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Next month, Phil Ivey takes to the WSOP final table at the Rio to stake his claim for poker immortality.
WPT: After going deep in a couple of WSOP Main Events in the past few years, how much of a relief is it to finally make the final table? Do you consider being in the November Nine a landmark achievement in itself or is getting the win the only thing that really matters to you now that you’re there?
PI: To make it to the final table is great but obviously now I’m there I’ll be aiming to win it.
WPT: A couple of other players have said there’s no point in thinking about coming first, you could fall to a bad beat, or something like that. Talk us through how you see it.
PI: Of course, that’s what matters, is winning. I play to win, I like to win, and this is the most important poker tournament I’ve been a part of so far. I’ll try to bring my ‘A’ game.
WPT: How have you been preparing for the final table in the months leading up to November? Are you going to return to the Rio with a set game plan or do you think that you will simply have to adapt to the tournament on the day?
PI: Nah, I don’t really have a plan in mind, I’ll just wake up, have a good breakfast, and go down and play some poker. But then really, I don’t know about all the preparation. I don’t know what other people are gonna do, meditation and whatever else, that’s not really my thing. I’m a kind of simple guy, I like to play, I’m just gonna go down there, and try to get the job done.
WPT: Who do you consider to be your biggest threat at the table and who is the one player whose chances have been most underrated? Is there anyone you’re going to brush up on? What about James Akenhead, for instance?
PI: *yawns* I thought he played very well actually. But I’m not really too worried about any of those guys, I’m more concerned with myself. I think, at poker a lot of times you beat yourself, you know, so I’m just gonna worry about making the right decisions for myself, and not gonna worry about everyone else, and hopefully good things will happen.
WPT: You’ve always maintained that despite your reputation, you’ve still got a lot to learn about poker – in fact, during this year’s WSOP Main Event coverage you said in an interview that you’d learnt three or four new things in the tournament alone. Could you tell us what they are and why you feel it is so important to constantly study the game?
PI: I can’t tell you that. Then you’d know all my secrets. *laughs*. That’s top secret stuff man.
WPT: Being one of the most recognised players on the live circuit, people often forget just how successful you have been playing online over the past few years. How to you split your time between live and online poker these days and which do you prefer playing?
PI: Whatever game is bigger, that’s how I’m splitting my time. If the game’s bigger online, that’s where I’m gonna play, if the game’s bigger live I’m gonna play there.
WPT: What about the challenges, how do they differ between online and live games?
PI: Well, online it’s different, because it’s just you and that computer in a room playing, and you’ve gotta really be focused and paying attention. It’s easy for me to lose attention. And the thing about online is, say you lose a really big hand, say you lose a $200,000 hand, or whatever, the next hand’s being dealt to you immediately, so it’s kind of brutal. Live, if you lose a hand, you know you’ve got a little time to think about it while they’re shuffling, you got time to relax, and then play the next hand. So you’ve got to be careful; it’s much easier to steam online I think, because of how fast the hands come out.
WPT: With a reputation like yours, does it make it harder to navigate a tournament field due to people wanting to “put a move” on the very best, or do players generally not want to tangle with you in pots? Do you find it frustrating at all?
PI: No, because they’re very talented players, they’re good players. I like playing against the best players, I enjoy it. I would like to play with those guys every day. If they would play every day, I would like play them every day, but sometimes they’re nowhere to be found, but every now and then they come out of hiding and they ante up.
WPT: Interestingly, among your seven WSOP bracelets, not one has come in a purely Hold’em event – what would you say is your strongest discipline?
PI: My strongest game? I like them all; I think I’m pretty strong at all of them. I mean, there’s not any particular game. I’ve won a lot of no-limit hold’em tournaments. I don’t really play too many of them at the World Series, because, for one, I have prop bets, and it’s tough to win a no-limit hold’em… it’s tough for me to play. If I’m betting on myself to win a tournament, and if I have a choice between a limit tournament that has 200 players in it, and a no-limit tournament that has 2,000 players in it, I’m gonna play the limit hold’em, because it’s easier to win, do you see what I’m saying?
So, I think the fact that I haven’t won any hold’em tournaments is a little swayed, because I haven’t played as many events, and they’re tougher to win, for one, especially in a World Series, because there are so many players. I don’t think it’s really nothing to really think about.
WPT: You’ve normally got so many prop bets on the go in any given year that we often lose track – could you put us up to speed on what’s going on?
PI: This year? In the main event? I took 100-1 on me winning it. That’s one of my bets that I’m able to talk about because ‘H’ talked about it. I bet $20,000 on me winning, with 2,000 players left.
WPT: Any new ones coming up to the final table?
PI: I have a couple of other bets, but I don’t wanna discuss it. I’m not sure if they’d want me to or not. I don’t want to talk about it.
WPT: What you were saying about always taking smaller fields on, because there’s more of an advantage for you….do you not find that the flip side is that the opposition is better in smaller fields?
PI: Er, yeah, there’s definitely more value in no-limit hold’em tournaments for sure. But you know, I’m betting a lot of money on me winning. I’m not really looking for value, I’m looking for the bracelet.
WPT: What is the toughest game you find to play?
PI: The most difficult game for me is the one I’m playing the least of the time. If I’m playing a game for a while, to me it becomes like second nature, I play poker so much, I really don’t find it difficult. I would say that when I first started playing, the game that was the hardest for me to learn was Omaha 8-or-better. I would say it was the toughest to figure out and learn to play heads up, or whatever, because, you know, it’s a little bit more complicated then the rest. But now, whatever game I’m playing the least, because you have to stay sharp.
WPT: In terms of leaving a poker legacy behind, what are your aspirations? Is surpassing Phil Hellmuth’s bracelet record something that inspires you?
PI: That’s not a goal, that’s gonna be too easy! That’s just not even a challenge! Come on! Yeah, I’d like to win as many bracelets as I can, of course, but a lot of times it’s hard. Like this year, I stopped playing after I won my second bracelet, I only played the Porsche? tournament, the main event, and maybe two other tournaments. After that, there were cash games going on, and that’s what I wanted to play. So it’s kind of tough. If I really played every single tournament, there’s no telling how many bracelets I would win.
But it depends on what’s going on in my life, what’s going on with cash games; how many tournaments I’m able to play, and what type of bets I have. The reason why I played so many tournaments this year and the year before is because I was able to make those bets.
WPT: Would you find it hard to find the motivation to play more tournaments, with serious cash games on offer?
PI: It’d be hard yeah. It’d definitely be hard. Because I would get a phone call, saying ‘such and such is playing at the Bellagio, he has a million dollars in front of him.’ And I’d be looking at first place in the tournament being $120,000 and I’ve gotta play for three days, so I’d be like: ‘You know what, let me just give these away and go running on down there.’
But now, as time is going on, I’m realising my place in poker history, and realising it’s important to win these bracelets and everything else, so I think now as I’m getting older, I’m more motivated by winning bracelets that before. So, next year I think I’ll be able to get up for these tournaments even if I don’t have a bet.
WPT: Talking about your place in poker history… You’ve long been considered by poker players and commentators alike to be one of – if not the – best player plying their trade in the game right now and many people believe that winning the Main Event will be the moment that puts this reputation beyond doubt. Is this fair?
PI: Not really, because I think I’ve won a lot of tournaments already, for the amount of tournaments that I play, which is considerably less than the professional tournament players, I’ve think I’ve done pretty well. Not to take anything away from the main event, of course that would be like a dream come true to win that, but I don’t think [not winning it] would take away anything from my place in poker history. I think I’ve paid my dues and I’ve done pretty well through the years. I think I’m gonna be remembered as one of the greatest players to ever play the game, whether or not I win the main event. Of course it would be nice to win it though.
WPT: Would you say there’s another event with as much prestige attached to it?
PI: No, this is the number one poker event in the world, for sure. And it would be a dream to win it. I’m gonna do everything in my power to get it done. We’ll see come November 9th.
WPT: Finally, are you playing any golf when you’re over in England?
PI: A little bit, yeah, here and there, but I don’t like to talk about it, you know, in case I get a match! We’ll keep that quiet.
WPT: You should get Mark Goodman on the phone.
PI: I think he’s learned his lesson. |
