Phil Ivey Eyeing Tournament Return in 2018

Much to the disappointment of poker enthusiasts everywhere, Phil Ivey has been largely absent from the tournament circuit over the past few years, having recorded just three cashes since the beginning of 2015. The same goes for his time spent on PokerStars, with his last appearance at its virtual cash tables having taken place towards the end of the same year.
In fact, aside from the odd hand played at Bobby’s Room on his infrequent visits to Las Vegas, Ivey has been largely absent from the western world poker scene, and instead now resides in the Far East. Nevertheless, there may be better news in store for Ivey fans in 2018, as the Poker Hall of Famer has reaffirmed his love of poker tournaments during a recent short interview he gave, and indicated he intended to be a more frequent participant next year.
“I’m still interested in live tournaments. I love tournaments, I’ll always play tournaments. I just had some personal/family issues and I just didn’t really want to be part of the media at that moment,” explained Ivey.
As to the reasons behind his extended absence from live tournaments, Ivey stated:
“I have a lot of things going on, and so I just decided to take some time off, but next year I’m going to start playing again.”
One of the personal problems Ivey may have been alluding to was the high-profile lawsuits brought against him by two casinos where he won more than $20 million using a technique called edge-sorting.
In addition, Ivey has been busy promoting poker in Asia, and in recent weeks helped to launch a poker app created by wealthy Chinese entrepreneur Sun Ji Jun. Meanwhile, Ivey continues to ply his trade competing in high-stakes games, with his base in Hong Kong helping to provide him easy access to the “Big Games” taking place in Macau and Manilla. The games are also noted for their privacy, and Ivey remained true to form by saying that he was unable to provide any more details on them, and staying tight-lipped on the topic.
Finally, when asked if he played poker on mainland China, Ivey emphatically said no, reminding the interviewer that it was illegal to gamble in the country outside of Macau.