Poker legend Phil Ivey did not show up at the start of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) as he was reported to be playing a number of high roller events in Asia.
However the top poker pro made a brief return to take part in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event.
The 10-time WSOP bracelet winner has over $23 million in total live tournament winnings and has come close to winning the main event on more than one occasion but has never really gone all the way.
In a statement Ivey said,
This is the biggest tournament of the year for all poker players and I try to make it back if I can for it.I've been quite busy and I haven't played any tournaments.
This is my first one and, honestly, I'm happy I was able to get back and play this one.
In 2002, he finished in 23rd place making it his first Main Event cash-out. In 2003, he was the favorite to win while playing against Chris Moneymaker. He was expected to take the lead for the final days play but a miracle hand from Moneymaker ended up in Ivey finishing in 10th place. The rest is of course poker history as Moneymaker went on to win the Event which started a poker revival across the globe.
In 2005 again Ivey ran deep but ended up with in 20th place. It was in 2009 where Ivey had his best run and made it to the November Nine where he finished in seventh place and won $1,404,014. After this Ivey hasn’t really had a lot of success in the WSOP as he came in 430th place during 2014 and in 2015 he was out of the Main Event on the 1st day. He did better at the $111,111 High Roller for One Drop and finished five places short of cashing.
The main reason for Ivey’s waning interest in WSOP during the last few years has been his preference for lucrative cash games held in casinos around the world. He was also more interested in the WSOP and playing for bracelets when he had a lot of prop bets going his way.
Ivey’s run at the 2016 WSOP was rather ordinary as the poker pro joined on Day 1C with thousands of other players. He entered Day 2 with a rather short stack and was busted in an open straight-flush draw in the Level 10 play ending his 2016 appearance.
