What Makes Phil Ivey the Poker G.O.A.T.?

Michael Jordan (sorry, LeBron James fans). Tom Brady. Tiger Woods. Serena Williams. Phil Ivey. What do these five superstars have in common? They’re all widely considered the best to have ever done it in their respective sports.

How Phil Ivey Solidified His Case as the Poker GOAT

On Thursday, Ivey captured his 11th World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet when he took down Event #29: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship (6-Handed). That puts him alone in second place behind the 17 bracelets Phil Hellmuth holds.

But the common greatest of all-time (G.O.A.T.) argument for Ivey over Hellmuth, or any other player, is that he’s dominated both in cash games and live tournaments, and won big online on Full Tilt Poker back in the day. The newly minted WSOP champion has two World Poker Tour (WPT) titles (Hellmuth, 0), $45.3 million in live tournament cashes, according to The Hendon Mob (Hellmuth $30 million), and he’s been known to crush some of the highest stakes cash games in the world.

Does Everyone Agree Phil Ivey is Poker’s Greatest?

Phil Ivey
Years before Ivey captured his 11th bracelet, many poker fans and players had already dubbed him the G.O.A.T. That includes Daniel Negreanu, a fellow Poker Hall of Famer, who has long argued his longtime friend and opponent is the best ever. He congratulated the newest bracelet winner on Number 11 and reiterated his argument in his Friday WSOP vlog.

PokerNews asked some players at the WSOP why they think Ivey is the G.O.A.T., and we received some interesting answers from some of the best in the game.

“I mean, back in the day watching him six-bet shove the queen-eight on jack-jack-x against some guy was pretty epic. And I’ve been a huge fan ever since,” Chance Kornuth, a three-time WSOP bracelet winner and founder of Chip Leader Coaching, said. “So, I mean, he’s won a bracelet in nine different games, I think. I think that kinda shows how good he is.”

UFC announcer Bruce Buffer, an avid poker player who is competing in Event #39: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em (8-Handed), showered Ivey with praise.

“You know what, Phil has amazing patience, amazing skills, you can’t read him. It’s kind of looking at a wall and figuring he’s smiling at you. Years of experience. Warrior spirit of the green felt battle of champions. And, let’s face it, to me it takes BSC — balls, skills, and confidence, right? But you need that 10-20% luck factor to win this thing,” Buffer argues.

One poker player who isn’t convinced Ivey is the G.O.A.T. is boxer Ryan Garcia, an amateur player who has appeared on Hustler Casino Live a few times. Garcia instead believes Tom Dwan is the best ever, with Ivey a close second.

In response to Garcia’s tweet, Dwan said he appreciated the compliment, but argued that he doesn’t have a “great tourney record,” unlike Ivey. Dwan has $6.9 million in live tournament cashes and hasn’t won a WSOP bracelet. He’s always been more of a high stakes cash game specialist, and like Ivey, famously smashed the biggest games on Full Tilt Poker in the late 2000s.

“He is a very talented player, and a talented businessman,” Aleksejs Ponakovs said of Ivey. “Everything about him is insane.”

Nacho Barbero was impressed with Ivey’s performance in the 2-7 event and confidently referred to the 11-time bracelet winner as “the greatest of all-time.”

There’s certainly arguments to be made for Hellmuth as the best ever given he’s far and away the title record holder in the most prestigious series in poker. And one could argue G.O.A.T. status for players such as Doyle Brunson, Chip Reese, and a few others. But there’s no doubt that Ivey is the most common response when poker fans are asked to name the best poker player of all-time.