Phil Ivey just won his 8th WSOP bracelet at Event #37: $3k HORSE. It didn't come cheap at a top class final table but the No. 1 player in the world finally proved strongest against very tough opposition.


The last obstacle in Ivey's way was the poker mathematician William Chen, who started heads up in a clear lead, lost it and came very close to busting before making it back to the lead. It was then that the tide turned for the last time in Ivey's favor and he rode on to win. The last hand came when the game was razz and unfortunately for Chen he ran into quite a setup. After lots of raising, the last chips were in on fifth street and the hands were turned over:

Chen (A5) 276
Ivey (35) A62

A ready made 7 for Chen but Ivey had a ready made 6 and Chen was drawing very thin indeed with his strong hand, only a 3 giving him a split pot. He drew a 7 and a ten, and just to add insult to injury Ivey drew a 4 on the river to make the nut wheel.

There was lots of buzz at the Rio when the winner was announced, and be sure to read some news about bracelet bets in the coming days. One is already known: Ivey and Howard Lederer have a staggering 5 million dollar bet with odds 1:1 on Ivey winning at least two bracelets in 2010 and 2011 combined. With this win Ivey is halfway there and Lederer must feel just a little bit more uncomfortable now than he did yesterday - unless he thinks the publicity that Ivey's wins bring for Full Tilt Poker is well worth the 5 mill. Ivey's remark, overheard at the Rio after the win, shows just how unsignificant the prize money is for him: "So how much is it for first place anyway?"

It's $329,840, anyway, and it takes Ivey's total tournament cashes to $13,182,309, approximately half a million ahead of Daniel Negreanu at the top of the all time money list for poker tournaments.

Remarkably, none of Phil Ivey's 8 bracelets are for NL Hold'em:

2000     $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha ($195.000)
2002     $2,500 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo ($118.440)
2002     $2,000 S.H.O.E. ($107.540)
2002     $1,500 7 Card Stud ($132.000)
2005     $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha ($635.603)
2009     $2,500 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball ($96.367)
2009     $2,500 Omaha Hi/Lo / 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo ($220.538)
2010     $3.000 H.O.R.S.E. ($329.840)

WSOP Event #37: $3k HORSE (478 players):

1. Phil Ivey $329.840
2. Bill Chen $203.802
3. John Juanda $129.553
4. Kenneth Aldridge $93.418
5. Jeffrey Lisandro $68.417
6. Dave Baker $50.871
7. Albert Hahn $38.391
8. Chad Brown $29.406

Source: WSOP.