why go with phil ivey

[JasonBo 0]

Someone showed this to me and it opened my eyesThis is one of the main reasons i go with phil his play is incrediablebut simplistic and what im striving for in my playWhen you get to the top of the poker world, you meet people of prodigious intelligence. Andy Bloch has degrees form Harvard and MIT; Chris Ferguson holds a Ph.D. in artificial intelligence; Phil Gordon attended Stanford. For those who really understand poker, the prominence of those who have succeeded in the academic world makes perfect sense. Poker is a game of analysis, where those who have the greatest facility for discovering and interpreting the data around them will eventually profit. Among poker’s brightest and most successful, there is one player who garners the highest praise. Howard Lederer said this player would before long be known as the best player who ever lived. Chris Ferguson called him a “genius.” Barry Greenstein, who doesn’t give out compliments lightly, refers to him as one of the five best in the world and notes that he’s still improving. Erick Seidel said he has “a searing intelligence.” These players were speaking of Phil Ivey. At the age of 29, Ivey not only leads all players in tournaments winnings per event played, he’s also playing in the world’s biggest cash games. And according to everyone in the know, he’s one of the most successful players at that level. It is, I think, safe to say that Ivey is a generational talent - a Gary Kasparov, a Michael Jordan, a Lance Armstrong. In the opening days of the WSOP main event, I spent some time trailing Ivey, with the hopes of witnessing some of his genius at work. I found Ivey playing in the third of the opening flights, sitting a couple of tables in from the spectator walkways. From the eight seat, he had his back to the rail, which saved him from the distraction of the crowds eager for a glimpse of his play. Among the railbirds was an older couple wearing homemade Ivey paraphernalia – t-shirts silk-screened with Ivey’s image and massive buttons sporting his picture. The man held a placard with the words “Go Phil Ivey” assembled from large black stencils. At the table, Ivey seemed detached from the surroundings. Bose headphones covered his ears and he sat back in his chair. The message for tablemats was clear: I’m not here for conversation. This is not to say that Ivey was unpleasant. When someone asked a question or proffered a joke, he listened and smiled politely or responded briefly. Then the headphones went back on. Ivey has a reputation of being one of the loosest and most aggressive players on the tour. Often, you’ll hear people group him with Negreau and Hansen – players who love to involve themselves in far more pots than most could profitably manage. At times, Ivey may play much like these players. But as I watched Ivey for the early levels of the main event of the 2005 WSOP, I was surprised to find that the style he employed wasn’t especially loose or aggressive. He was more active than most, but he was far from maniacal. Rather, he seemed to extend the concepts of solid play that are so familiar to players who have studied poker. At his first table, Ivey could be counted on for at least one raise per orbit, sometimes two, and that raise was always three times the big blind. Usually, if it was folded to him in the cutoff or on the button, he’d raise. Sometimes he’d take down the blinds. Others he’d be called. If he was forced to play after the flop, he could be counted on to bet two-thirds of the pot on the flop, whether in or out of position. Usually the bet was enough to take a pot, but on occasion he’d was raised or check-raised. Most of the time, he folded to the pressure. Ivey would also call raises in position, from either the cutoff or on the button. In these situations as well, he could be counted on for a bet if checked to. The reasonably simple strategy of raising and then following up on the flop worked amazingly well. While he had to fold a number of hands after facing raises, his gains far outweighed his losses. And the predictability of Ivey’s action had the effect of forcing the players around him to define their hands. With Ivey’s bets all but inevitable, his opponents needed cards in order to bet or raise. Ivey seemed privy to a stream of information his opponent’s lacked. He knew when they had a hand. All they knew was that he was betting yet again. When action extended beyond a single flop bet, you could be certain that both Ivey and an opponent held a decent hand. And at these points, Ivey was surprisingly circumspect. When he had a hand worthy of a showdown, he’d often call bets on multiple streets, keeping the pot relatively small. For example, with blinds at 50/100, Ivey raised under-the-gun to 300 and was re-raised to 1000 by the big blind. Ivey called. On a flop of [2]-[3]-[6], Ivey called a 2k bet. On the turn and river, a [9] and [2], both players checked. Ivey showed down pocket jacks to the opponent’s [A]-[K], and he took the pot. At times when Ivey called a bet in position, I felt like I was watching a cheetah on the prowl. He targeted and isolated the weakest players, those who couldn’t stand pressure from a universally feared player. As he picked up a number of small- and medium-sized pots, Ivey equipped himself with a stack that could withstand both episodes of bad luck and the occasional bad play. With the blinds at 100/300, Ivey raised under-the-gun to 900 and was called by a late position player and the small blind. On a flop of [2♠]-[6♦]-[4♠], the big blind checked to Ivey, who bet 2400. After a late position fold, the blind, who’d been playing aggressively, raised to 5400. Ivey quickly called. On the turn, [2♦], the blind moved in for his remaining 12,850. Ivey took some time, his eyes darting as he considered the situation. It was a draw-heavy board, full of potential straights and flushes. The opponent seemed to be playing as though a fold from Ivey would be a welcomed outcome. Ivey called, and was displeased to see his opponent’s pocket [4]s. He’d flopped a set and hit a full house on the turn. Ivey had pocket [9]s and lost a considerable pot. For most players in the WSOP such a misread means a trip to the rail. But Ivey had collected enough chips in the previous rounds to leave himself with a reasonable stack after this hit. This loss and the diminished stack did nothing to slow Ivey. He continued to employ the strategy that had treated him so well. Over the hours that followed, Ivey continued to gradually build his stack, adding 1000 or 1500 at a time. He was never among the chip leaders, but he stayed around average or slightly above average. He moved to the second day or play in the middle of the vast pack. The early stages of day 2 treated Ivey well. After some initial setbacks, he caught a fortunate flop, hitting the nut diamond flush to an opponent’s lower flush. A short while later, Ivey’s late-position aggression seemed ready to reap great rewards. With blinds of 400/800, Ivey raised to 2400 form the cutoff. The blg blind raised, making it 7k. Ivey wasted no time and moved all-in. The blig blind called. Ivey, who could have made that initial raise with almost any two cards, held pocket [K]s to his opponent’s [A♥]-[Q♥]. The board came [Q]-[10]-[5]-[3]-[Q], and Ivey lost more than 31k from his stack. Down to under 20k for the first time in hours, and possessing less than 30 big blinds, Ivey was unbowed. He stole pots and doubled up again. And yet again, he was back in the mix. Midway through day two, with around 50k in chips, Ivey was a long way from the chips leaders, one of whom had as much as 600k. But nobody’s counting Phil Ivey out, and no one wants this immense talent at his table.

[Dr_Shakes 0]

Thanks for the post. Very interesting, seems like you can learn alot by carefully watching a pro make his way through a tournament. Very well done maybe you should write for CardPlayer or something :-)

[JasonBo 0]

Thanks for the post.  Very interesting,  seems like you can learn alot by carefully watching a pro make his way through a tournament.  Very well done maybe you should write for CardPlayer or something :-)

Well flattered i didnt write it my friend sent this to me not sure who the author is

[Suited_Up 2]

Compelling argument woman! I think you've swayed me!

[commoncents 0]

I'll take street smarts over book smarts any day.What school did Doyle go to? The school of hard knocks.you dont have to be a genious to play poker, I'll take the hustler over the book worm any day!

[BigDMcGee 3,360]

http://www.pokerwire.com/gl/plainb.php?the...1&full=1&page=3

[pipes42 0]

Ummm... Doyle did goto school.... might want to edit that or explain it...but I agree with you that it's not the main ingredient in poker sucess as evidenced by how good the games are here where the avg SAT is like 1550 (old SAT, i dont know about this new 3part one)

[mark33f 0]

Among the railbirds was an older couple wearing homemade Ivey paraphernalia – t-shirts silk-screened with Ivey’s image and massive buttons sporting his picture. The man held a placard with the words “Go Phil Ivey” assembled from large black stencils. I remember them from last years broadcast.And it's really pathetic that you plagerized something and gave no credit.

[Smasharoo 0]

More important that the BJ peice about him is that he has Chococat support.Chococat, bitches.

[JasonBo 0]

Among the railbirds was an older couple wearing homemade Ivey paraphernalia – t-shirts silk-screened with Ivey’s image and massive buttons sporting his picture. The man held a placard with the words “Go Phil Ivey” assembled from large black stencils. I remember them from last years broadcast.And it's really pathetic that you plagerized something and gave no credit.

Again it was sent in a email to me i dint know who wrote it and i belive i said that

Someone showed this to me and it opened my eyes  This is one of the main reasons i go with phil his play is incrediable  but simplistic and what im striving for in my play

thanks BiDMcGhee

its from poker wire.. jay greenspan  

[LuckyMcCatcher 0]

At times, Ivey may play much like these players. But as I watched Ivey for the early levels of the main event of the 2005 WSOP, I was surprised to find that the style he employed wasn’t especially loose or aggressive. He was more active than most, but he was far from maniacal. Rather, he seemed to extend the concepts of solid play that are so familiar to players who have studied poker.This style works against good players but not bad players. This is something Gus and DN have not really figured out. That is why Ivey seems much more by the book. He knows he cannot bully people who do not know better.

[Mattnxtc 0]

well i never thought ivey was very good until this post but now i do i agree with all of it except for the part about ivey and lance armstrong...now in terms of dominance they are the same...but ivey like the others relied on intelligence and things of that nature...lance seems to rely on pain and suffering. I think he has been quoted as saying hes the best b/c he is willing to suffer the most of anybody...i know its nitpicky but eh..im bored with nothing else to do

[mark33f 0]

Alright I apologize.

[greatwhite 0]

He is the best player around and will be until I finally take my shot. Go Phil ! We want the favorite (1:500) to win this thing.

[Huge Pair 0]

Phil is the man check out this video, http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-tournament...eo&video_id=466.

[clashcityrocker 0]

Among the railbirds was an older couple wearing homemade Ivey paraphernalia – t-shirts silk-screened with Ivey’s image and massive buttons sporting his picture. The man held a placard with the words “Go Phil Ivey” assembled from large black stencils. I remember them from last years broadcast.And it's really pathetic that you plagerized something and gave no credit.

Understand definitions of words you are going to use. Then spell these words correctly.

[jill_idle 0]

He didn't plagarize anything. He never represented it as his own. And I'm left to assume he doesn't know the source based on what he said.

[JasonBo 0]

Alright I apologize.

leave him alone he did the right thing

[BigDMcGee 3,360]

well i never thought ivey was very good until this post but now i do  

1) Every pro says he's the best or one of the best2) he has an AMAZING tourniment record.3) he is the ONLY tourniment player to parley tourniment success into success in the biggest cash game in the world4) Not only does he play in the biggest game in the world, from what I hear, he crushes the biggest games in the world.What on earth would make you think he's not good, since he's been successful in tourniments, and the biggest cash games? You think he was just a lucky spook or something?

[mark33f 0]

Among the railbirds was an older couple wearing homemade Ivey paraphernalia – t-shirts silk-screened with Ivey’s image and massive buttons sporting his picture. The man held a placard with the words “Go Phil Ivey” assembled from large black stencils. I remember them from last years broadcast.And it's really pathetic that you plagerized something and gave no credit.

Understand definitions of words you are going to use. Then spell these words correctly.

First, I misread it and apologized.Second, here you go:http://www.englishforum.com/

[Mattnxtc 0]

well i never thought ivey was very good until this post but now i do  

1) Every pro says he's the best or one of the best2) he has an AMAZING tourniment record.3) he is the ONLY tourniment player to parley tourniment success into success in the biggest cash game in the world4) Not only does he play in the biggest game in the world, from what I hear, he crushes the biggest games in the world.What on earth would make you think he's not good, since he's been successful in tourniments, and the biggest cash games? You think he was just a lucky spook or something?

ok i was joking...i didnt think a sarcastic warning was necessary but apparently it was hahahaha

[BigDMcGee 3,360]

well i never thought ivey was very good until this post but now i do  

1) Every pro says he's the best or one of the best2) he has an AMAZING tourniment record.3) he is the ONLY tourniment player to parley tourniment success into success in the biggest cash game in the world4) Not only does he play in the biggest game in the world, from what I hear, he crushes the biggest games in the world.What on earth would make you think he's not good, since he's been successful in tourniments, and the biggest cash games? You think he was just a lucky spook or something?

ok i was joking...i didnt think a sarcastic warning was necessary but apparently it was hahahaha

I finally got my no SW comeupance..

[Mattnxtc 0]

haha :-)

[Smasharoo 0]

3) he is the ONLY tourniment player to parley tourniment success into success in the biggest cash game in the world Um. Doyle.Both started with cash games, anyway.

[BigDMcGee 3,360]

3) he is the ONLY tourniment player to parley tourniment success into success in the biggest cash game in the world Um.  Doyle.Both started with cash games, anyway.

Um, I know you feel the need to churp in about every post you see, but Doyle didn't take the money he won in tourniments, and use it to play in the biggest games in the world, and then beat them, he took the money he won in the biggest games in the world, and played in tourniments.Ivey, on the other hand, took the money he won from the tourniments, and played with it in the biggest games in the world. Thus, PARLEYING it.Yes, I know Ivey played in cash games, before his touriment successes, duh. But what he did NOT do, as opposed to EVERYONE else in the big game is slowly grind his way up the ranks, rank after rank, untill he made it into the big game.