4th King of JerkishBehavior: Phil Ivey

The “5” Kings of JerkishBehavior are the 5 individuals who are the reason for how we are today from our swagger, attire, get money motivational, hustle, and cooler than the other side of the pillow persona. The 5 Kings greatness and impact on our lives makes us want to aspire to reach their level so without question that makes them the quintessential role models for JerkishBehavior.


(Phil's pic in the poker room at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas)


4th King Of JerkishBehavior: Phil Ivey

Growing up, the game of poker always had a certain cache about it as if it was the greatest and most skilled game in the world. So I have always been enamored with learning how to play poker. Summer 2003, there was this celebrity poker show on TV and I watched it religiously which lead to me finally figured out the basic concepts of No-limit Texas Hold-em. After watching the show, I felt like I was ready to play some real poker for money. So fall hits and I am back at college, my boy tells me about this poker game where guys were making a $100 a night (This is like millions to a college lad), For real!? Sign me up. After that night, I fell in love with poker and became a part-time poker player while in college which eventually led to me becoming a professional for a short period of time. So with all sports you need an idol but who’s the best in the game that people look up to and try pattern your game after in poker? However, there are millions of poker players and hundreds of well known of professionals, there can’t be a consensus best player in the world with that many people involved in the sport, right? Wrong! The player most often sited as the best is Phil Ivey also known as the Tiger Woods of poker.

Phil Ivey is considered the best in the world because he has no fear while playing at the highest playing limits possible, he is unemotional at the poker table so you can’t get any kind of read off of him, and he has a very aggressive playing style so you don’t know if he is bluffing or has the nuts (The best hand possible on any given hand that can’t be beat). Like all champions, Phil Ivey is at his best when he is chip leader and usually that means he is leaving with a tournament win. There’s a ton of variations for the game of poker and Phil is a feared adversary in all of them. Phil Ivey being great in all the different games of poker and in their different elements (tournament, live cash games, and online) is why he is the consensus best poker player in the world. Phil Ivey is the youngest and quickest to win has 7 World Series of Poker bracelets (the all-time record is 11). The title of best poker player in the world is a pretty cool moniker and Phil is the true essence of cool. So much so that I have seen and been around NBA Hall of Famers & All-Stars, NFL players, rappers, R&B legends, and models before and wasn’t fazed by them. However, when I went Ivey’s charity poker tournament in Las Vegas in 2008, Phil Ivey was the only dude that has ever had me like star-struck and in awe when I was in his presence. For this reason alone and along with his poker greatness, Phil Ivey is the 4th King of JerkishBehavior.

5 JerkishBehavior Moments

1. During the 2005 Aussie Millions Tournament, Phil Ivey was heads-up with Paul Jackson and the sickest greatest hand of poker skill I ever witnessed happened. Phil Ivey has Q8 vs Paul Jackson’s 65. Blinds are 28k-14k, Phil raises it 60k more and Paul calls. Flop is JJ7, Phil leads out and bets 80k which led to Jackson raising to 170k (the hand should be over) but Phil reraises to 320k (that should be case closed) which miraculously leads to Paul Jackson raising to 470k (remember he has 6high while Ivey has Queen high). Phil somehow someway had the audacity to push it all in with a 5-bet bluff and ends up winning the pot. I bow my head to the greatness because Who does that? JerkishBehavior at its finest!!! Youtube (Crazy Million Bluff Phil Ivey)

2. At this year’s WSOP, several poker pros bet Phil Ivey $3-10million that he wouldn’t win a bracelet this year. Don’t ever wake a sleeping great because Phil has won 2 bracelets this year along with making and finishing 7th at the final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event. Jerk!!!

3. In 2007-8, Phil Ivey has won over $9 million playing online poker at Full Ttilt (not including tourney wins and cash game wins) and has an estimated net worth between $40-100 million…Bananas!!!

4. In 2005, Phil Ivey won the Aussie Millions tournament and took home the $1 million first prize and then the very next day won the Full Tilt Invitational against the 6 of the best poker players players in the world and he took home an additional 600k. Phil made 1.6 million for 2 days of work , what a JERK!!!

5. Phil Ivey drives a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren (A benz that comes with lambo doors but looks like the bat mobile) that costs a cool half a million and they only make 500 a year.