Phil Ivey tapped the table twice, rose to his feet, and shook the hand of his opponent, Aleksejs Ponakovs, who had just won a 2022 World Series of Poker gold bracelet.
The Latvian poker pro denied Ivey once more in 2022 after reaching his third WSOP final table in less than three weeks. He may have fallen short of poker’s greatest prize, but for the 2017 Poker Hall of Fame inductee, his statement to the poker world was clear: Phil Ivey is back.
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Knocking On The Door for His 11th WSOP Bracelet
After winning two events and reaching five final tables at the Super High Roller Series Europe in April, the poker rumor mill began to circulate about whether or not Ivey was going to be at the WSOP in full force.
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Daniel Negreanu, a close friend and fellow Poker Hall of Fame member, confirmed that Ivey had a break room adjacent to his that was close to the tournament area of Bally’s/Paris Las Vegas. However, that didn’t ensure Ivey was going to be playing a full slate of WSOP events. He’d made a few brief appearances throughout the last few editions of the WSOP, but the days of playing a full schedule were a thing of the past. Until 2022.
“To see him back is beautiful,” Negreanu said about Ivey back to being Ivey. “He’s got his head on straight. He’s lean, he’s sharp, he’s a yogi, he’s meditating, he’s eating clean, and he’s really, really focused.”
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Having taken a seat in everything from the $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo to the $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller, there is no doubt Ivey is dialed in and focused on winning more WSOP gold.
“He’s been grinding,” Negreanu said. “I think he’s just happy to be here.”
Ivey has cashed five times and reached three final tables in the first three weeks, which includes a third-place finish in the $10,000 Stud Championship and a second-place finish in the $100,000 High Roller.
Phil Ivey's Best 2022 WSOP Results
| Event #2: $100,000 High Roller Bounty | 7th | $133,127 |
| Event #8: $25,000 NL Hold’em High Roller | 34th | $40,648 |
| Event #22: $10,000 Seven-Card Stud Championship | 3rd | $108,233 |
| Event #32: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. | 26th | $5,544 |
| Event #42: $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller | 2nd | $1,172,659 |
Will Phil Ivey Catch Phil Hellmuth?
At the 2006 WSOP, Phil Hellmuth won his 10th WSOP bracelet to tie poker legends Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan for the most WSOP bracelets. The following year saw Hellmuth break the tie by winning his 11th, and he’s gone on to add an additional five bracelets including his record-extending 16th WSOP bracelet in 2021.
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With Brunson and Chan not playing heavy WSOP schedules, it’s up to Ivey to challenge Hellmuth in a bid to close the gap between these two poker greats.
“The world’s greatest players, like Ivey, will step up and give me some competition in the WSOP bracelet race,” Hellmuth said. “I believe I will win 24 WSOP bracelets, and that’s a terrific number.”
Phil Ivey’s Career WSOP Bracelets
| 2000 | $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha ($195,000) |
| 2002 | $1,500 Seven Card Stud ($132,000) |
| 2002 | $2,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo ($118,440) |
| 2002 | $2,000 S.H.O.E. ($107,540) |
| 2005 | $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha ($635,603) |
| 2009 | $2,500 No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw ($96,367) |
| 2009 | $2,500 Omaha / Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo ($220,538) |
| 2010 | $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. ($329,840) |
| 2013 | AU$2,200 8-Game Mixed (AU$51,840) |
| 2014 | $1,500 8-Game Mix ($166,986) |
Ivey is the quickest player to win his eighth (10 years), ninth (13 years), and 10th (14 years) bracelets – ahead of Hellmuth, Brunson, Chan, Erik Seidel, and Johnny Moss. The drought between Ivey’s last bracelet is on the verge of eclipsing eight years, and during that stretch, Hellmuth added three more.
Phil Ivey Still Regarded as the ‘Best Player in the World’
Regardless of the time away from the WSOP or his absence from winning WSOP gold and glory, the allure of Ivey to poker fans around the world never wavered. Most importantly, poker peers he shares the green felt with still revere and respect Ivey.
“When Phil is in the right frame of mind, he is the best,” Brunson said.
Brunson played with Ivey on the recent season of High Stakes Poker, while Hellmuth and Negreanu have been playing the WSOP day in and day out with Ivey right there alongside them.
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“Phil Ivey is one of the all-time greats in poker,” Hellmuth said. “He has the rare distinction of being one of the best in the game today, right now, as well. I like to think of myself the same way.”
Negreanu has never been shy to praise Ivey having spent the majority of their poker careers battling across from each other.
“Phil Ivey is the best player in the world because I don’t buy into this idea that poker is one game,” Negreanu said. “I think Phil Ivey is the greatest of all time, at all the games, and all the formats. He crushed online heads-up. He crushed live, mixed games. He crushed No-Limit Hold’em tournaments.”
Ivey has won more than $1.4 million this series at the WSOP and pushes his series earnings to over $8.6 million. Ivey’s career winnings now eclipse $37 million, putting him ninth on the All-Time Money List.
The WSOP is far from over for Ivey as he continues to chase his 11th bracelet to further cement his legacy as one of the best in the world. When the book on Ivey’s poker career is written, will this year’s WSOP just be a small footnote on what could have been? Or will it have a dedicated chapter titled, “I’m Back!”
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