The End of Big Cash Games in Vegas Predicts Poker Pro Phil Ivey

There are only one or two big cash games for poker players in Las Vegas per week.  Compare that number to the four to five big cash games once played on a weekly basis and it is easy to see why poker phenom Phil Ivey is so down on Sin City these days.

Ivey, one of the biggest big cash game poker players in the world, may soon be leaving Vegas.  He’s considering California but won’t rule out anywhere else in the world. 

“Once Chip Reese died it was pretty much over. He was pretty much the backbone of the high-stakes games and now, there’s really no big game (in Las Vegas) anymore, except for during the World Series or when a tournament is in town or something like that. So yeah, there’s no real reason to be there.”

Aintluck.com noted:

Recently, we have seen top flight players such as Ivey, John Juanda, and Tom Dwan traveling to China to take on deep-pocketed Asian businessmen from both China and Malaysia. In fact, some of these businessmen even flew to Australia to take part in the television taping of a huge cash game as part of the Aussie Millions tournament.

“Wherever it’s at is where I’ll be. I guess there’s always going to be a time for change, and I don’t know what lies ahead in the future. We’ll have to see.”

- Patrick Flanagan, Gambling911.com