In his blog entry at Full Contact Poker, Daniel Negreanu makes some interesting observations on Phil Ivey and why he is, at least in Daniel's mind, the best player in the world. When play was 3-handed in the 2-7 NL draw event, Ivey was facing two players who are regulars at this form of poker and had way more experience than him. "Both players were better than Ivey at the game, but Ivey is just a better poker player. Period," says Daniel.

Daniel talks about a big call that Ivey made with Ace high - a weak hand in 2-7 Draw - against his heads up opponent John Monnette. "I knew then that it would be over soon. I knew then that he had picked up a read on his opponent and would play mistake free poker from that point on," Daniel writes.

This ability to figure out his opponents' tendencies is what sets Ivey apart from us mere mortals. Many people claim that he makes fundamental errors, but, "Ivey readily admits that when a young kid plays him online, he usually loses at the beginning... until he figures them out. Then, he just destroys all comers," Daniel says.

Previously Barry Greenstein, Doyle Brunson, and Phil Galfond have said exactly the same thing about Ivey's game, stressing his great ability to adapt to his opponents and then exploit their weaknesses, despite having some weaknesses in the fundamentals of the game.

In his entry Daniel also talks about his own WSOP, which is looking good, and his many side bets in the events, read it here.