After almost ten years and an extra Day 4, Phil Ivey finally has his 11th WSOP bracelet after he defeated Danny Wong in heads-up play to win the $10,000 2-7 Triple Draw Championship.
The victory, his first since June 25, 2014 in the $1,500 Eight Game Mix, came after a long battle with Jason Mercier, Wong, and defending champion Benny Glaser.
The final four were whittled down from an original 13 at the start of Day 3 before Glaser was the first — and only — player to exit on Wednesday night’s PokerGO livestream. Wong, Mercier, and Ivey traded chips into the late night before they bagged up to return on Thursday afternoon.
It took just under three hours on Thursday to determine a winner after Mercier’s exit set up a heads-up duel for the title.
Wong, who has a single WSOP bracelet, had the initial lead in heads-up play until an early wheel sent Ivey to the top of the counts. That was all the momentum Ivey needed and Wong faded out of view until Ivey closed the deal with yet another wheel on the last hand.
It’s the latest accolade in a WSOP career that saw its first win in 2000 and nine more before 2014 — and a long time coming for fans, media, and other players, who all turned out for the big moment at the secondary stage in the Horseshoe Event Center.
Ivey took his winner’s photos quickly and tried to fight through the throng of media and fans to get to the door, stopping only for the occasional question when physics and space dictated he couldn’t move any further before answering.
“Poker is not everything anymore,” Ivey said when asked how much #11 meant to him. ”I still love to play. I still get fired up for WSOP events.”
He took another beat to reflect on poker priorities at 47 years old.
“Now I have a family and other things I value more than poker but I still love it.”
