Phil Ivey has been labeled as the best poker contender in the world by many of the top-ranked professionals. He was born in Riverside, CA and moved to NJ before reaching the age of 1. His grandfather showed him to penny-ante 5-Card Stud poker. From then on on, he was addicted to poker and wanted to pickup everything he could about poker. He routinely told his parents that he was planning on being a professional poker player. He did not permit the adverse feedback from other people destroy his ambition of being one of the greatest poker players in the world.

Phil started playing seriously after acquiring a fake ID by the name of Jerome. He sharpened his techniques at the casinos of Atlantic City. The initial few years for him were a learning period and winning wasn’t a common outcome at the time. He made his mark at the 2000 World Series of Poker where he made two final tables and won his 1st WSOP bracelet, in a two dollar, five hundred Pot-Limit Omaha game. At the final table he destroyed a number of the well known professionals including "Amarillo Slim" Preston, David "Devilfish" Ulliot, and Phil Hellmuth, Jr.

He made a decision to take his skills to the successive level and headed out west to Sin City. Phil continues to participate in in "The Big Game" at the Bellagio with the greatest players on the planet. Phil credits his success to dedication and an immeasurable passion for poker. He states that he’s picking up skills every day and is quite humble about his accomplishments. He knows he makes errors every single game of poker and constantly strives to improve.

Despite the fact that Ivey has won some big tournaments, he favors destroying cash games on a regular basis.