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What is it that makes Phil Ivey such a great poker player? It seems like he is so successful in so many areas of poker – all kinds of cash games, online and live, all forms of tournament poker – that he is doing something that everybody else isn’t.

I don’t think it’s anything that mysterious or elusive. Phil hasn’t developed some strategy that is unique or better than what everybody else has developed. Essentially, he does the same things as everybody else. He just does them BETTER.

In some ways, that is the most remarkable thing of all. Phil Ivey is playing the same game as everybody else and he plays it the same way. But somehow, the distance between how he does it and how even his top professional peers do it sometimes is huge.

How does he do the same things as other great players yet still be so much better?

From my four years with Phil Ivey – watching him closely against Andy Beal, talking with him on several occasions, witnessing him in numerous other settings, and talking with his peers – I can describe several reasons for Phil’s success in poker.

REASON #1: PHIL IVEY PLAYS THE PLAYER, NOT THE GAME

Part of every good player’s game is adapting to opponents. Phil’s game revolves around this concept to an even greater degree than other good players. It is as if Ivey starts a session or tournament with no ideas and no strategies. He relies entirely on reacting to his opponents.

I once had an incredible poker-strategy discussion with Phil Ivey in which he said he would answer anything I wanted to ask, for as long as he was available. It lasted three minutes.

During the early days of my work on THE FULL TILT STRATEGY GUIDE, in early 2006, I was scrambling to find top Full Tilt pros to work with me on the different chapters. I knew Phil Ivey would have zero interest in the project, but I also knew his name on the book would be gold and any contribution I could squeeze out of him would be valuable. At the NBC Heads-Up Championship in early March 2006, I took my best shot at getting Phil involved.

Just before the matches started, I jumped between Howard Lederer and Phil Ivey, who were in the midst of a conversation. (Howard was already cooperating and promised to help line up other pros.  I had won some measure of Phil’s confidence during his three-day match with Andy Beal just a few weeks earlier.)

“Howard,” I said. “Will you tell Phil that it’s a good idea for him to help me with the STRATEGY GUIDE?”

Howard, like an automaton, repeated, “Phil it’s a good idea for you to help Michael with the STRATEGY GUIDE.” Ivey gave a non-committal nod and continued his conversation with Howard.

A minute later, as the matches were about to start, Phil walked over to me and said, “I don’t know if I’m going to do this but you can ask me whatever you want right now.”

On the spot and unprepared, I stammered the first questions that came into my head during the next three minutes. When I read the transcript of Phil’s answers, I thought they were pretty useless. But at the time, I was looking for RULES. I wanted iron-clad principles on which improving players could base their games. I got that from several other pros, but I simply wasn’t ready for what Phil had to teach me.

Here is a copy of that transcript, which I now realize is extremely valuable. EVERYTHING about Phil’s game is based on how his opponents play.

Michael Craig: Pre-flop, you have the reputation for playing extremely aggressive –

Phil Ivey: I won’t say I play extremely aggressive, it depends on the situation, who’s at my table, who’s on my left, who’s on my right. How they’re playing, if they’re playing real aggressive, if they’re playing tight. It depends on so many different things. I wouldn’t say I always play aggressive. I open with a lot of hands that maybe the next guy wouldn’t open with, so certain situations might come up. It all depends on who’s at your table and how they’re playing.

Craig: Compared to other players at your level, do you adapt your game more to other people at the table?

Ivey: I don’t come in with any ideas. When I get to that poker game I just play based on how my opponent is playing and try to make adjustments to it as time goes on. That’s why I especially like playing people heads up. I feel like the longer I play against a person, the bigger my edge is going to be. Because I’m going to be adjusting to him, he’s going to be adjusting back to me if he’s good a good player, but I think I’m going to be able to make better adjustments.

Craig: What adjustments do you make?

Ivey: I just see how they’re playing. If they playing really tight, if they’re playing loose, if they’re raising a lot of pots, if they’re just calling a lot, if they’re check-calling a lot, if they’re betting out at a lot of pots, if they’re check-raising a lot. You just got to feel them out, see exactly how they’re playing and then figure out the best way to play against them.

Craig: What kinds of observations do you make at a full table?

Ivey: You have to have certain fundamentals. You have to understand certain things are incorrect and certain things are correct in a poker game. Things like playing 8-3o under-the-gun, you know not to play those hands, and certain hands you know you’re not supposed to play. But then it comes down to the other hands, like 9-T hearts, 7-8 clubs, 6-4 diamonds – hands where you can play them or you can’t play them, you have to learn how to play those other hands. That’s the whole part about becoming a good poker player, learning how to play all the other hands, and that’s where a lot of other people get stuck.

Craig: What kind of adjustments do you make in the marginal situations?

Ivey: Marginal situations, knowing when to squeeze the extra bet out, knowing when it’s time to slow down in the hand and just check, knowing when it’s time to get aggressive, and knowing when to semi-bluff, when not to semi-bluff with a hand and just try to make your draw. There are all types of scenarios where you have to figure out what is correct and incorrect. Even me, I still make mistakes, but hopefully I’ll make fewer mistakes than the person I’m playing against.

* * * * *

Notice how every one of Phil’s answers is about reacting to other players.

In the next “Looking For Ivey,” Part IIIB, I will share how Phil adapted to Andy Beal during their three days of heads-up play in 2006. I hope to post that tomorrow, Final Table action permitting, as well as Part IIIC, which will discuss a pair of hands in which Ivey won big pots from Mike Matusow and Phil Hellmuth at the Million Dollar Cash Game, making his plays not from any strategy manual but from his intimate knowledge of his opponents. Later posts under Part III will describe the other reasons why Phil Ivey is the preeminent poker player of this generation.

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2 Responses to “#892 – Looking For Ivey, Part IIIA – Why is Phil so Good at Poker?”

1. Joseph De Leo Says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 11:54 pm

   Dear Mr. Craig, after watching your video lesson and ereading a few things about you, i find your insights into this very complicated game somewhat easier to understand.the way you talk about some of the different concepts on the podcast you explain them in ways i can understand. the problem i am having is that there is no one to discuss these concepts and any other questionsthat i have . ive read Phil gordens book,(the green one),i am reading getting started in hold,em by Ed Miller. I am really having a hard time finding a person or place to discuss poker related topics with anyone and I hoped that you would be able to direct me to a place where I can talk poker with someone with some sort of grasp of the game.hope you can direct me . gratefully & respectfully yours Joseph De Leo

2. Trent Says:
   January 8th, 2010 at 12:30 am

   Looking for the promised follow ups to this post!!! Are you going to finish this great series on Ivey!

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