It doesn’t take a genius to see that Phil Ivey is the best the poker world has to offer. He may have come second to Dan Shak in the Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge, but he ended up being the first when it came to the all-time money lead record for poker winnings. The $600,000 AUD runner-up prize gave him a $381,623 lead against Daniel Negreanu’s $12,432,367. Phil Ivey’s total winnings now stands at $12,813,990.

What Negreanu has to Say about it

When told of the news, however, Daniel Negreanu was not at all unhinged. In fact, he even expressed his admiration for the new record holder, saying that he believed that Phil Ivey is the ‘best poker player in the world, and that includes every format’. Indeed, a lot of people are certainly of the same opinion as Negreanu, thinking of Ivey as nothing short of a poker god. Negreanu went on to say that Ivey was the ‘most consistently good player at everything’ and that nobody has won more money online and live, or even on tournament play, than Ivey.

Negreanu isn’t about to take things lying down, though, and intends to take Ivey’s success as a motivator for achieving more. He says that he is glad that Ivey did so well because it motivates him to try and pass him again. Indeed, the lead Ivey gained was not so big that it would be insurmountable. Negreanu doesn’t need a first place finish or even a second place one to top it.

Still, though, with Ivey’s incredibly fast pace, one has to wonder whether it’s possible. Just in the last half year alone, Ivey earned more than $2 million just by playing at live tournaments. This allowed him to overtake poker behemoths like Scotty Nguyen, Joe Hachem, Jamie Gold, and Phil Hellmuth on the all-time money list, with Daniel Negreanu joining their ranks. However, in the inflation-adjusted list, Ivey still ranks below Negreanu, who is in second place, and Hellmuth, who is ranked first.

Ivey’s Records

Currently, Phil Ivey has seven WSOP bracelets, one WPT title, and eight WPT final tables. The second place finish is yet another item to add to his impressive resume. 2009 was a great year for Ivey, not just on the live field but also online. With the way things are going now, he certainly seems like he’ll have a great 2010 too. The victory at the Aussie Millions seems to herald another record-breaking year. You can watch Phil Ivey playing online at Full Tilt Poker, but be sure to use the Full Tilt Referral Code: THEGAME in-order to get the best 100% up to $600 bonus when you sign up there.

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