Does Phil Ivey have a gambling Problem?

Cleveland Guy · #1 09-01-2004, 08:40 AM

Or is he just too rich for his own good?

I know at the live Fox Sports Net Tourney he was placing prop bets on just about anything he could.

Last night on the nuts, he's betting thousands of dollars per hole on a sport he has never played? He also doubled whatever bet was mentioned.

I know he is a great poker player, and richer than I'll ever be, but he almost seems a bit compuslive.

scotnt73 · #2 09-01-2004, 08:56 AM

i obviously dont know him but it seemed to me like he was just hamming it up. he looked at the camera almost every time he made a comment with a grin. maybe they where all trying to do whatever they could so people wouldnt notice how god aweful at golf they were.

also i have no idea what hes worth. i remember everyone giving Michael Jordan crap back in the day for losing 500k
on a game of golf. they tried to make him out to be a compulsive gambler. 500k to MJ is like 5$ to me.

Michael Davis · #3 09-01-2004, 08:58 AM

Then why was Jordo failing to pay off his bets?

-Michael

Cleveland Guy · #4 09-01-2004, 09:06 AM

Jordan was a complusive gambler.

He left NY between games of a playoff series to go to Atlantic City.

The size of your bankroll doesn't determine if your a compulsive gambler or not - just the size of the bet your willing to make.

Toro · #5 09-01-2004, 09:08 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Or is he just too rich for his own good?

I know at the live Fox Sports Net Tourney he was placing prop bets on just about anything he could.

Last night on the nuts, he's betting thousands of dollars per hole on a sport he has never played? He also doubled whatever bet was mentioned.

I know he is a great poker player, and richer than I'll ever be, but he almost seems a bit compuslive.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not convinced that whole golf episode was legit. I'm thinking it was a staged for TV. But if it was legit and he was betting that much on a hole of golf when he totally sucks then that's pretty sick.

pokerraja · #6 09-01-2004, 10:02 AM

that tv segment was totally staged. do you really think ivey is dumb enough to bet 10K on a golf shot? im sure these guys are big gamblers. but one thing i have noticed about most successful compulsive gamblers, they only take bets in which the odds are in thier favor. I just cant imagine that ivey, lederer, and the other guy are dumb enough to gamble on golf. Makes no sense.

WDC · #7 09-01-2004, 10:04 AM

Did you see who he was betting against. If the coverage was accurate it looked like a even match.

Toro · #8 09-01-2004, 10:07 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Did you see who he was betting against. If the coverage was accurate it looked like a even match.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, the other guys sucked too and he is after all, the "Tiger Woods" of Poker. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

MaxPower · #9 09-01-2004, 10:09 AM

The whole golf thing was staged for ESPN. That said, I have no doubt that most high stakes players make big prop bets or gamble at other games. Its the lifestyle and some may be compulsive gamblers.

I suspect that there may be some method to their madness. Wouldn't you like to to be able to say that you won $500,000 playing poker, but "lost" $100,000 at the craps table and "lost" $100,000 on prop bets? Thats pretty convenient for a professional gambler.

TPL · #10 09-01-2004, 10:11 AM

Exactly. He doesn't have to be good, he just has to beat the guy he bet against. And in a game like golf, raising the stakes on someone that would prefer to play lower adds pressure - probably good for a few strokes over a couple holes.

Remember the story about the 2 hikers that get chased by a bear. One yelled at the other one and said, "You can't outrun that bear". The other said, "I don't need to outrun the bear, I just need to outrun you!"

;-))