WSOP Main Event Final Table tomorrow - Go Ivey

Will he do it?

Since the poker boom, there has never been so much anticipation regarding one player and one final table. But as Phil Ivey looks to complete an incredible World Series, the poker community will eagerly watch to see if he will add the finishing touches to a magical WSOP run.

Although he enters the World Series of Poker main-event final table just seventh in chips, Ivey is the overwhelming favorite in the fans’ minds. A WSOP poll showed that 78 percent of fans expected him to come back and win. Some bookmakers only give two players better odds — chip leader Darvin Moon and Eric Buchman, who is second in chips — despite the fact that six people come into the final table with bigger stacks than him.

Of course, all of that may just be fans’ wishful thinking, but the fact remains that the pressure will be on Ivey. This is the first time he has ever made the WSOP main-event final table, and he knows how huge that is.

“So far, I’ve just made the final table, which is a pretty big accomplishment. Winning it would be the top of the line for me,” said Ivey. “I can taste it now … I’m right in the hunt.”

Although the pressure will be intense, it seems doubtful it will affect one of the most feared men in poker. He has played in some of the biggest cash games on the planet, and has publicly said that “there is no amount of money that makes me sweat.”

Coming into the 2009 WSOP, Ivey hadn’t won a bracelet since 2005. Now, that may not seem like that long of a cold stretch for the common man, but for Ivey it was an eternity. Since he won his first bracelet in 2000, never before had three World Series passed without Ivey taking home one of the events. Many people blamed Ivey’s lack of success on the emphasis he placed on the much more lucrative cash games.

But entering 2009, with a fervent buzz about the number of prop bets that Ivey had made on his ability to win a bracelet, all eyes were on the former New Jersey native to see if he could make good on his bets. The answer came fairly quickly, as Ivey won a $2,500 deuce-to-seven event in early June.

But before the “congratulations” even seemed to subside, Ivey did it again — winning an Omaha eight-or-better/seven card stud eight-or-better mixed event for his second bracelet of the summer.

via cardplayer