Ivey Finishes Third in $5,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split 8-or-Better

Published on June 14th, 2012 10:50 am EST

In 2011, Phil Ivey skipped the entirety of the World Series of Poker.

Ivey blamed the ongoing Full Tilt Poker situation, stating that it would be unfair of him to participate in the World Series of Poker while others could not.

In 2012, the self-imposed exile is over, and Ivey is looking to make up for lost time.

Ivey is in hot pursuit of his ninth World Series of Poker bracelet and has been on an absolute rampage in the past week trying to obtain it.

Since the start of this year's World Series of Poker, Ivey has cashed four times and made three final tables. In two of those three final tables, Ivey had a chip lead with just a couple of players left but wasn't able to close out the event.

In Event #17 ($10,000 Pot Limit Hold'em), Ivey was heads up with Andy Frankenberger but wasn't able to close out his opponent. Phil eventually finished second for $275,559.

In Event #24 ($5,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split 8-or-Better), Phil was embroiled in a battle of attrition with Joe Cassidy and Scotty Nguyen, as those players battled for hours and hours in three-handed play. Ivey eventually went out in third place, earning himself $136,046 in the process.

Phil also made the final table of Event #15 ($5,000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo) earlier in the week, finishing in 7th place for $34,595.

Despite his fantastic play so far in this year's World Series of Poker, Ivey has actually lost ground on Phil Hellmuth in the all-time bracelet race, as Hellmuth was able to take down the $2,500 RAZZ event earlier this week for his 12th bracelet.

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Despite not being able to close on his ninth bracelet this week, Ivey continues to play phenomenal poker. Josh Arieh summed it up best yesterday:

"What is it that Ivey knows, that no other human can figure out?"

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Filed Under: The World Series of Poker