Poker Forum

CONGRATS PHIL YOU DESERVE IT BUDDY WELCOME BACK!!!

Dang the top three names say it all theTHREE BEST IN THE WORLD .

Dang hows that for welcome back and running good . win 100k in the main event and win 2 million in a later event while most of America are sweating 17bucks an hour. GoodjobMr.Ivey.

Phil Ivey back in the saddle winning $2 million $A in Australia puts into the spotlight what life after Black Friday is going to be like for the top American pros: Large wins OUTSIDE of the U.S. as the rest of the world's poker economy grows strongly as the U.S. poker landscape stalls, mired in the DOJ Poker Prohibition. Congrats to Phil Ivey!

Although the WSOP in Vegas will grow, it will pale in comparison to what I expect will happen in the WSOPE in Cannes, which will shatter last year's players records on route to the day, not too far in the future, where it will beat the attendance of the WSOP. The new measure of Poker Supremacy will be who wins both the Main Event Las Vegas and the Main Event Cannes.

Also nice is that large bottle of Moet Chandon champagne on the table which Phil Ivey won ... a mark that poker is moving from a background of beer to one on champagne. Good news for sponsorship generally.

Mr.Ivey, Please your money in to new full tilt operating funds...

Phil Ivey just won a 16 player sit and go, that's it .. yes of course the $250k buy-in makes it that much more news worthy, but considering the 16 players worth, this truly is just another sit and go. With Ivey having the respect of the "Jordan" of poker, he has a lot more to prove then winning something like this. This wasn't the 6th championship ring, this might be an All Star Game MVP trophy at best with the high standards we set for Ivey. The poker community needs a face like Ivey to come back stronger than ever this WSOP, to show it was right to be a fan of his, that the Full Tilt debacle won't take away from the skill we have all learned to admire. After seeing Phil and the rest of the gangs bi-weekly sponsorship checks from Full Tilt, it must make you wonder, can the great Phil still play with absolutely no fear with his Money Tree chopped down. For what it's worth, I'm just a random person thinking out loud, and I still have respect for Phil, a little more respect for " kid poker " and his insane words against the "shamed" siblings with the occasional c*nt bomb for the duke lol, and after reading about that creep Ferguson, not only does his 60 million in payments make me sick, thinking of ESPN and that awful feature they did on him dancing is down right suicidal , lol .. Well, that's just a run on of mine .. Good work Phil, but hopefully Full Tilt pays the US Players back so you can come out of your US hiding this WSOP, you were missed by fans and competitors who want to play with the Best, and bottom line, no one is bigger than the game, but it sure would be nice to see the unofficial ambassadors seem like the Greats again, not crooks. Thanks Full Tilt.

@POKERrunons - Yes, this was just a field of 16 players, but getting to the point in your poker career where you are able to comfortably enter a $250,000 event where you'll be playing against some of the best in the world is a testament to Ivey's skill over the years. When he first began in the game, he was a grinder at small stakes in Atlantic City. He's worked his way up and conquered the best of the best.

I'd also like to add that whether you are a fan of Ivey or not, you must agree that poker needs him to be back playing events, driving the stories worldwide and drawing more and more attention from the fans. Much like Tiger Woods in golf — hate him or love him given all that's happened, poker needs Mr. Ivey.

Also, be sure to check out Rich Ryan's "Five Thoughts: Ivey No Longer a Fan Favorite?" article. Ryan makes some good points about how we can't be so quick to jump and judge. We need to let the facts come out and then make our evaluations from there.

"Let’s not get into a shouting match with one another to see who’s the loudest. Let’s wait for some facts to come out before we judge for or against Mr. Ivey." - R. Ryan