Feb 28, 2025
4 min read

The 2025 edition of the Merit Poker Carmen Series runs from March 11 through March 25 at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel & Casino in Kyrenia, North Cyprus, and it promises to be bigger than ever. Merit Poker has placed a guarantee on every prize pool, including a $1.5 million guarantee on the $3,300 Main Event.

In 2024, the $3,300 Merit Poker Carmen Series Main Event boasted a $1 million guarantee. However, a bumper turnout of 664 entrants, which included 240 re-entries, resulted in a $1,832,640 prize pool. This year’s Main Event comes with a chunkier $1.5 million guarantee, so expect similar, if not larger, payouts than the $338,500 Lebanon’s Elie Farah reeled in for their victory in 2024.

PokerNews will be on the floor throughout the Merit Poker Carmen Series, bring you live and exclusive coverage from three of the festival’s biggest events.

Our coverage begins on March 13 with the $2,200 No-Limit Hold’em Warm-Up. Featuring four flights and a $1,000,000 guarantee on its prize pool, the Warm-Up is the perfect way to, well, warm-up for the rest of the series. A champion will be crowned on March 17.

The $2,200 Merit Poker Cup is the closest equivalent from last year. It drew 459 entries, and Bulgarian Simeon Spasov outlasted them all. Spasov contributed $167,100 of the $844,560 prize pool.

From March 16-18, PokerNews‘ industry-leading updates come from the $5,300 High Roller, a tournament with a $500,000 guarantee, up from $200,000 in 2024. Poland’s Jakub Michalak is the reigning champion, having come out on top of a 112-strong crowd to bank $174,500 of the $667,000 pot.

2025 Merit Poker Carmen Series Full Schedule

Expand the table below to see the 2025 Merit Poker Carmen Series schedule in its glory. As you can see, dozens of satellites take place throughout the festival, allowing players of all abilities and bankroll sizes to compete for potentially life-changing sums of money.

Over $4.5 million is a guaranteed to be won by those attending the Merit Poker Carmen Series, but the eventual total prize money awarded will likely be even more.

Matthew Pitt hails from Leeds, West Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, and has worked in the poker industry since 2008, and worked for PokerNews since 2010. In September 2010, he became the editor of PokerNews. Matthew stepped away from live reporting duties in 2015, and now concentrates on his role of Senior Editor for the PokerNews.

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Feb 27, 2025
3 min read

Self-proclaimed “best sports bettor in the world” Sean Perry will step back into the poker arena to face Matt Berkey, whom he referred to as a “clown,” on PokerGO’s next High Stakes Duel contest.

Berkey defeated Jared Bleznick in a pot-limit Omaha/no-limit hold’em mixed cash game battle on High Stakes Duel 6 earlier this month. Bleznick was fresh off three straight wins over Patrik Antonius on the heads-up poker show, which began in 2020 with Phil Hellmuth dropping Antonio Esfandiari in three consecutive matches.

The heads-up game will go on with one returning player and a new challenger. No official date has been set, but the filming is expected to take place at some point in March. There will be no shortage of animosity between these two high-stakes competitors, which Perry acknowledged in a tweet.

Poker Players are Polar Opposites

Outside of having success playing poker for nosebleed stakes and being opinionated, Berkey and Perry are polar opposites. Berkey is more of a cash game pro, while Perry thrives in high roller tournaments. Berkey sells poker training classes, while Perry no longer plays poker professionally as he’s moved on to the sports betting world where he sells picks and posts videos claiming to consistently win.

The one-time professional poker player has faced scammer accusations from many within the high-stakes poker community, notably Shaun Deeb and Dan Colman, who tweeted in 2021 for the first time in years just so he could accuse Perry of “likely” being a scammer.

Berkey, co-host of the Only Friends podcast, has his critics, too, but his integrity has not come into question. Perry, as to be expected, came out hurling insults directed at his upcoming opponent.

“Brings back old memories of when I use to play with him when I was like 22 yrs old,” Perry wrote, before trashing Berkey. “This dude would come in, staked, and blast hundreds of thousands a day in the sickest fashion. It was like he was trying to ignite his backers money on fire.”

Perry claims Berkey lost about 24 out of 25 poker sessions when they played against each other years ago “before his backers cut him off then he had to go to social media to find a new way to make some money since poker wasn’t it.”

“I’m glad this idiot found some money now for me to take. Anyways, can’t wait to take this clowns free money,” Perry wrapped up his tweet.

Perry, the son of old-school poker pro Ralph Perry, is, at the very least, doing his part creating some buzz around the upcoming High Stakes Duel match, simply by being himself.

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Feb 26, 2025
3 min read

The World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) is returning to Toronto under the new leadership of GGPoker for a Circuit stop running April 10-22 with 11 Circuit ring events.

WSOP and GGPoker announced the WSOPC Circuit Toronto stop today, which will take place at Great Canadian Toronto. It follows last year’s inaugural Toronto Circuit series, this time with an expanded schedule and increased prize pools.

Returning to Toronto

The announcement follows news earlier this year that Great Canadian Toronto in Ontario would be the exclusive partner of GGPoker, meaning all bracelet and ring events will be run through the Toronto casino.

“We’re thrilled to partner once again with GGPoker to bring an elite poker experience to Toronto,” Great Canadian Entertainment Executive Vice President Michael Kim said in a press release. “The demand for this exceptional tournament continues to grow, attracting top talent from around the world. This year’s event promises even higher stakes and unparalleled excitement. We’re proud to continue elevating the poker scene and being the sole destination in Ontario delivering WSOP events for players and fans alike.”

“We are excited to continue our partnership with Great Canadian and deliver premier poker experiences,” added GGPoker Managing Director Sarne Lightman. “By combining the best of live and online poker, we’re ensuring players have unparalleled access to the WSOP Circuit in Ontario.”

The series will culminate with a $2,000 buy-in Main Event with three starting flights, the first of which kicks off on April 17. The event will then play to a winner on Day 2 on April 20.

Other highlights of the series include an $800 Mystery Bounty event, a $3,500 High Roller and a $300 Ladies event. Once again, GGPoker and WSOP will be offering several ways to qualify into the festival.

Last year’s festival drew 6,000 runners for $5.5 million in prize money, with the $2,000 buy-in Main Event alone generating $2.8 million in prize money.

GGPoker Buys the WSOP

For more information about the upcoming stop, visit greatcanadian.com/promotions/2025-wsop-events. The full schedule for the upcoming WSOP Circuit Toronto stop is available in the table below.

2025 WSOP Circuit Toronto Schedule

Eligible iGames conducted and managed by iGO are only available to those physically present in the Province of Ontario. GGPoker Ontario operates pursuant to an agreement with iGaming Ontario.

For more information, visit the Ontario Players Homepage

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Connor Richards is an Editor & Live Reporter for PokerNews and host of the Life Outside Poker podcast. Connor has been nominated for two Global Poker Awards for his writing.

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Feb 25, 2025
3 min read

A week to the day after Miami John Cernuto’s passing, poker players honored the mixed game legend with a commemorative poker tournament in Las Vegas.

The inaugural Miami John Commemorative O/E event took place on Feb. 17 during the Cardplayer Lifestyle Mixed Game Festival X at Resorts World Las Vegas, which kicked off on Presidents’ Day and ran through Feb. 20.

The $300 buy-in event drew 36 runners for a prize pool of $9,000. Missouri grinder Gary Bolden won the inaugural Omaha 8 and Stud 8 event for $3,395, while Arizona’s Michael Moon finished runner-up for $2,098.

Other players who cashed the event include David Edgett, Glenn Engelbert, James Matz and Bennett Koo.

Miami John Commemorative O/E Results

Supporting the Mixed Game Community

Though the festival and O/E tournament had been scheduled out weeks in advance, Cardplayer Lifestyle founder Robbie Strazynski knew he had to adjust the tournament name after Cernuto’s passing on on Feb. 10. It was a fitting event to dedicate to Cernuto as the mixed game legend won the first-ever Mixed Game Festival O/E event in March 2023 by defeating Ari Engel, a younger but equally impressive mixed game talent.

“It was kind of cool watching the present, or past, and the future battling against each other,” Strazynski told PokerNews in an interview. “John emerged victorious. I guess it was serendipitous now that we’re talking a couple years later.”

Strazynski first met Cernuto in an online game during the pandemic and again a few years later when he showed up to the fourth annual Mixed Game Festival in Las Vegas and won the tournament.

He was back at the next festival with his daughter and told Strazynski how much he appreciated his efforts to grow the game.

“He was just really kind to me, really nice and I feel like he kind of raised the prominence of what we’re doing here with this festival,” Strazynski said.

Leaving His Mark

Cernuto is the Hendon Mob all-time cash leader and almost all of his cashes are in the mixed game realm. That includes his final poker result: a third-place finish in the July 2024 Big O Bounty event at the Venetian for $14,962.

“If you had to name people who were synonymous with mixed games, his name would absolutely be in the mix, so to speak,” said Strazynski. “He was in the mixed game streets until the end.”

Strazynski credited Mixed Game Festival regular Chuck Martin with the idea of dedicating the event to Cernuto. Strazynski drew applause as he made remarks during the tournament and told PokerNews that all future O/E events at the festival will be named after the three-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner.

The Mixed Game Festival X at Resorts World Las Vegas also included a $300 H.E.R.O.S. tournament and Women’s Wednesday cash games in partnership with the Ladies International Poker Series (LIPS).

Just across the street, Kathy Chang won a $400 Limit H.O.R.S.E. event at the Wynn for $6,287 on Feb. 19 and dedicated the victory to Cernuto.

_{*Lead photo courtesy Cardplayer Lifestyle}

Connor Richards is an Editor & Live Reporter for PokerNews and host of the Life Outside Poker podcast. Connor has been nominated for two Global Poker Awards for his writing.

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Feb 24, 2025
5 min read

It took over 24 hours, but Ebony Kenney eventually responded on Sunday to a year-old image that surfaced showing a real-time assistance (RTA) chart on her computer screen while playing online poker. But the poker community doesn’t seem to be buying the excuse.

The same can be said about social media comments made by the poker site Kenney represents — ACR Poker — in regards to their ambassador’s controversy.

Kenney isn’t the only ACR pro in recent weeks to face backlash over RTA use. Nacho Barbero took some heat last month for, like Kenney, having an RTA chart visible while playing poker online. He claimed to have only been using it to assist those he is coaching during a Discord chat, and not to help his own play.

That excuse wasn’t sufficient to many poker fans, and neither was ACR’s response that defended Barbero as being just a “goofball.” The unregulated US-facing poker site conducted an internal investigation, apparently, and found no wrongdoing from their high-profile pro. They came to a similar conclusion with the second exposed incident.

“This image first circulated on social media at that time and there was no evidence that the software was used in real-time to gain an unfair advantage. Following the recent concerns, we re-reviewed the facts and reached the same conclusion. We want to assure players that we take all concerns about game integrity seriously,” the ACR Poker X account wrote in response to the January 2024 image that has resurfaced.

ACR Poker Pro’s Excuse Shot Down by Online Poker Legend

Poker X slammed ACR for its tweet about Kenney, much like they did following the Barbero incident. One person wrote that “they both should be fired immediately,” referring to the two ACR pros caught with RTA’s. Other poker fans were critical of the poker site for not enforcing their own Terms of Service (ToS).

But the comments were even harsher towards Kenney after she responded to the criticism in a lengthy tweet that came a day after the video surfaced.

“After losing a big hand, I opened GTO Wizard to run the spot while I was not in a hand,” Kenney wrote.

There are two issues in play with this controversy, much like when it came to Barbero. Since there is no way to prove either player used GTO Wizard (or any RTA) while in a hand, it comes down to if the poker site’s ToS explicitly states that RTA use is or isn’t permitted when not in a hand. In the case of ACR Poker, Section 4.2.3 reads: “Any tool, software, or piece of material that offers real-time advice (RTA) on how to act at the table, that reduces, influences, or eliminates the player decision making process during a hand in play.”

But Benjamin “benc789” Rolle, an online poker legend, doesn’t think it should even matter that she wasn’t in a hand while using the RTA.

“I don’t understand why people still believe that analyzing a spot after a hand is justifiable. It is not as bad as doing it during a hand, but it is still very bad. It gives you an unfair advantage. You get to see real-time results for a situation on your table. You get to see the perfect solution for preflop and postflop, which gives you an unfair advantage for upcoming hands that will likely be in similar situations,” Rolle tweeted.

Kenney’s Response and Reactions

Kenney continued to defend her actions by stating that she has never “used RTA software in real time to gain an unfair advantage while playing,” a comment Rolle disputes. She said her use of GTO Wizard is “rare because I don’t study nearly as much as I’d like to.”

“When I do use it, it’s strictly to review past hands or run drills — never during play,” Kenney said of her RTA use.

The poker site ambassador then took “full responsibility” and said she will “stand firm in doing my part to uphold the integrity of the game.” She ended her response by ensuring the poker community that if anyone looks into her hand histories, they’ll find no evidence of RTA use.

Kenney’s tweet received mostly negative reactions, including from poker pro Vanessa Kade, who wrote: “full responsibility would be quitting.” Some, however, went beyond civil discourse and fired personal insults at the ACR Pro, of which we won’t mention.

“You admitted to using GTO wizard while playing while simultaneously saying you never use it during play,” @0xTimB1 commented.

“‘A screenshot of me using GTOW while playing is being shared. Yes, I used it while playing, but rest assured I don’t use it while playing’ is one hell of a statement,” @HighlightsUte sarcastically tweeted.

“This makes me really sad and disappointed. I look up to you, and the lack of accountability falls flat. Working to send you positive vibes in the hopes you and change that energy,” @DrAlexChauran wrote.

Kenney and Barbero have long been respected players within the poker community. But their responses to RTA accusations have seemingly fell flat.

The post Poker Fans Slam Ebony Kenney, ACR’s Response to RTA Controversy appeared first on Gambling Sites Reviews.

Feb 23, 2025
2 min read

The GGPoker online poker site experienced major technical issues causing a crash on Sunday during one of its biggest winter events.

Kevin Martin, a GGPoker ambassador, shared with his X followers some information he was provided by the site’s web developers. The former reality TV star had been competing in, and livestreaming, the $150 buy-in GGMasters Anniversary no-limit hold’em event that had a $5 million guaranteed prize pool and over 20,000 entrants.

Poker Site Informs Players Funds are Safe, Changes Event Date

GGPoker, an online poker giant, informed its social media followers immediately that the “we are pausing all tournaments to stabilize gameplay.” The poker site then apologized for the “sudden inconvenience” the technical issues had caused its players. Many players responded to the tweet asking if the funds are safe.

“Yes, all funds are safe,” GGPoker’s X account responded.

Martin, who recently discovered he had $35,000 worth of Bitcoin hidden, explained the situation even further.

Martin, a poker pro and content creator, shared the following message he received from the site’s developers.

“We are currently experiencing a system issue that is unable to connect to main lobby . Dev team is investigating now, and will updated the status. Due to unstable service conditions, all ongoing tournaments have been paused and those scheduled to start have been canceled. If the server does not stabilize within five minutes, refunds will be issued for the ongoing tournaments. We will provide further updates regarding the ongoing GGMasters $150 5th anniversary, $5M GTD event.”

Martin had been livestreaming his play while the site crashed. It occurred at around the 59-minute mark during his stream on YouTube. His screen went blank and then let his viewers know the site had crashed for him. As it turned out, he wasn’t the only one.

GGPoker provided an update on the situation within an hour or so following the crash. The poker site’s X account wrote: “GGMasters Anniversary has been paused and will resume on March 2. All other tournaments have been cancelled and will be refunded as per the cancellation policy linked here.”

GGPoker has the largest online poker cash game traffic in the world. The poker site’s parent company, NSUS Group, purchased the World Series of Poker (WSOP) for $500 million last summer, a deal that was finalized in October.

This is a developing story. PokerNews will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as they become available.

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Feb 22, 2025
2 min read

Ebony Kenney is the second ACR Poker pro in the past few weeks facing criticism for having an exposed real-time assistance (RTA) chart visible while playing on the controversial unregulated online poker site.

Instagram user Eric James (@nemoplayspoker) clipped a screenshot from a January 2024 IG story that clearly shows an RTA chart open. After two incidents, many are wondering if the ACR team simply doesn’t care about preventing online cheating.

But one thing is certain and that is this is the second such incident. Nacho Barbero was caught last month having an RTA chart up while playing on ACR Poker, a US-facing online poker site. He denied using it for his own play and instead claimed that it was open so that he could assist his “horses” in a Discord chat.

The poker site’s social media account also denied Barbero, a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, would ever cheat and that he’s just a “goofball.”

Continued ACR Poker Issues

The aforementioned Instagram user clipped the video and sent forwarded it to ACR Poker in a DM that was ignored. He claims he was subsequently blocked by Kenney.

Kenney was, according to the IG post, competing in the January 2024 Venom, an ACR Poker staple event. It’s unclear if she was using the RTA tool to assist her own decisions during the tournament, or if she only referred to the charts between hands. But the optics, much like Barbero’s incident, certainly aren’t great either way.

PokerNews reached out to James to verify the event occurred last year and not in January 2025. He explained that he attempted to spread awareness at the time but he wasn’t getting any responses, so he kept the video to himself.

Matt Berkey criticized ACR Poker for its various scandals. He wrote that “you are a FOOL if you continue to contribute to their bottom line” via a tweet.

The online poker site has a lengthy history of scandals, most notably the never-ending accusations of rampant bot use on ACR Poker.

Doug Polk opined in a YouTube video on the Barbero scandal and informed his viewers to “play somewhere that respects your money and you think is putting enough resources and energy into detecting cheaters.” The co-owner of The Lodge Card Club near Austin, Texas has been back in the poker content streets lately. He might now have reason to fire up a Part II video on the ACR Poker RTA saga.

The post Another ‘Goofball’? Ebony Kenney is the Latest ACR Poker Pro Caught w/ RTA Chart appeared first on Gambling Sites Reviews.

Feb 21, 2025
3 min read

Back in 2008, a poker book was published with little to no fanfare. Confessions of a Crossroad Gambler was written by “Gentleman” Jack Newton, a high-stakes gambler from the post-depression era through the birth of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in the 1970s.

The book was filled with gambling history (including stories about Jack Binion, Doyle Brunson, and Billy Walters), marked cards, and other tales of cheating. It was quite an entertaining read, which is why renowned poker agent Brian Balsbaugh of Poker Royalty purchased the rights to the book and released an audio version narrated by one of the most popular poker players in the world.

Here’s how the book is described:

Gentleman Jack Newton: Confessions of a Crossroad Gambler is an autobiography by Jack Newton, a legendary high-stakes gambler, narrated by seven-time WSOP bracelet winner and Poker Hall of Famer Daniel Negreanu. Jack recounts his life on the road from the Depression era through the 1970s, detailing his adventures in card games across America.

The book offers a glimpse into the world of “crossroad gamblers,” where both skill and cunning were used to win. Expect tales of card counting, spotting cheaters, and perhaps some less savory tactics Jack employed to emerge victorious. With Negreanu’s narration, you’ll get a unique perspective from another poker great on Jack’s exploits and the high-stakes gambling world.

The audiobook, which was released back on July 17, 2024, is a quick listen at just 2 hours and 49 minutes,

“I’m a sucker for old-school Vegas stories and the book was a really fun read, so when I was asked to narrate it I didn’t hesitate,” Negreanu told PokerNews when asked what appealed to him about doing the book. “I’d never narrated a book before, and it was easy. They came to the house and we did it in 3-4 hour blocks over a couple of days.”

While Negreanu never got the opportunity to meet Newton, he crossed paths with his son, who was involved in the project.

“I met his son who sat in on the recordings for a little while,” said Negreanu, who also shared a Newton story that stuck out. “I think my favorite story, and I won’t spoil how he does it, but he finds a game that is being cheated and has to figure out how to get his marked cards into the game. The way he does it is brilliant!”

The book may glamorize less scrupulous ways of winning in poker, it is important to remember that Newton lived and played at a very different time.

“You find in the book a code among cheats, where after a score, they may even reveal how they cheated their opponent over a beer,” Negreanu offered. “In some cases, both sides were cheating, so there was respect for the guy who did it better- but not always.”

While Negreanu did the narration for Confessions of a Crossroad Gambler, it has been nearly two decades since he released his own book, Power Hold’em Strategy, in 2008, and the year before that Hold’em Wisdom for All Players. So, might a third book, a biography perhaps, be int he works for Kid Poker?

“Too young for that,” was all Negreanu had to say when asked.

Hard copies of Confessions of a Crossroad Gambler can be found online, but for those wanting to listen to Negreanu’s narration, you can check it out on Audible now for just $6.95. What’s more, Prime members can get two free audiobooks during a trial subscription.

PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, Podcast host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.

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Feb 20, 2025
3 min read

Poker vlogger Ethan “Rampage” Yau’s downswing continued on Hustler Casino Live Wednesday night when he lost $150,000 thanks to a brutal bad beat against his friend.

The WPT Global ambassador entered the $25/$50 ($50 big blind ante) no-limit hold’em game against some familiar foes such as Eshaan “Brown Balla” Bhalla and fellow vlogger Mariano Grandoli.

Rampage and Mariano played the largest pot of the night, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has followed these two players the past year as to who won the hand.

Poker Vloggers Go at it in a Monster Pot

Both vloggers began the five-hour stream with $30,000 in chips, and neither started off particularly strong. Mariano was already down more than $40,000 an hour into the game and had added on chips. Things weren’t going much better for Yau, whose 2024 downswing was heavily publicized.

Rampage had an opportunity to turn his night around a few hours into the game against Mariano, who was stuck over $100,000 at the time. But he’d instead run into a hand that sums up his luck over the past year.

The hand began with Mariano blind-calling for $400 in a straddled pot with KJ. Dylan Flashner, holding “The Robbie” (aka Jx4x) on the button, called, as did Song in the first straddle with 53. Rampage then checked his option in the big straddle with 107.

The flop came out K107. Song checked, an action that was followed by a $3,000 wager from Rampage, who flopped bottom two pair. Mariano, with top pair, min-raised to $6,000, which forced Song and Flashner to fold. But the best hand wasn’t going anywhere. In fact, he went for a small-sized three-bet to $15,000.

That didn’t sound the alarm bells inside Mariano’s head as he came back over the top with an all-in bet for $94,775, the size of Rampage’s stack. Yau went into the tank for a few minutes trying to figure out if the blind hand was strong enough to beat his two pair. He told his opponent “we’re still friends even if you beat me” and tossed his chips into the pot.

Both players agreed to run the turn and river twice, and the first one, which came out 4J, went to Mariano. The second run-out of KQ also went his way for a double bad beat.

Mariano scooped the entire $191,175 pot, but was still down big on the session. Rampage chose to quit the game instead of rebuying, and left Hustler Casino in Los Angeles with a $150,000 loss.

The poker vlogging friends ended up as the two biggest losers in the game. Mariano, who reported nearly $500,000 in profits at the poker table last year, finished the game down over $80,000.

Mariano Grandoli Wins Big in Limited Hours in 2024

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Feb 19, 2025
3 min read

Long before Phil Ivey was regarded as one of the greatest poker players of all time, his mom knew he was gifted. Pamela Ivey realized this 25 years ago when her son won a $500 buy-in event at the First Annual Jack Binion World Poker Open in Mississippi for $53,297 — more than her yearly salary working in insurance.

The April 2000 event was 23-year-old Ivey’s second-ever Hendon Mob result and featured a final table that included 1983 WSOP Main Event runner-up Rod Peate and eventual 2021 WSOP Player of the Year Josh Arieh. He won his first WSOP bracelet just a month later and soon after became the poker icon he’s known as today.

“I didn’t think it was a good idea for him to play poker,” Pamela Ivey told PokerNews in an interview, “but when he won fifty-something thousand dollars, and at the time I think I was making close to 50, and I’m like, wow, he did that in one game? And it takes me the whole year? I thought, maybe it’s okay.”

Phil Ivey & Family Headline CSOP Awards

Raising Poker Greatness

In his 2019 Masterclass, Phil revealed that he first learned poker from his grandfather, who cheated him in five-card Stud with hopes that young Ivey would lose interest in poker. But Pamela, who spoke to PokerNews during a Feb. 12 Charity Series of Poker (CSOP) event in Las Vegas, said her son got his poker talents from another family member.

“We come from a driven family, basically.”

“My dad didn’t really play, but he knew how to play,” she said. “My dad was a police commissioner, and he did a lot of (things). He owned his own business. He didn’t play poker. He didn’t gamble. My uncle was the gambler, my dad’s brother.”

“Probably it was, like, inherited (by) him. My uncle never told Phil about playing poker.”

Phil’s sister, Cheyanne, is successful in another realm. The University of Miami School of Law graduate operates the Las Vegas-based consulting firm Ivey Solutions, a new presenting sponsor of the CSOP.

Did the Ivey children get their competitive drive from Mom?

“Well, I am very driven and they just, I don’t know. I don’t know where they got it. We come from a driven family, basically. Whenever we want to do something, we just go at it 100%.”

Mom Plays Different Stakes

Phil regularly plays high-stakes poker tournaments around the world that cost six or seven figures to enter. Just as regularly, Pamela plays in a women’s group game in Las Vegas for a fraction of the cost.

“I’m very, very frugal. My kids call me cheap, but I’m just frugal.”

“But it’s only a $10 buy-in,” Pamela said. “We’re not high-stakes.”

To put the stakes in perspective, Pamela would have to win 100,000 buy-ins to put up the $1 million her son used to fire two bullets into December 2024’s WSOP Paradise Triton Million.

“I’m very, very frugal. My kids call me cheap, but I’m just frugal.”

In last week’s CSOP event, Pamela played alongside Joey Ingram, one of the few content creators who has interviewed the reclusive Ivey. But Pamela said poker fans shouldn’t let her son’s quiet and cold demeanor fool them.

“He’s very good to his mother,” she said.

So good to his mother that he gifted her a $1 million condo.

Connor Richards is an Editor & Live Reporter for PokerNews and host of the Life Outside Poker podcast. Connor has been nominated for two Global Poker Awards for his writing.

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