Phil Ivey Wins WSOP 2024 Event #29 for Bracelet Victory 11

Poker legend Phil Ivey won his 11th World Series of Poker tournament winners bracelet late last week at Horseshoe Las Vegas.

Ivey outlasted 149 entrants to the Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship, winning $347,440 and the bracelet for his troubles. 

The Poker Hall of Famer now trails only fellow Philip Phil Hellmuth at the top of the WSOP rankings. Ivey has 11 bracelets to Hellmuth’s 17.

“I still get fired up for World Series of Poker events,” Ivey said, speaking to WSOP after his victory. 

“Now I have a family and other things that I value more than poker. But I still love it.”

The Tournament 

The $10,000 buy-in tournament created a $1.385 million prize pool, to be split among the top 23 players.

The field included several other bracelet winners, although none as prominent as Ivey. Taking to the felt was Justin Saliba and five-time bracelet winner Benny Glaser, who won the last edition of this specific tournament at WSOP 2023. 

A hectic final day of action was not enough to crown a winner, with play finishing shortly after Glaser cashed out in fourth place.

Ivey entered the unscheduled final fourth day of the tournament with the short stack, sitting behind Danny Wong and Jason Mercier. 

However, Ivey, who won his first bracelet back in 2000, showed exactly why he’s one of the best of all-time, with a precise performance and a legendarily unreadable poker face. 

He gradually crushed his opponents, with calm play and a bit of luck. At one point, Ivey drew a whole new five card hand, but still managed to eliminate Mercier for a big pot. 

The final heads-up play with Wong went down to one big play. Ivey was sitting with nothing, needing a 2 to complete the lowest-ranked straight. Wong went all-in on triple 8s. But Ivey pulled the 2 for the 2-3-4-5-6 five card straight and took home the victory. 

The Winner 

After the win, Ivey said he wasn’t sure about chasing Hellmuth for the WSOP bracelet leaderboard top spot. Ivey has two kids and a family, and is now approaching 50. This was also his first WSOP bracelet win since 2014. 

However, he said the drive to win the odd tournament is still there. Over the last decade, he’s had several years off poker, entering only one or two tournaments a year and not being a regular at the yearly WSOP, despite being based in nearby Henderson, Nevada. 

But in 2024, he seems to be back on his game and looking to enjoy winning for its own sake. 

“I’m motivated. If I can play, I will. A lot of times, I’m not in town,” he said. “I keep showing up. Playing, performing. I want to keep winning.”

With career winnings now totalling $45.33 million, not many would bet against a few more tournament wins coming Ivey’s way before he retires from the felt.