Naming one person to be the best poker player of all time is a frustrating endeavour. After all, different people do different things at various times. They play at varying stakes. Some opt for tournaments and others focus on cash. Then there is the range of poker games at which assorted players excel.
But there’s little question that, no matter what, Phil Ivey would be high in the running for greatest-ever status. Just hearing about his amazing plays – what Barry Greenstein once described e as “soul reading” – is thrilling. Watching Phil’s reads as they unfold can be mind-blowing.
Some of Ivey’s greatest moves may happen at casino cash-game tables where cameras are verboten. However, enough examples of his expertise exist, preserved via TV coverage, that we can make a good case for the man’s superiority.
Here, then is a convincing collection of Ivey’s greatest poker hits. If he were an actor, they’d be Academy Award-worthy. If he were a pop star, they would garner gold records. But since he is a poker icon, these performances at the baize-topped table stand out for bringing home the money or preserving it.
Making the Other Guy Move – Phil Ivey vs Phil Hellmuth
Call it the battle of the Phils. In this showdown, two of the most famous poker players on earth lock horns.
This poker hand – with Ivey, Hellmuth, Tom Dwan and Patrick Antonius competing at the start – begins with Hellmuth’s 10s out in front. Ivey, trailing with just 6,8 off-suit, makes a $2,500 bet. The other guys all call.
But everything changes with the flop of 10, 9, 7. Hellmuth has a set, and Ivey has a straight. Ivey bets a standard $8,000. Everyone folds except Hellmuth, who calls rightfully believing he has the best hand.
On an inconsequential turn, Ivey bets $23,000.
Maybe figuring that he will get Ivey out or else win the hand via showdown, Hellmuth goes all-in, pushing $80,300 into the pot. Ivey calls after inducing the player with the losing hand to shove in all his chips.
Both players turn up their cards, revealing Ivey’s straight to Hellmuth’s trips.
Seeing his situation, Hellmuth tries to negotiate insurance on the hand. But nobody will take the esoteric offer.
An inconsequential three comes on the river, and Hellmuth all but groans, “I finally trapped somebody … I flopped top set, he had 6, 8, and now I’m out.”
Players at the table laugh uproariously at the Poker Brat’s misfortune.
Master Of the Bluff – Phil Ivey vs Mike Matusow
In a classic game where Mike Matusow and Phil Ivey have been verbally sniping at each other, a hand opens with Matusow holding a pair of K♦️K♣️, and Ivey going in with just A♠️4♠️.
Of course, Matusow bets, Ivey and David Benyamine call. Now there is $15,800 in the pot.
- The flop comes 4♣️ 6♣️ J♥️.
- Matusow bets, Benyamine folds, Ivey calls, and the pot swells to $37,800.
- The Jack of ♣️comes on the turn, and when the 7 of ♣️ hits on the river, Ivey checks.
- Matusow bets $15,000.
Ivey, holding rags, seems likely to fold. Instead, he re-raises, representing a full house or maybe even the Ace high flush.
The bet leaves Matusow miffed while $104,800 sits in the centre of the table.
But the announcer says, “I have a feeling that Mike will make this call.”
Out loud, he contemplates folding and acknowledges that the other players will “laugh in my face” if he drops out with a winning hand.
But will he really do it? Could Ivey’s poker bluff fold out the guy who led the hand from beginning to end?
Clearly, there was something about Matusow’s bet that tipped off Ivey and led him to go for the money. Matusow talks at him, hoping to glean information. Ivey gives away nothing.
Finally, Matusow folds. Ivey only says, “I had the Ace.”
He’s not lying because he had an Ace (if not exactly the Ace). And it gives Matusow something to think about.
Milking The Most with Quads – Phil Ivey vs Sam Greenwood
His opponents can be in plenty of trouble when Phil Ivey has no decent cards. Such is the genius of Ivey and the way in which he manipulates others at the table.
But when he gets a pair of Aces in a high-roller tournament? Well, whoever goes after him is highly likely to be manipulated into paying dearly for the move.
Such was the situation for Sam Greenwood, who started the hand with King, 8 of ♣️ and had the misfortune of landing four to a flush on the flop.
Unfortunately for him, one of those three cards was the Ace of clubs – one of the most unlikeliest of poker hand probabilities.
- Ivey with top set bets 200,000. Obligated to call, Greenwood complies.
- When Ivey’s fourth Ace lands on the turn, it seems uneventful – if you’re judging by Ivey’s response.
- Ivey checks and Greenwood does as well.
There is still a chance for Sam to get away from this hand so long as he doesn’t wind up lucky/unlucky on the river.
When the Jack of ♣️ lands, Ivey is in the world’s greatest spot.
He has Four-of-a-Kind, Greenwood has the nut flush. Ivey bets 400,000. Greenwood, believing that he has the best of it, raises to 950,000. Ivey shoves, and what can Greenwood do?
Of course, he calls. Ivey shows his four Aces. Greenwood rises before heading to the rail while Ivey rakes in nearly 9 million chips.
“What a run out; what a hand,” the announcer marvels. “That is absolutely nuts.”
Who would argue?
Ivey The Mind Reader – Phil Ivey vs Tony G.
The announcer for a big-money deep-stack tournament makes clear that Phil Ivey is “going to be a nightmare.”
He’ll be as much for those playing against him but not for us folks who enjoy watching this stuff online. We’re all going to love it.
First to act, Ivey bets with King, Jack suited. Tony G. calls with a pair of 6s.
Then G. flops a set as Ivey snags a second King. The great Ivey might be in trouble because he now has top pair. Then a Jack, on the turn, gives him two pair. That can be even more dangerous.
But, seeming oblivious to the possible peril, Ivey over-bets to the point that there are 660,000 poker chips value in the pot.
G. shoves, and 4,050,000 chips are suddenly at stake.
- What does a player in Ivey’s position do now?
- He might have the best hand.
- Or maybe he doesn’t.
Ivey is emotionless, and Tony G. looks studiedly bored. Ivey assesses the situation and could easily push in all his chips.
But he doesn’t. Proving that being a poker genius is not only about the hands that you play. Often, it is about the hands that you release.
It’s the sort of defensive move that saves Phil Ivey’s tournament life and makes him a legend.
