He's one of the richest and most successful poker players in the world, he masters all the major poker games, he's as good at playing tournaments as cash games - both live and online. Phil Ivey is the ultimate poker player and probably also the most famous one in the world right now.
So what are the downsides of being rich and famous in the poker world? Well, it doesn't seem to be a walk in the park at all times. At the 2010 WSOP for example, Phil Ivey had to hire a bodyguard because people didn't let him be alone for 1 single minute.
According to what his friend Barry Greenstein said in an interview, Phil Ivey was filmed by ESPN all the time during the 2010 WSOP and they followed him outside the casinos as well, all this even though Phil had told them they weren't allowed to. Phil couldn't even go to the toilet because so many people wanted to speak to him, take a photo with him etc. It went so far that Phil Ivey ended up hiring a bodyguard to avoid people from getting to close to him.
"If he wants to have his privacy and people don't give it to him, that's the only time Phil can get upset" said Barry Greenstein in the interview.
"When he's doing well and has for example won a tournament, he doesn't mind giving interviews. He understands what his responsibilities are playing for a poker site like Full Tilt Poker."
