Phillip Dennis "Phil" Ivey Jr. (born February 1, 1976) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
professional
pokerPoker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
player who has won eight
World Series of Poker braceletThe World Series of Poker bracelet is considered the most coveted non-monetary prize a poker player can win. Since 1976, a bracelet has been awarded to the winner of every event at the annual WSOP. Even if the victory occurred before 1976, WSOP championships are now counted as "bracelets". ...
s, one
World Poker TourThe World Poker Tour is a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting the final table of each tournament. It was started in the United States by attorney/television producer Steven Lipscomb, who served as CEO of WPT Enterprises , the firm that...
title and appeared at nine World Poker Tour final tables. Ivey is regarded by numerous poker observers and contemporaries as the best all-around player in the world today.
Poker
Ivey first began to develop his poker skills by playing against co-workers at a
New Brunswick, New JerseyNew Brunswick is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, USA. It is the county seat and the home of Rutgers University. The city is located on the Northeast Corridor rail line, southwest of Manhattan, on the southern bank of the Raritan River. At the 2010 United States Census, the population of...
telemarketingTelemarketing is a method of direct marketing in which a salesperson solicits prospective customers to buy products or services, either over the phone or through a subsequent face to face or Web conferencing appointment scheduled during the call.Telemarketing can also include recorded sales pitches...
firm in the late 1990s. One of his nicknames, "No Home Jerome", stems from the ID card he secured to practice in
Atlantic City, New JerseyAtlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...
in his teenage years. His other nickname is 'the
Tiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
of Poker'.
Tournaments
As of 2011, his total live tournament winnings exceed $13,800,000. $5,294,840 of his total winnings have come from cashes at the WSOP.
World Series of Poker
Ivey's tournament accomplishments include winning three
braceletsThe World Series of Poker bracelet is considered the most coveted non-monetary prize a poker player can win. Since 1976, a bracelet has been awarded to the winner of every event at the annual WSOP. Even if the victory occurred before 1976, WSOP championships are now counted as "bracelets". ...
at the
2002 World Series of PokerThe 2002 World Series of Poker was held at Binion's Horseshoe.This edition was historically notable for two reasons. It was the first WSOP in which pocket cams were installed to allow broadcasters to show the players' hole cards, although only for the Main Event...
, tying
Phil Hellmuth JrPhil Hellmuth is an American professional poker player. He is best known for holding a record 11 World Series of Poker bracelets, for winning the Main Event of the 1989 World Series of Poker and for his temperamental, "poker brat" personality...
,
Ted ForrestTed Forrest is an American professional poker player, currently residing in Las Vegas, Nevada.- Tournament Wins:...
, and
Puggy PearsonWalter Clyde Pearson was an American professional poker player. He is best known as the 1973 World Series of Poker World Champion.-Early years:...
for most tournament wins in a single year (
Jeff LisandroJeffrey Lisandro is an Australian professional poker player, now residing in Salerno, Italy. Lisandro is known by many to be a cash game specialist, but is a well-known face on the poker tournament circuit and is regarded as one of the premier Seven Card Stud players in the world...
has also since tied the record). Ivey also has bracelets in Pot Limit Omaha from
2000-Preliminary events:-Main Event:There were 512 entrants to the main event. Each paid $10,000 to enter the tournament.Ferguson had a 10 to 1 chip lead when starting his heads-up vs Cloutier. After a see-saw battle, Ferguson decided to call Cloutier's AQ all-in with his own A9...
and
2005The 2005 World Series of Poker opened play on June 2, continuing through the Main Event No Limit World Championship starting on July 7. The conclusion of the Main Event on July 15 marked the close of play, and the largest prize in sports and/or television history at the time was awarded to the...
. In 2000, he was the first person to defeat
Amarillo SlimThomas Austin Preston, Jr. , known as Amarillo Slim, is an American professional gambler known for his poker skills and proposition bets...
heads-up at a WSOP final table. In addition to his eight World Series bracelets, Ivey has had great success in the WSOP Main Event. He placed in the top 25 four times between the
2002The 2002 World Series of Poker was held at Binion's Horseshoe.This edition was historically notable for two reasons. It was the first WSOP in which pocket cams were installed to allow broadcasters to show the players' hole cards, although only for the Main Event...
and the
2009The 2009 World Series of Poker was the 40th annual World Series of Poker . It was held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, and ran from May 27 to July 15. There were 57 bracelet events, culminating in the $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event...
. Ivey finished 23rd in 2002, 10th in
2003-Preliminary events:-Main Event:There were 839 entrants to the main event. Each paid $10,000 to enter what was the largest poker tournament ever played in a brick and mortar casino at the time...
, 20th in 2005 and 7th in 2009.
In
2009The 2009 World Series of Poker was the 40th annual World Series of Poker . It was held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, and ran from May 27 to July 15. There were 57 bracelet events, culminating in the $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event...
, Ivey won his 6th bracelet in the $2,500 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball Event of the
2009 WSOPThe 2009 World Series of Poker was the 40th annual World Series of Poker . It was held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, and ran from May 27 to July 15. There were 57 bracelet events, culminating in the $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event...
. He defeated a field of 147 players to catch his bracelet. He won a very long heads-up battle against John Monette. He then proceeded to win another bracelet in the $2,500 1/2 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo 1/2 Omaha Hi/Lo event besting a field of 376 people. He defeated Ming Lee heads-up. While winning the $2,500 1/2 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo - 1/2 Omaha Hi/Lo event he also managed to place 22nd in the $5000 Pot-Limit Omaha Eight-or-better despite only playing during the breaks in the Stud/Omaha event.
In the
2010 World Series of PokerThe 2010 World Series of Poker was the 41st annual World Series of Poker , held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, and ran from May 28 to July 17. There were 57 bracelet events, culminating in the $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Championship that began on July 5...
, Ivey received the most votes for the Tournament of Champions.
At the 2010 WSOP Ivey won his eighth bracelet in the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. event in a final table made up of other notable players, which included Bill Chen (2nd),
John JuandaJohnson "John" Juanda is a Chinese Indonesian professional poker player based in Marina del Rey, California. Juanda lives in Los Angeles.-Personal life:...
(3rd),
Jeff LisandroJeffrey Lisandro is an Australian professional poker player, now residing in Salerno, Italy. Lisandro is known by many to be a cash game specialist, but is a well-known face on the poker tournament circuit and is regarded as one of the premier Seven Card Stud players in the world...
(5th) and
Chad BrownChad Lewis Brown is an American actor, poker player and color commentator, based in Los Angeles, California.-Early life & acting career:...
(8th).
Between 2002 and 2009, Ivey finished among the top 25 players in the Main Event four times, in fields ranging in size from 600 entrants to just under 7000. Ivey finished 10th in the
2003 WSOP Main Event-Preliminary events:-Main Event:There were 839 entrants to the main event. Each paid $10,000 to enter what was the largest poker tournament ever played in a brick and mortar casino at the time...
(one place short of the final table), and 7th in 2009. In 2009 his lost to
Darvin MoonDarvin Moon is an American self-employed logger and amateur poker player who was the runner-up of the 2009 World Series of Poker US$10,000 no-limit Texas hold'em main event. It was his first time playing in the World Series of Poker...
's when a queen paired Moon on the flop; he ended with winnings of $1,404,002.
With eight World Series of Poker bracelets, Ivey is currently tied with
Erik SeidelErik Seidel is an American professional poker player from Las Vegas, Nevada who has won eight World Series of Poker bracelets and a World Poker Tour title.In 2010, he was inducted as a member of the Poker Hall of Fame.-Early life:...
for the fifth most of all-time. Also, at age 33, he was the youngest player to ever win eight (Phil Hellmuth was 39). In addition, no other player has accumulated eight bracelets more quickly; it took Ivey only ten years from the time of his first bracelet to his eighth (
Johnny MossJohnny Moss was a gambler and professional poker player. He was the first winner of the World Series of Poker Main Event, at the time a cash game event in which he was awarded the title by the vote of his peers in 1970, He also twice won the current tournament format of the WSOP Main Event in...
took 11 years). He is also the all-time record holder for most bracelets won in non-Holdem events, with all 8 of his victories coming in non-Holdem events. His 2010 win gave him the lead over
Billy BaxterWilliam E. Baxter, Jr. is an American professional poker player and sports bettor. He has won numerous tournament titles in his career as a professional poker player, including seven World Series of Poker bracelets....
.
On May 31, 2011, Ivey announced he will not be playing in the 2011 WSOP: "I do not believe it is fair that I compete when others cannot... until a solution is reached that cements the security of all players, both US and International, I will, as I have for the last six weeks, dedicate the entirety of my time and efforts to finding a solution for those who have been wronged by the painfully slow process of repayment."
World Series of Poker bracelets
| Year |
Tournament |
Prize (US$) |
| 2000 -Preliminary events:-Main Event:There were 512 entrants to the main event. Each paid $10,000 to enter the tournament.Ferguson had a 10 to 1 chip lead when starting his heads-up vs Cloutier. After a see-saw battle, Ferguson decided to call Cloutier's AQ all-in with his own A9...
|
$2,500 Pot Limit Omaha |
$195,000 |
| 2002 The 2002 World Series of Poker was held at Binion's Horseshoe.This edition was historically notable for two reasons. It was the first WSOP in which pocket cams were installed to allow broadcasters to show the players' hole cards, although only for the Main Event...
|
$2,500 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo Seven-card stud is a variant of stud poker. Until the recent increase in popularity of Texas hold 'em, seven-card stud was the most popular poker variant in home games across the United States, and in casinos in the eastern part of the country. Two to eight players is common, though eight may...
|
$118,440 |
| 2002 |
$2,000 S.H.O.E. HOSE is a term used for playing a mixed game of poker consisting of four different poker games.* H stands for Hold'em* O for Omaha Eight or Better* S for 7 Card Stud* E for 7 Card Stud Eight or Better...
|
$107,540 |
| 2002 |
$1,500 7 Card Stud |
$132,000 |
| 2005 The 2005 World Series of Poker opened play on June 2, continuing through the Main Event No Limit World Championship starting on July 7. The conclusion of the Main Event on July 15 marked the close of play, and the largest prize in sports and/or television history at the time was awarded to the...
|
$5,000 Pot Limit Omaha |
$635,603 |
2009The 2009 World Series of Poker was the 40th annual World Series of Poker . It was held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, and ran from May 27 to July 15. There were 57 bracelet events, culminating in the $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event...
|
$2,500 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball |
$96,367 |
| 2009 |
$2,500 Omaha Hi/Lo / 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo |
$220,538 |
| 2010 The 2010 World Series of Poker was the 41st annual World Series of Poker , held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, and ran from May 28 to July 17. There were 57 bracelet events, culminating in the $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Championship that began on July 5...
|
$3,000 H.O.R.S.E. |
$329,840 |
World Poker Tour
Ivey has also reached nine final tables on the
World Poker TourThe World Poker Tour is a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting the final table of each tournament. It was started in the United States by attorney/television producer Steven Lipscomb, who served as CEO of WPT Enterprises , the firm that...
. He has lost several of these WPT events by being eliminated while holding the same starting hand each time, an ace and a queen. Nine out of the twelve times Phil Ivey has cashed in a WPT event, he has also made the television final table. During the
sixth seasonBelow are the results of season six of the World Poker Tour .Towards the end of season 6 the World Poker Tour announced that they would award a Tiffany designed titanium and diamond championship bracelet for all previous 96 players....
of the WPT in February 2008, Ivey made the final table at the LA Poker Classic at
Commerce CasinoCommerce Casino is a cardroom located in the Los Angeles suburb of Commerce. With over 240 tables on site, Commerce Casino is the largest cardroom in the world...
that included
Phil HellmuthPhil Hellmuth is an American professional poker player. He is best known for holding a record 11 World Series of Poker bracelets, for winning the Main Event of the 1989 World Series of Poker and for his temperamental, "poker brat" personality...
and Nam Le, eventually capturing the $1,596,100 first prize and putting an end to his streak of seven WPT final tables without a victory. Ivey has earned close to three million dollars in WPT cashes. Ivey made his debut on the
European Poker TourThe Pokerstars European Poker Tour is a series of poker tournaments similar to those in the World Poker Tour , created by John Duthie, winner of the inaugural Poker Million tournament. It began in 2004 as part of the worldwide explosion in Texas Hold 'em popularity...
in
BarcelonaBarcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, September 2006. He came to the final table of nine as the chipleader, but he eventually came in second to Bjørn-Erik Glenne from
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
.
World Poker Tour Titles
| Year |
Tournament |
Prize (US$) |
| 2008 Below are the results of season six of the World Poker Tour .Towards the end of season 6 the World Poker Tour announced that they would award a Tiffany designed titanium and diamond championship bracelet for all previous 96 players....
|
$10,000 L.A. Poker Classic |
$1,596,100 |
Other notable tournaments
In 2006, Ivey was enticed to
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to participate in The London All Star Challenge of the inaugural
European Poker MastersThe Poker Channel is a dedicated gaming TV network and broadcasts to over 30 million TV homes in 30 countries.The Channel is typically carried in the basic packages of cable and satellite operators in Europe and classified as a sport or entertainment channel in electronic programme guides...
. Not only
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
's first-ever independent poker tour, the EPM boasted the best lineup of players ever seen in Europe. As one of the favorites, Ivey made it to the final table to finish seventh, and collected £6,700 ($12,534). In November 2005, Ivey won the $1,000,000 first prize at the
Monte Carlo MillionsThe Monte Carlo Millions was the first ever poker tournament to be staged in the city-state of Monaco. The inaugural event was completed on 12 November 2004. Apparently birthed out of the preceding explosion of Texas Hold 'em popularity, it was conceived of and sponsored by Prima Poker. The field...
tournament. Just one day after, Ivey took home another $600,000 for finishing first at "The FullTiltPoker.Net Invitational Live from
Monte CarloMonte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....
". His six opponents were (in reverse finishing order)
Mike MatusowMichael Matusow is an American professional poker player, residing in Henderson, Nevada. Matusow's nickname of "The Mouth" reflects his reputation for trash-talking at the poker table...
,
Phil HellmuthPhil Hellmuth is an American professional poker player. He is best known for holding a record 11 World Series of Poker bracelets, for winning the Main Event of the 1989 World Series of Poker and for his temperamental, "poker brat" personality...
,
Gus HansenGustav "Gus" Hansen is a professional Danish poker player who lives in Monaco. In his poker career, Hansen has won three World Poker Tour open titles, the 2007 Aussie Millions main event and was the season one winner of the Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament...
,
Chris FergusonChristopher Philip Ferguson is an American professional poker player. He has won five World Series of Poker events, including the 2000 WSOP Main Event, and the 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. On September 20, 2011, the U.S...
,
Dave UlliottDavid A. Ulliott , known by the nickname Devilfish, is an English professional gambler and poker player. Formerly, Ulliott was a minor figure in the Hull underworld, but went on to become a World Series of Poker bracelet-winner, and a mainstay of televised poker...
, and
John JuandaJohnson "John" Juanda is a Chinese Indonesian professional poker player based in Marina del Rey, California. Juanda lives in Los Angeles.-Personal life:...
.
On the January 22, 2007 airing of
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's
Poker After DarkPoker After Dark was an hour-long poker television program on NBC. The show made its debut on January 1, 2007, and was cancelled as another victim of the "Black Friday" criminal case due to the show's sponsorship by Full Tilt Poker, one of that case's defendants. on September 23, 2011 For its first...
, Ivey won the $120,000 winner-take-all "Earphones Please" tournament by eliminating
Mike MatusowMichael Matusow is an American professional poker player, residing in Henderson, Nevada. Matusow's nickname of "The Mouth" reflects his reputation for trash-talking at the poker table...
,
Tony GAntanas Guoga , more commonly known as Tony G, is a businessman and professional poker player. As a child, he was the Rubik's Cube champion of Lithuania before moving to Melbourne, Australia at the age of 11. He has played poker since the age of 18, and is known for his outlandish table talk and...
,
Andy BlochAndrew Elliot Bloch is a professional poker player. He holds two electrical engineering degrees from MIT and a JD from Harvard Law School.-Poker:...
,
Phil HellmuthPhil Hellmuth is an American professional poker player. He is best known for holding a record 11 World Series of Poker bracelets, for winning the Main Event of the 1989 World Series of Poker and for his temperamental, "poker brat" personality...
and
Sam FarhaIhsan Farha is a professional poker player. He is best known for finishing as runner up in the World Series of Poker main event in 2003 and has won three bracelets at the WSOP.-Early years:...
. On the April 15, 2007 airing of NBC's "National Heads-Up Poker Championship", Ivey was defeated by actor
Don CheadleDonald Frank "Don" Cheadle, Jr. is an American film actor and producer. Cheadle rose to prominence in the late 1990s and the early 2000s for his supporting roles in the Steven Soderbergh-directed films Out of Sight, Traffic, and Ocean's Eleven...
. The loss marked the third consecutive year Ivey had been eliminated in the first round from this tournament. His streak ended in 2008, when he advanced to the semifinals, losing to eventual champion
Chris FergusonChristopher Philip Ferguson is an American professional poker player. He has won five World Series of Poker events, including the 2000 WSOP Main Event, and the 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. On September 20, 2011, the U.S...
. Phil Ivey took part in seasons three and six of
GSNThe Game Show Network is an American cable television and direct broadcast satellite channel dedicated to game shows and casino game shows. The channel was launched on December 1, 1994. Its current slogan is "The World Needs More Winners"...
's
High Stakes PokerHigh Stakes Poker is a cash game poker television program broadcast by the cable television network GSN in the United States. The poker variant played on the show is no limit Texas hold 'em. It premiered on January 16, 2006 and ended on December 17, 2007 and it returns back on March 1, 2009 and is...
.
Cash games
Ivey is a regular participant in the $4,000-$8,000 mixed cash game at the
Bellagio hotelBellagio is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in the Paradise area of unincorporated Clark County, Nevada, USA and a member of The Leading Hotels of the World. It is owned by MGM Resorts International and was built on the site of the demolished Dunes hotel and casino.Inspired by the...
in
Las VegasLas Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
(often referred to as
the Big GameThe Big Game refers to a famous high-stakes poker ring game played in "Bobby's Room", a cardroom named after Bobby Baldwin, at the Bellagio casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The table features no-limit and pot-limit games with wagers up to $100,000 per hand...
). In February 2006, he played heads-up
Limit Texas Hold'emTexas Hold 'em is a variation of the standard card game of poker. The game consists of two cards being dealt face down to each player and then five community cards being placed face-up by the dealer—a series of three then two additional single cards , with...
versus
TexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
billionaireA billionaire, in countries that use the short scale number naming system, is a person who has a net worth of at least one billion units of a given currency, usually the United States dollar, Euro, or Pound sterling. Forbes magazine updates a complete list of U.S. dollar billionaires around the...
Andy BealD. Andrew "Andy" Beal is a Dallas, Texas-based billionaire businessman who was born and raised in Lansing, Michigan. He made his fortune in banking and real estate and is the founder and chairman of Beal Bank and Beal Aerospace Technologies. Beal is also known for his high-stakes poker games and...
. With stakes at $25,000/$50,000 and $50,000/$100,000, Ivey won over $16,000,000 over the course of three days. Ivey was playing for "The Corporation", a group of poker professionals who pooled their money and took turns playing against Beal. Earlier in the month, Beal had beaten the Corporation out of over $13,000,000.
Online poker
Ivey was part of the original design team for
Full Tilt PokerFull Tilt Poker is an online poker card room that opened in June 2004 with the involvement of poker professionals Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey, Andy Bloch, Mike Matusow, Jennifer Harman and Chris Ferguson...
. In May 2011, Ivey filed a lawsuit in
Clark County, Nevada-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 1,375,765 people, 512,253 households, and 339,693 families residing within the MSA. The racial makeup of the MSA was 71.6% White , 9.1% Black, 5.7% Asian, 0.8% American Indian and 12.8% of other or mixed race. 22.0% were Hispanic of any race...
claiming Full Tilt had breached his contract. The suit asked for damages in excess $150,000,000, as well as for him to be released from his contract with the company. Ivey voluntarily withdrew the suit on June 30.
According to HighStakesDB.com, Phil Ivey earned $1.99 million on FullTilt in 2007, $7.34 million in 2008, $6.33 million in 2009 and $3 million in 2010.
Personal life
Ivey was born in
Riverside, CaliforniaRiverside is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, and the county seat of the eponymous county. Named for its location beside the Santa Ana River, it is the largest city in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area of Southern California, 4th largest inland California...
and moved to
Roselle, New JerseyRoselle is a Borough located in Union County in the state of New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 21,085....
when he was three months old.
Ivey resides in
Las VegasLas Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
. In December 2009, Ivey and his wife, Luciaetta, filed a joint petition for divorce after seven years of marriage. The divorce was granted on December 29, 2009.
Ivey is a
Los Angeles LakersThe Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
,
Houston RocketsThe Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before being...
, and a
Buffalo BillsThe Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
fan and can often be seen wearing
basketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
jerseys. Ivey's hobbies include video games,
prop bettingIn gambling, the term "proposition bet" has two definitions.-Primary definition:...
and
golfGolf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
. He participated in the inaugural
World Series of GolfThe World Series of Golf is an annual golf competition. The competition differs from traditional golf tournaments in that the winner is decided not by the lowest stroke-play score or by winning a bracket-style elimination in match play, but by winning wagers bet on each hole in a betting scheme...
, where he finished in third place.
Philanthropy
Ivey has given money to a number of charitable causes. In March 2008, Ivey donated $50,000 to Empowered 2 Excel, a Las Vegas charity for underprivileged children, and later that week created the Budding Ivey Foundation, a non-profit organization to continue the work of his grandfather, Leonard "Bud" Simmons. The foundation raised $260,000 (mostly for Empowered 2 Excel) at a July 3, 2008 charity poker tournament,and is also involved in children's literacy projects and programs to feed the homeless.
External links