(Featured image: courtesy of WPT)
Phil Ivey is a notable poker figure for over 20 years. Within his entire career, he managed to get 10 WSOP bracelets and many more tourney winnings in between. Just one of the many proofs of how good he is on the felt.
More than his skills, what is quite notable is his mindset when playing the game. If you have been a fan of this guy, you should know that he rarely does interviews. But on a few times when he did, he was generous in sharing tips on how to become better at it. Luckily for us, he also created a poker strategy course on Masterclass.com.
And one very important lesson he imparted was that if you enjoy winning, you should embrace losses as well. That’s all part of the journey, isn’t it?
It’s probably because of that, among all other things, why a lot in the industry consider him as the best all-around poker player, not only locally, but on a global scale. Well, if you’ve played long enough to sound the odds, that’s quite expected.
Right now, he is still actively playing and is residing in Las Vegas.
| Full Name: Phillip Dennis Ivey Jr. | |
| DOB: February 1, 1977 | |
| Birthplace: Riverside, California | |
| Profession: Professional poker player, Masterclass.com poker instructor | |
| Ex-wife: Luciaetta Ivey (divorced in 2009) | |
| WSOP Bracelets: 10 | |
| Net Worth & Career Earnings: $100+ Million |
Table of Contents
Phil Ivey Bio
The Phenom, as they often call him, was born in Riverside, California. However, he was not raised there since they moved to Roselle, New Jersey when he was still as young as 3 months. Other than this, most of his early childhood life has been kept private, making him more mysterious.
Unlike players who discovered their love for the card game during their teenage years, he rather had an early exposure to poker. His grandfather taught him how to play when he was still 8 years old. They would do it for fun and sometimes, they bet a couple of pennies just to add a little bit of excitement.
Later on, Phil managed to devise his own strategies in order to beat his grandfather. He was Phil’s number one supporter, and he was the very first person to urge the poker star to get into the industry professionally.
Today, Phil is one of the richest poker players in the world.
The Phenom – Poker Career
Because he started young, his love for the game only deepened. Since it wasn’t legal to play for people below 21, he outsmarted the organizers by giving himself a fake ID under the name Jerome Graham. This is where he got his other nickname – No Home Jerome.
When he was still starting out as a professional player, Daniel Negreanu and Barry Greenstein guided him into becoming better on felt. He was able to learn effective winning strategies from these two equally brilliant mentors.
I think the turning point in his career was beating the undefeated Amarillo Slim in the 2000 WSOP final table. He was the very first to do that, and that’s saying something.
Another most notable winning he had was tied with Phil Hellmuth during the 2002 WSOP winning three bracelets. Then several years after, he just kept getting his next bracelets, and now he’s got 10 in total.
He also plays in some shows and live streams.
Recently, he’s appeared in PokerGo’s High Stakes Poker, as well as well Hustler Casino Live, where he’s played with major names like Bryn Kenney, Doug Polk, Garrett Adelstein, Tom Dwan, Nick Petrangelo, Rick Salomon, Jason Koon, and many others.
Phil’s Masterclass (Mini Course)
Having won several tournaments and has proven himself as one of the best poker players in the world, “Tiger Woods of Poker” started offering a masterclass.
For what it’s worth, on Masterclass.com only TWO players have their training – Phil Ivey Teaches Poker Strategy and Daniel Negreanu Teaches Poker.
Anyway, Phil’s masterclass is a 12-chapter online training that aims to help you understand and appreciate the game, develop good strategies, and condition your mindset. The entire training lasts for about 3 hours and 30 minutes.
I don’t have a separate review written on it yet, but I definitely encourage you check it out. As poker players we have to constantly study poker, and grow, if we want to increase our win rate.
If you’ve never done any courses, you can start with Daniel’s and Phil’s short masterclasses.
==> Click to read the FULL review here.
Phil Ivey Net Worth
Without a doubt, he is one of the richest poker players in the industry. With roughly $100+ Million in net worth, he ranks among top celebrity players like Tobey Maguire.
Here are his top three cashes as of today:
- 1st place 2014 APPT 8 – Aussie Millions – $3,573,600
- 1st place 2012 Aussie Millions Event 20 Challenge – $2,058,948
- 1st place 2015 Aussie Millions – $1,713,285
Of course Phil has poker as his main source of income, but it also include royalty earnings from his masterclass course, some business ventures, and other investments.
Do you have any other interesting information on No Home Jerome? Share them freely in the comments section below!