Phil Ivey has been branded as the greatest poker contender on the planet by quite a few of the top-ranked professionals. He was born in Riverside, CA and moved to NJ before his first birthday. His grandfather taught him penny-ante 5-Card Stud poker. From that point on, Phil was hooked on poker and wanted to pickup everything he could about the game. He would tell his grandparents that he wanted to be a professional poker player. Phil didn’t let the adverse comments from others annihilate his ambition of becoming one of the strongest poker players on the planet.

Phil started competing seriously after acquiring a false ID with the name of Jerome. He practiced his skills at the poker rooms of Atlantic City. The initial number of years for Phil were a learning experience and coming away with a win wasn’t a regular outcome at the time. Phil made his mark at the 2000 WSOP when he achieved two final tables and won his first World Series of Poker bracelet, in a two dollar, 500 Pot-Limit Omaha match. At the closing table he defeated quite a few of the well known professionals including but not limited to "Amarillo Slim" Preston, David "Devilfish" Ulliot, and Phil Hellmuth, Jr.

He made a decision to take his game to the successive level and moved out west to Las Vegas. He continues to compete in in "The Big Game" at the Bellagio with the best players on the planet. Ivey credits his achievements to hard work and an undying passion for poker. Phil says that he’s learning every single day and is incredibly humble about his achievements. He knows he makes errors in each session of poker and always strives to get better.

Although Phil has won some big-time tournaments, he likes destroying money games on a normal basis.