Paul Phua & Phil Ivey: “When you’ve played so much, it’s difficult to get a huge thrill”

The latest in the new series of Paul Phua Poker School videos is a revealing interview with a true poker great, Phil Ivey. Paul Phua, who talks with him in the video, picks out the highlights.

View part two of this video here: https://youtu.be/ijHv5qnM3j8

Phil Ivey, the subject of this new Paul Phua Poker School video interview, is definitely one of the all-time poker greats. He has ten World Series of Poker bracelets to his name, having won the first when he was just 23. He has more than $20 million in live tournament earnings, even though he spends most of his time playing cash at high stakes.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD PLAYER?

Phil Ivey: It’s like in any sport or anything where anyone’s at a top level and they have to practise and put in the time and really analyse everything that they are doing. So it’s just like anything else, you know, basketball, golf or soccer. I mean, all the best players, they’re the ones that are putting in the work and practising the most.

Paul Phua: You find those successful ones, you know, the top players, they really put in a lot of hours to improve their games. To analyse what they've done wrong in certain hands, those are the traits of good players. You know, they never stop improving.

DO YOU STILL ENJOY PLAYING?

Phil Ivey: It’s like when you’ve played so much and you’ve played for so many years, it’s really difficult to get a huge thrill. I mean, of course, if you’re beating someone that you’re close with, whatever, you beat them in a nice big pot, it’s kind of fun. Like if I beat Paul and it’s a big pot it’s kind of fun, or if he beats me and it’s a big pot it’s like ‘Ah-ha!’. But the actual thrill of like, ‘wow I’m betting a lot of money on it’, that’s not really there for me. I don’t really feel that. I haven’t felt that in quite some time, actually.

I don’t feel like it’s a job because I enjoy playing poker. I enjoy sitting around playing cards. So I don’t look at it like I’m going to work, I don’t feel like that because I love doing what I do.

Paul Phua: Some players you see after 6 or 7 years they begin to take a back seat, you know. They don’t play so many tournaments or cash games even. For me, I’ve been playing more like for 7 years. The sense of wanting to play is still there, but maybe not as much as in the beginning. You’d play any game, even $1 or $2 I’d play, you know, but not nowadays. Those days may be more about still learning the game, or to play more to improve, no matter what the stakes are.

WHAT SHOULD PLAYERS DO WHEN THEY ARE LOSING?

Phil Ivey: One thing about poker, unlike a lot of other sports, is that you are going to lose.
There’s no way around it. You’re going to have bad days, there’s just no way around it. Sometimes you’re going to have bad weeks, I mean you have to get used to it. You have to get used to these swings and be sat there. All you can do is put in your best effort and play your best and do the best you can, and sometimes you just have to accept that you’re going to lose. You want to put your ego aside and just say, ‘You know what? I’m just not playing my best right now, it’s time to just take a walk.’

Paul Phua: I think even more so with a short deck game. You can lose 7 or 8 flips in a row, you know, it’s not uncommon. Then you realise that maybe I should just quit and come back tomorrow.

WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES YOU FACE AT THE TOP OF THE GAME?

Phil Ivey: Well, once you get to a certain level you are playing against the best players in the world. You know that’s what makes Paul so amazing is that he started off playing with some of the best players in the world, and now he is playing in games constantly with the best players in the world and he’s winning in those games. That really is just amazing that he’s figured out a way to win, and that’s difficult. Sometimes you may be the 3rd or 4th best player in the game, or 2nd best player in the game or whatever. You have to figure out ways to win, and that comes from being able to not play bad when you’re losing and being able to manage, and I think that’s the most important.

Видео Paul Phua & Phil Ivey: “When you’ve played so much, it’s difficult to get a huge thrill” канала Paul Phua Poker