With the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event final table just hours away and baseball’s World Series ending last night, the spotlight of the sports world is shining squarely on poker for the next two days as nine players have their sights set on the more than $8.5 million first prize. One of this year’s top performers at the WSOP has been the great Phil Ivey, who sits in fourth place in the WSOP Player of the Year rankings. Usually a fairly quiet person, Ivey opened up a bit recently to ESPN Playbook in an exclusive interview.
The first topic of conversation was, naturally, the World Series of Poker. Ivey clearly has a rooting interest (more on that soon), picking Greg Merson to win it all. “I love his demeanor and I think he’ll be calm,” Ivey said. “He’ll know when to put the pressure on and he’ll know when to back off.”
He was also impressed Jake Balsiger, with whom he played early on in the tournament. It will be tough sledding for Balsiger, as he is the second shortest stack to begin final table play tonight, but anyone who gets complements from Ivey must have some sort of shot to win. “He’s very patient, but he also had a very good talent at knowing when to bluff and when to take pots down,” Ivey said of Balsiger.
Ivey has never won the Main Event, but he did place seventh in 2009. He told ESPN Playbook that the experience was unlike any other, saying that the level of energy in the room was something he did not expect. His recommendation to this year’s “Octo-Nine” was to take their time with decisions. “You have to remember there are a lot of hands left to be played. Take your time, grind out your opponents, and of course, make the best decisions possible.”
Ivey’s high ranking in the WSOP Player of the Year race is largely the result of an amazing five final table finishes. Unfortunately for Ivey, he was not able to add to his eight WSOP bracelets, a collection which puts him fifth all-time behind Phil Hellmuth (13), Doyle Brunson (10), Johnny Chan (10), and Johnny Moss (9). His final table appearances this year, in chronological order:
Event #15: $5,000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo – 7th – $34,595
Event #17: $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em – 2nd – $275,559
Event #24: $5,000 Omaha Hi/Lo – 3rd – $136,046
Event #32: $10,000 HORSE – 5th – $99,739
Event #35: $2,500 Mixed Hold’em – $21,699
Ivey added two more small cashes to give him a grand total of $576,052 won at this year’s World Series of Poker.
A large part of the interview centered around a new website that launched this weekend called IveyPoker.com. While it currently lacks any sort of functionality or content, it will eventually be a poker training site. Ivey said that while he appreciates “social” poker sites, people who patronize them don’t really learn how to play the game properly. “What we’re doing here,” he said, “is teaching people how to become a winning poker player.”
There will be no charge to play at IveyPoker.com, which will include video instruction from Ivey himself as well as some of his other poker pro friends. The aforementioned Merson has signed on and is already being promoted on the site. Ivey also named Jennifer Harmon and Patrik Antonius, the latter of whom he said is the second best player in the world (guess who’s the first?) as members of his team.
One thing that looks like a differentiator or IveyPoker.com is the focus on teaching people how to play at live tables. “A lot of my feel comes from observing other players, so at IveyPoker.com, I’m going to teach people how to observe other players and do it in the correct way,” said Ivey. “I’m going to teach them how to make adjustments off the things they observe. I think I can teach some of it, but a lot of it does come with experience, so if people put in their work, they can get there one day.”
ESPN also asked Ivey if he had any comment about the Full Tilt Poker scandal, but he said that he can’t say anything yet for legal reasons.