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#927 – Friends in High Places, Part 3 – Enter the Teacher

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Phil Howard1 #927 – Friends in High Places, Part 3 – Enter the Teacher

Howard Lederer punctuated his speech at the DEF seminar by telling a Phil Ivey story. A few years back, Phil won a big tournament at Turning Stone. Howard was part of the broadcast team and it was a unique, live broadcast from the final table. Consequently, Ivey and the broadcast team both had plenty of reasons to celebrate that evening.

Because Howard provided commentary on the final table, live and with hole cards, he had a better idea even than Phil Ivey of what happened during the big hands. When he congratulated Phil, Ivey brushed him off, saying “All I can think about is all the mistakes I made.”

It was a great story, illustrating perfectly why Phil Ivey is Phil Ivey. Even after a great triumph, Phil couldn’t receive a compliment from another top professional (who watched his play at the final table with the hole cards revealed) without focusing on his mistakes.

What really blew my mind about the story is the reaction it got from Andy Bloch and Andy Duke, the seminar’s other two speakers.

When Andy got up to speak, he said, “I was going to start with a Phil Ivey story but because Howard just did that, I have to come up with something else.” Before he could continue, however, Annie Duke stood up in the audience, and said “That’s so funny, because I was going to tell an Ivey story too. In fact, I was going to tell the same story that Howard just told.”

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.

Phil Ivey is mostly hidden from us. He doesn’t do much in the way of interviews, promotions, or lessons.  Consequently, we place a lot of importance on the information he does make available. That’s why there is extra interest about a story like Ivey winning at Turning Stone and being obsessed with his mistakes. That is far from the only time Phil Ivey has revealed that, despite how much he has achieved, he is focusing on how to get better.

At the World Series last summer, Phil told Howard, “I introduced the fold into my game this year and they had no idea what hit them.” I mentioned this in the Blog during the Series. When I recently asked Howard about the conversation, he told me, “Then Ivey said, ‘Next year comes the check-call.’”

When he won his seventh World Series bracelet last June (his second in 10 days), he answered some questions for WSOP media director Nolan Dalla. In answering these questions, Phil explained how he was focusing on how to improve as a tournament poker player.

Question:  Last year, I think most poker fans were aware you had side action going on how well you would perform.  But it was not a year up to Phil Ivey standards.  By contrast, this is turning into a pretty good Series for you.  Did you do anything different this year, either preparation wise or mentally?

Ivey:  I think (last year) I really wasn’t into it.  I don’t know, I am just feeling good right now.  I think last year I had a lot of distractions, especially in my personal life.  And there were a lot of things going on outside of poker.  I wasn’t able to focus as well.  Also, I think I am a better tournament player now than I was a year ago.

Question:  How can you say that?

Ivey:  I think I am a little more patient.  I take my time.  I’m trying in every pot.  I’m trying to stay focused and recognize that every pot does matter.  I think (before) I was making major mistakes than ended up costing me the tournament.  It would cost me chips in a tournament.  This year I am not making as many mistakes.

Phil Ivey clearly devotes a lot of attention to improving his game. Even now. If you have any interest in learning from what he has achieved, you should seriously question your approach and ask if you, like Phil, are focusing enough on how to get better.

This is actually a great introduction/transition to some material on Phil that I prepared but never had time to use during the Main Event Final Table in November. I had started explaining, from my experiences with Phil Ivey and interviews, who made Phil Ivey so special. You can now add that material to my L.A. trip report, my remaining Final Table posts, and my Binion’s Horseshoe memories as exciting content you can look forward to in the coming weeks.

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2 Responses to “#927 – Friends in High Places, Part 3 – Enter the Teacher”

  1. Dave Says:
    December 5th, 2009 at 4:00 am

    Hello,
    Thanks for sharing such live story with us.
    Really it was an interesting and exciting event to read from your this post.
    thanks for the entertainment.

  2. alwaysbad3 or acesbadgirl Says:
    January 24th, 2010 at 9:00 pm

    yes this is to howard lederer i think he s a great player and always remember you should never let competions take the fun out of what you truly enjoy or that when its over realaze and enjoy and everything will fall into place as it once did. when things are stressfull that when you walk away and have fun than go back when its fun again i have a friend who was asked to be apro snowvboarder and he declined he stated because it would take the fun out of it and than it becomes a job.

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