Phil Ivey At Top Of Poker Money List After Aussie Millions Success

Phil Ivey has now taken his place at the top of tournament poker’s all-time  money list after an impressive 2nd place finish at the Aussie Millions $100k Challenge this week. Ivey’s career earnings now stand at $12,804,433, which puts him around $400k clear of the nearest challenger and previous holder of the title Daniel Negreanu.
Despite coming second in the Aussie competition, Ivey was obviously delighted to have reached the top of the poker money list and commented: “It’s exciting. I’ve been after that for a while now so it feels good to get there. I don’t think I’ll celebrate too much though. I’m just going to go to dinner, maybe have a glass of wine or two and play some poker later.”
The competition which Ivey entered to secure his top poker listing was not for the faint-hearted, with 24 high rollers putting up $100k each to secure bragging rights at the most expensive poker tournament on the planet. The small but tough field included Howard Lederer, Tony G, Barry Greenstein and Tony Bloom.
Ivey’s eventually went heads-up against day-trader Dan Shak, who had already notched up around $1 million in live tournament cashes. Despite starting with roughly even stacks, Shak played solid poker and soon managed to increase his lead by about 3 to 1. The final hand occurred when Ivey was all-in with ace-ten against ace-seven, only to lose to a 7 on the flop. Shak collected AUD$1.2 million for the win, while Ivey had to make do with the AUD$600,000 (US$544,219.50) runner-up prize.
Not one to sit on his laurels for long, Phil Ivey was already preparing for his next challenge, the Aussie Millions Million Dollar Cash Game. Before heading off to his next engagement, Ivey gave an insight into the mind of the top poker pro in the world today, and commented:
“It’s just another poker game. I’m just going to play and try to win some hands. I don’t really think, ‘oh I’m the best in the world. I just try to perform the best that I can day in and day out.”