Phil Ivey MIA at WSOP, His Semi-Bluff
TheRinger.com has a great piece on poker icon Phil Ivey, one of the best – if not THE best – players in the game today.
They ask the question everyone is asking: Why no Phil Ivey at this year’s World Series of Poker?
It could have something to do with a court battle. Ivey is trying to recover winnings from a London casino. They refuse to pay, accusing the poker player of edge sorting in a game of Punto Banco, which itself is a form of Baccarat. The United Kingdom Supreme Court is currently hearing an appeal in this matter.
But Ivey’s absence from the WSOP is nothing new. After winning his 10th bracelet in 2014, Ivey entered only two of the 68 events the next year.
TheRinger.com piece includes interviews from fellow poker players about the so-called “Tiger Woods of Poker”, given this name for both his likeness to the golf pro and the positive impact he’s had on the game of poker similar to that for which Woods had on golf in his heyday.
Professional poker player Barry Greenstein: “Phil’s a really smart guy. A lot of people think he’s like an idiot savant, that he just kind of has this poker skill, like someone who plays the piano and can’t do anything else. But the truth is he studied the game. He is a really deep thinker.”
- Ace King, Gambling911.com
