Phil Ivey gave poker players around the world yet another reason to fear him at the felts. The five-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner continued his domination of high-stakes events by taking down the third Million Dollar Cash Game. Ivey has won the game two of the three times it’s been held. The London event was sponsored by Full Tilt Poker.
Ivey won $536,000 for his play over the course of the two-day event. He won a $531,000 pot when his pocket threes hit a set on the river against fellow Full Tilt Poker pro Chris Ferguson, who failed to hit an ace on the turn or river. Ivey also bluffed Mike Matusow out of a sizeable pot, getting “The Mouth” to lay down the second nuts.
In the end, Matusow took home $130,000, John Juanda pocketed $69,000, and Howard Lederer padded his bank account with another $27,000. Each player coughed up at least $100,000 of their own money to enter the Million Dollar Cash Game.
Ivey frequently plays in “The Big Game” at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, one of the top cash games in the entire world. Although he was sent packing from the 2008 WSOP Main Event frustrated on Day 2 in 2008, his World Series tournament resume is quite impressive. He won his first bracelet by taking down a $2,500 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha tournament during the 2000 WSOP. In 2002, he was at it again, this time winning a $1,500 buy-in Limit Seven Card Stud event for $132,000. It was one of three bracelets he’d win in 2002, the year before the Moneymaker Boom caused poker’s popularity to explode worldwide. Ivey also took down Limit Seven Card Stud High-Low and Limit SHOE events during the 2002 WSOP. His most recent piece of hardware came in 2005, when he won a $5,000 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha tournament for $635,603. He finished third in the $50,000 buy-in HORSE Championship in 2006.
Ivey fans and poker enthusiasts can catch the Million Dollar Cash Game when it airs on Sky Sports in January. Last year’s event featured Ivey and Patrik Antonius squaring off for a record $800,000 pot, “at the time the largest sum of money ever won in one hand of televised poker,” according to Full Tilt’s website. In this year’s edition, Full Tilt blogger Michael Craig claims that on Day 2, Ultimate Bet personality Phil Hellmuth lost $200,000, Andy Bloch lost $100,000, Ferguson lost $100,000, and Antonius dropped $170,000.
Full Tilt Poker generates numerous promotions to showcase its impressive roster of esteemed poker pros. The site is fresh off holding the $25,000 Heads-Up Pot Limit Omaha World Championship. In it, Full Tilt member Slaktron defeated Antonius heads-up in the finals. Ivey was ousted by Ben Grundy in the first round. Others who made a deep run included CardRunners pro Brian Hastings, who reached the Sweet 16, and Erich Kollmann, who lost in the round of eight.
The site also plays host to the $750,000 Guaranteed every Sunday. The tournament starts at 18:00 ET weekly and comes with a price tag of $216. Full Tilt Poker gladly accepts players from the United States.
