Monday, May 21, 2007

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Ivey hunts first World Poker Tour title

By Erik Sylven

Phil Ivey has never won a title on the World Poker Tour (WPT), but that may soon change. After two days of play at the Mirage Poker Showdown, Ivey is in second place with around $310,000 in chips. Darrel Dicken tops the field with $400,000.

Many people believe Phil Ivey is the best poker player in the world, despite the fact he's never won the World Series of Poker Main Event, or a title on the World Poker Tour.

And although he has reached six WPT final tables over the years, including two top-six finishes in the WPT championship at the Bellagio - third in 2003 and sixth in 2005 - the closest Ivey has ever come to winning a WPT title was when he took second at the 2003 World Poker Open.

Now, however, he has the chance to do one better at the Mirage Poker Showdown.

During Day 2 of the event, Ivey was seated at a table crowded with tough opponents, such as John D'Agostino, Nam Le and Steve Sung, but he still managed make his way to the top of the field.

Three days of the tournament remain, and so far Ivey has been playing excellent poker, keeping his dream of winning a first WPT title very much alive.

A number of well-known players saw their WPT dreams crushed on Day 2 at the Mirage: Barry Greenstein, J.J. Liu, Erick Lindgren, Erik Seidel, Gavin Smith, Allen Cunningham, Kenna James, Kathy Liebert, Hoyt Corkins, Tim Phan, Johnny Chan, Kristy Gazes and Steve Sung were some of the top names who busted out.

Day 3 at the Mirage kicks off at 12 p.m. (PDT), and you can follow all the exciting poker action in the Live Tournaments Section here at PokerListings.com.

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