Phil Ivey is feeling something you wouldn't expect for a man who consistently looks like he can see ten years into the future. Phil Ivey is feeling nostalgic while playing the lowest limits he'll play all year.
"It just takes me back to the old days in poker when I played these limits," he says.
Ivey, eleven-time WSOP bracelet winner with more than $47 million dollars in live cash earnings is known as one of the best if not the best player in poker. This day, he's playing low-limit no-limit hold'em, and he actually looks happy about it.
“This is fun because you get the opportunity to play with fans and get the opportunity to play with people that you’d never really get to play against," he said.
A very special, very Ivey Christmas meetup game
In most sports, you would never have the opportunity to play with your heroes. Except for rare occasions, maybe a charity event, an amateur surfer wouldn’t be able to surf alongside Kelly Slater, play tennis with Serena Williams, or basketball with Caitlin Clark. At WPT’s World Championship Christmas Meet Up Game (MUG) however, an amateur poker player can play with an icon such as Phil Ivey, trade chips and laughs with Brad Owen and see Matt Savage dressed up as Santa Claus.
Small stakes, big time
The stakes were on the small side for the pros, but the $2/$5 game allowed recreational players and fans to play with WPT Hosts Vince Van Patten and Tony Dunst, pro Xuan Liu, pro and Marketing Manager for ClubWPT Gold Jamie Kerstetter and streaming sensation Joey Ingram.
Other WPT Ambassadors and PokerOrg Player Advisory Board members in attendance included vlogger Jaman Burton, content creator Conrad Simpson, popular YouTuber Frankie C. and Cardplayer Lifestyle owner Robbie Strazynski, rounding out a field of marquee players and well-known poker personalities.
WPT Ambassador Brad Owen used the occasion to weigh in on a long-held debate about whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie.
“Die Hard is absolutely a Christmas movie," he said. "It takes place during Christmas. That’s pretty much all it takes for me to consider it a Christmas movie."
Disagree? Agree? Tell him so on Ask The Org.
WPT on-air anchor Lynn Gilmartin also dropped by before running off to Day 2 of the WPT World Championship Event for its noon start.
Jesse Sylvia, Ashley Sleeth, Ethan 'Rampage' Yau, Jon 'Apestyles' Van Fleet and Patrick ‘Egption,’ Tardif were also seen playing.
The MUG had the feel of a local home game that just happened to have some of the biggest poker celebrities drop by, one of whom just happens to double as one of the most intimidating people in poker.
In a final reflective moment, Ivey said, “It just gives me an appreciation for the game to see how far the game has come and how far I’ve come in poker. It’s nice.”
Pictures from the WPT Christmas Meetup Game
All photos courtesy WPT
