided that he would become a professional poker player.
He started playing for cash when he was 16. Two years later, he managed to get hold of a fake ID with the name Jerome Graham so that he could play in the casinos in Atlantic City. He was known as 'No Home Jerome' because he was frequently staying there and rarely went out.
These were the times when he often lost a lot of money. Eventually, he improved his game and started getting better. He won his first World Series of Poker bracelet when he was 23 years old. In 2002, he won 3 bracelets in 3 different game variations at the WSOP: $2,500 7 Card Stud Hi Lo, $2,000 S.H.O.E., and $1,500 7 Card Stud.
Phil Ivey got his 5th bracelet in 2005, two more in 2009, and his 8th bracelet in 2010. His other remarkable tournament accomplishments come from the European Poker Masters and Monte Carlo Millions.
With all his sucess, Phil still prefers cash games over tournaments. He once most notably played against billionaire Andy Beal and took home $16 million in three days' time. He also frequently plays online poker as a part of the Full Tilt Poker's team.
Phil asserts that he loves poker and wants to attain 30 WSOP bracelets before he plans to retire. Aside from poker, he gives back through numerous charities and foundations, one of which he set up in honor of his grandfather who had taught him so much about the game of poker.