Phil Ivey having Tough Year in Online Poker


Often referred to as the “Tiger Woods of Poker,” Phil Ivey is regarded by many as poker’s top all-around player. His past results definitely back up this sentiment since he’d earned $19.24 million in online poker before 2013. However, the key word in this statement is “before” since Ivey is having a miserable time on the cyber felt this year.

Perhaps emulating Tiger Woods’ struggles from a couple of years ago, Ivey has lost over $2 million in 2013. And dating back to November of 2012, when Full Tilt Poker came back online, he’s lost $2.55 million.

So what’s changed from the first decade of his poker career to now? Well he seems to have undergone quite a bit of stress over the past two years. First off, Ivey lost a great deal of money when the old Full Tilt went down in 2011. He then damaged his reputation by launching what many people saw as a self-serving lawsuit to get his investment/money back.

Last summer, he was also involved in an ordeal where he won £7.8 million from Crockfords Casino, only to have Crockfords keep the fortune on suspicion of cheating. Ivey just recently launched a lawsuit against London’s oldest casino to recover the £7.8 million.

Now based on these major events, it’s likely that the nine-time WSOP bracelet winner isn’t fully focused on poker. And if this is the case, it’s hard to keep up with talented and hungry players – even when you’re Phil Ivey.

Despite his recent online poker struggles, Ivey is probably making plenty of money in live games. Plus he had a very impressive tournament year in 2012, after earning $3,657,531 in live tourneys. With the 2013 WSOP right around the corner, it’ll be interesting to see how he fares here.