Phil Ivey Biography

“The Tiger Woods of Poker,” was born in Riverside, California on February 1, 1976, Phil spent his childhood in New Jersey where he was taught at a very early age the basic fundamentals on how to play poker. His grandfather taught him how to play 5 Card Draw wagering only pennies. Ivey was first bitten by the poker bug while at a friend’s house where he bought into his first game as a teenager.

As a young man, he could not play enough and was always looking for a game. He was able to get an ID from a co-worker and he used that to play in the casinos in Atlantic City. It was because of this that Ivey earned the nickname, “No Home Jerome,” since the name on the ID was not his, but belonged to Jerome Graham. Phil Ivey gives no credit to anyone but himself regarding his poker education. Poker was not very kind to him in the start as he lacked funds to pay bills and could hardly keep himself afloat. Despite the hard times he faced while honing his poker skills, it eventually paid off.

Poker Career

During the 2000 WSOP, Phil Ivey decided it was time to try the big leagues. He placed in several events that year including the 5th finish in the $2k No Limit Hold Em event. He also won the PLO event, which he bought into for $2,500, and played with some of the biggest names in poker including Phil Hellmuth, Ulliott, and Armarillo Slim. All that hard work paid off; Phil Ivey had made a name for himself.

Phil Ivey has only gone up since then. Tying for the most bracelets won in a year with Hellmuth, Phil Ivey won 3 in 2002 which brings him to a grand total of 5 bracelets. He has a total of 40 cashes in the WSOP, WPT, and the EPT and has won the WPT once. It was a long road as the same hand, AQ, busted him on several occasions on the first 7 runs. Phil Ivey holds the record for having the most final table appearances in the WPT.

Although “No Home Jerome” has played in many tournaments, he actually specializes in high stakes ring games. He is a regular at “Bobby’s Room,” where he plays with big names such as Jennifer Harman, Tom Dwan, Daniel Negreanu, and Doyle Brunson. They play for extremely high stakes, as high as $4,000/$8,000 with a minimum buy in of $80,000.

If you cannot make the trip to Bobby’s Room, you can feel free to take Phil Ivey on over at Full Tilt Poker. He has several of his rooms named after him and you can often see him playing against pros for stakes as high as $2,000/$4,000. Ivey has mentioned also that he tries to play at the lower stakes from time to time to give the general public an opportunity to play poker with him. He has earned well over $9 million dollars between the beginning of 2007 and 2008, with 2008 bringing the majority; a whooping $7.5 million.

Outside of Poker

Like many of his poker colleagues, Phil Ivey is an avid fan of golf and as his nature, tries to make it interesting by wagering on it. He also finds time to help with the development of Full Tilt Poker and enjoys playing video games. Aside from it all, he enjoys spending time with his wife at his home in Las Vegas and enjoys watching and rooting for his favorite basketball teams.