Phil Ivey: The Wins and the Losses
Written by Renee K | Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
The world’s top poker player seems to be having a rollercoaster year. Phil Ivey’s year started off at rock bottom after he and his wife Luciaetta announced that they were divorcing after seven years of marriage.
A quiet January followed, and then Ivey burst into the headlines once more with the news that he had made it to the top of the all-time tournament money list after finishing second in the Aussie Millions $100K High Roller Event. Ivey’s win earned him $600,000 and put him ahead of Daniel Negreanu on the list with total tournament winnings of $12,813,990.
With all that cash in hand, it seems that Ivey wouldn’t really feel it if he lost a bet or two around Super Bowl weekend, but when it comes to a bet of a whopping $2 million, things can get a little painful. It was reported that Ivey and high stakes sports bettor, Billy Walters placed a massive bet of $2 million each on the Colts to win the Super Bowl, and were stunned along with the rest of America when the underdogs, the New Orleans Saints scored an impressive 31-17 victory over the Colts.
Nobody, including Ivey’s camp, will confirm or deny the massive bet and subsequent loss, although a sports book director with MGM Mirage would say that “we took a seven figure bet on the Colts money line.”
This is not the first time that Ivey is reported to have made such a big loss while betting on sports. During the 2008 World Series of Poker event, he is rumored to have lost another $2 million on a Lakers game.
Industry experts say that a whopping $94,500,000 was wagered on the Super Bowl which is insane for two reasons – firstly because a significant percentage of that was contributed by Phil Ivey and secondly because the United States has a law called the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act….
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· Written by Renee K · Filed Under Poker News · Comments Off
