Everyone involved in the poker world knows that Phil Ivey is one of the greatest internet poker players right now. Not only is he one of the greatest on the internet, but he manages to remain one of the greatest in casino poker too. All of this combined was enough reason for ARIA to name a poker room in tribute to Phil Ivey.
“The Ivey Room” opened recently through an invitation-only worth $1 million. To add to the excitement, they raised the stakes by allowing the first person to push Ivey out of the table to claim a prize of $100,000. The winner was David “Chino” Rheem. Along with Rheem invites were given to big-time names such as Erick Lindgren, Doyle Brunson, T.J. Cloutier, David Williams, Eli Elezra, Daniel Alaei, Barry Greenstein, and Ivey himself.
After being kicked out of the poker room dedicated to him, Phil Ivey still had plenty to be happy about when he said, “This has to be one of the biggest achievements of my life. Having a poker room named after me…..I just can’t believe it, really. When Bill (McBeath) asked me to have the room named after me, I just laughed at him. I was like, ‘Come on, stop joking.’ I really didn’t think anything was going to happen, and then I get a phone call and there’s a date for the tournament.”
The Ivey Room holds one poker table and is roped off for the high stakes poker players. The ARIA has a goal of gathering the high stakes poker players who gamble in the richest poker games. The biggest game of them all is “The Big Game” held in Las Vegas’ Bellagio. A lot of the same players who participate in “The Big Game” also visit the Ivey Room.
