It’s a familiar picture: Phil Ivey, more money than you own, and a bracelet.
Many people thought Ivey’s 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) was as good as it could get for any poker player. Winning not one but two events and finishing in 7th place in the Main Event, it was nothing short of storybook for the poker phenom. Ivey apparently stayed strapped into the rollercoaster and took it right into 2010, winning his 8th bracelet yesterday in the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. event.
Besting a star-studded final table of notables like Chad Brown (9th), Jeffrey Lisandro (5th), John Juanda (3rd), and eventually heads-up play with Bill Chen, Ivey came back from being day three shortstack to capture the WSOP gold. His first place finish brought in $329,840 to add to the Scrooge McDuck money pit Ivey has located behind his helicopter pad next to his rollercoaster and horse ranch. It is also interesting to note that this is John Juanda’s FIFTH final table of this year’s Series, which is nothing short of amazing in of itself. Although a bracelet alludes him yet again, he sits atop the WSOP Player of the Year leader boards with a handsome lead over his peers.
Now to you or I, $329,840 is years in the making of a miserable job, a terrible diet, a fat wife, three kids, a minivan, and what little life we’re afforded in between monthly bills and the booze to suppress it all. To Ivey, this is chump change, money he’d throw away on the craps table in his high roller suite. While the prestige is irreplaceable, the real money comes in the form of his prop bets. It’s uncertain just how much he cashed in with his 8th bracelet, but his ongoing bet with Howard Lederer to win two bracelets in three years certainly took an interesting turn, as he is halfway to winning himself $5 million, an amount that would make anybody sweat.
From Lederer’s Twitter account shortly after the win: “…gulp”
His win ties him with Erik Seidel for 5th all-time with bracelets. Here’s a look at his competition, with the average field sizes of their wins.
Phil Ivey (8): 220
Erik Seidel (8): 298
Jonny Moss (9): 50
Johnny Chan (10): 174
Doyle Brunson (10): 97
Phil Hellmuth (11): 488
The noticeable difference comes when comparing the old-timers to the younger players. That’s not to take anything away from their accomplishments throughout their lifetime, but it stands testament to the noticeable gap in size between fields decades ago and the modern turnouts. It could be argued that given their current stances atop the all-time list and the fields that Moss and Brunson traversed, players like Chan, Ivey, and Hellmuth would already be holding 30 a piece.
The other argument that could be made from all these statistics is that Phil Hellmuth still remains the greatest no-limit hold’em tourney player. This is not to be confused with cash game, which is reserved for the likes of Ivey and Tom “durrr” Dwan alone on a plain in the upper echelon. Hellmuth’s superiority in making it through massive fields always manages to make his ego slightly less foolish than he makes himself look.
Without question, Ivey is the greatest all-around player on the planet. It’s only a matter of time before this self-made millionaire, who went from sleeping under the Atlantic City boardwalk to living reaches the apex of his career and the inevitable: the all-time WSOP bracelet winner.
Let’s take a look back at the events Ivey has won throughout the years, with a resume fit for any rounder extraordinaire.
- 2000 – $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha $195,000
- 2002 – $2,500 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo $118,440
- 2002 – $2,000 S.H.O.E. $107,540
- 2002 – $1,500 7 Card Stud $132,000
- 2005 – $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha $635,603
- 2009 – $2,500 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball $96,367
- 2009 – $2,500 Omaha Hi/Lo / 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo $220,538
- 2010 – $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. $329,840
Long story short: don’t bet against Phil Ivey.
Tom “durrr” Dwan is no stranger to tossing around money like it’s going out of style. Synonymous with some of the largest pots in cash game history, Dwan has broken players looking to make their comeuppances at the highest stakes of the game online. He is a gatekeeper with deep pockets and an even deeper understanding of the game. If you haven’t spectated his tables, you have probably watched him on High Stakes Poker, playing at a level of play atop another plain of thought light years beyond anyone who isn’t Phil Ivey. He is also synonymous with being one of the greatest players alive that doesn’t own a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet.
For all of his tournament success during the early 2000’s and appearances on High Stakes Poker, it’s been a while since we’ve heard Sammy Farha’s name in the poker news. However, Farha recently changed all of this with a win in the Omaha Hi-Lo World Championship. In fact, he made a strong claim to being known as the best Omaha player in the world after wining his third WSOP bracelet.
Some of you will remember Russ “Dutch” Boyd from World Series of Poker (WSOP) broadcasts years ago. One of the founding members of “The Crew”, a group composed of the then young guns Scott Fischman, Robert Boyd, David Smyth, Joe Bartholdi Jr, Tony Lazar, and Brett Jungblut, the group disbanded amidst tensions between Boyd and many of its members. Seen to some as a con man, and to others a certifiably insane genius, he can now be seen universally as a two-time WSOP bracelet winner.
Tom Dwan has won millions of dollars in online poker this year, and often plays for pots bigger than the first place prize of most WSOP events. Event still, WSOP gold bracelets are a coveted prize and Dwan has yet to put one around his wrist. And it’s especially important that he win one this year since Dwan has made a lot of side bets that he will win a bracelet; in fact, he stands to make around $2 million if he wins one!
It’s hard to imagine Men “The Master” Nguyen being mentioned in the same breath as poker legends like Phil Ivey and Billy Baxter. After all, The Master has gained some attention in the past few years for being accused of cheating in LA area card rooms with players he has trained. And while the jury is still out on whether any of the allegations are true, nobody can deny Nguyen’s success in the WSOP…..especially after he recently won his 7th gold bracelet to tie Ivey and Baxter.
Michael Mizrachi has had a lot of troubles lately. Less than a month ago, he had both of his Florida houses taken away by the government since he owes over $340k in back taxes. Aside from this, he’s also trying to deal with what he believes to be bad accounting in regards to the unpaid taxes. But finally, it seems like Mizrachi got a break…..a $1,559,046 break!
For the first time ever at 2010′s World Series of Poker (WSOP), personalized bracelets will be awarded to the event winners, and like snowflakes and pizzas, no two will ever be the same.
The last 2010 World Series of Poker Grand Final is set for May 16, 2010 at 13:00 SERVER TIME.
World Poker Tour (WPT) history was made on Wednesday, when Carlos “El Matador” Mortensen dodged the horns of a modest 144 player field and took down the inaugural $10,000 no-limit hold’em World Poker Tour (WPT) Hollywood Poker Open in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. With his win, Carlos surpasses Daniel Negreanu as the all-time cash winner on the WPT, with over $5.6 million tourney earnings across the 56 WPT main events he has played. He also ties Gus Hansen for most WPT titles (3).
