Phil Ivey Makes World Series of Poker Return in the $100K High Roller
It’s official: 10-time bracelet winner and poker fan favorite Phil Ivey is back at the World Series of Poker. After a full-year hiatus from the Rio Convention Center, and a 2016 where the only WSOP event he played was the Main, Ivey showed for Event #5: $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller, true to his word.
In an interview with PokerNews last month after he won the Triton Poker HKD$250,000 Short Deck Event in Montenegro, Ivey confirmed what he had already announced — that we could expect him to play in the 2018 WSOP.
“I wanted to start playing some more tournaments,” Ivey said at the time. “I announced that kind of at the beginning of the year. So I plan on playing the World Series of Poker. Short deck, long deck, it's OK."
While short-deck poker hasn’t made it to the WSOP schedule, Ivey will have to settle for regular ole 52-card poker, and he will have plenty of events to choose from. Though his WSOP plan is unclear for now, we know of one player who will be pulling for a robust WSOP schedule for the high-stakes poker legend: Team Negreanu took the 55th overall-ranked Ivey in the $25K Fantasy Draft for $50.
Event #5: $100K High Roller
Ivey registered his first event back in the Rio at the last possible moment on Day 2, bringing the total entries to 105 in the High Roller. Despite building his stack to around 800K from the 500K starting stack, with the help of flopping flush over flush against Stephen Chidwick in Level 13, Ivey wouldn’t make it through the next level.
He had slipped back close to starting stack and tangled with Chidwick once again with blinds at 20,000/40,000/40,000 and 27 players remaining, still 11 from the money. This time, all the chips went in and Ivey was flipping with pocket sevens against the king-nine of Chidwick.
The flop came Ax10x10x, somewhat safe for Ivey, but the Qx turn gave Chidwick some extra gutshot outs to go with his overs. The Jx river completed the straight for Chidwick, and he absorbed Ivey’s stack to put him around the 6 million-chip mark and among the chip leaders.
As for Ivey, we'll be on the lookout for him in some of the bigger events on the schedule, with fans wondering, is bracelet No. 11 on the horizon?
A Look at Ivey’s Bracelet Wins
| Bracelet # | Year | Event | Entries | Top Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 2014 | Event #50: $1,500 8-Game Mix | 485 | $166,986 |
| 9 | 2013 | APAC Event #3: A$2,200 Mixed Event (8-Game) | 81 | A$51,840 |
| 8 | 2010 | Event #37: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. | 478 | $329,840 |
| 7 | 2009 | Event #25: $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better | 376 | $220,538 |
| 6 | 2009 | Event #8: $2,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw | 147 | $96,367 |
| 5 | 2005 | Event #27: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha | 363 | $635,603 |
| 4 | 2002 | Event #23: $2,000 Limit S.H.O.E. | 143 | $107,540 |
| 3 | 2002 | Event #16: $2,500 Limit Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo | 126 | $118,440 |
| 2 | 2002 | Event #5: $1,500 Limit Seven Card Stud | 253 | $132,000 |
| 1 | 2000 | Event #14: $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha | 195 | $195,000 |
Don't want to miss Ivey in action? Follow the PokerNews live updates all summer long as the live reporting team provides coverage for every bracelet event during the 2018 World Series of Poker.
