Capture the Flag: Phil Ivey

Phil Ivey needs no introduction. He is perhaps the game's most feared cash-game player, and if there is a big game running, odds are that Ivey is part of the action. Phil honed his poker instincts by playing nonstop for almost five years, and is notorious for his acute observational abilities and his gamble. He can often be found at Bellagio, where he plays $4,000-$8,000, and participating in the biggest online games available.

Lizzy Harrison: What factors make for a good cash game?

Phil Ivey: For me, first and foremost, the players have to be playing for a lot of money - and I mean a lot. Secondly, I like to have players who will sit down and play poker. I don't want to sit down with players who will quit early; they should at least plan to play for a long time. Also, I like to play with people who are capable of losing a lot of money. A lot of the lower-limit players look for tables with loose, bad players. In the games I play, in you will not get bad players. In my game, you have to figure out other ways to win.

LH: What is your preferred game, and why?

PI: I do not have a favorite game; I just like to play poker. It does not really matter to me what game I am playing. Actually, I like learning new forms of poker. That is why I am really excited that they [the players in the "Big Game"] have started to play five-card draw with a $1,000 ante and single-draw pot-limit five-card draw. We play about 15 games [in the Big Game], and those two were just added to the mix.

LH: What about your least favorite?

PI: I don't really have a least favorite game; I like them all.

LH: What are the highest limits you have played?

PI: Normally, we [the players in the Big Game] play $4,000-$8,000 limit. We have played $6,000-$12,000 limit, at times. One time, when we were playing against Andy Beal, I played $50,000-$100,000.

LH: How should a player determine when he is ready to move up in stakes?

PI: I think that players should set a goal for themselves to win a certain amount of money at the level they are playing. Once they get to their goal, and that means that their bankroll is big enough, they can take a chance and try to move up a little bit. However, if their bankroll drops down to a certain point, they should always be willing to move back down to the smaller games. Otherwise, they could put themselves in a position to go broke.

LH: What is the most common mistake that you see inexperienced cash-game players making?

PI: In poker, specifically cash games, there is a lot of feel to the game. That is especially true for me. Sometimes you just feel like you are going to lose; you might have been playing too long and therefore are not playing your best. That is the time that you should quit for the day. I think a lot of times, people play too long when they are losing. Also, they do not play long enough when they are winning.

LH: What skills are more important in cash games than they are in tournaments?

PI: In cash games, it is more important to maintain a level head, much more than it is in tournaments. In tournaments, you have to play at a certain pace, so it is acceptable to play faster than you normally would. You should take more chances in a tournament, because the blinds and antes go up so quickly that you have to adjust your play. In a cash game, the more levelheaded you are, the better you will play. Levelheadedness benefits cash-game players the most, and that is why Chip [Reese] was as successful as he was.

LH: What advice would you give a successful tournament player if he wanted to move into the cash-game arena?

PI: To start off, you just have to play. There is no better teacher than experience. Players who want to do well have to put in the time. It is not easy; it is actually much harder to be a good cash-game player than a good tournament player. That is because, in cash games, you have to play day after day after day after day. In tournaments, you get breaks; there can be two or three weeks that you are off between events. In cash games, it does not work like that; you have to get going and keep going. When I first got good at poker, I played 14 or 15 hours per day. I played that much every single day for about four or five years. That is what it took for me to get good at poker, and specifically, cash games.

LH: What characteristics do great cash-game players share?

PI: All of the great cash-game players are really good poker players. There is a difference between being a very good no-limit hold'em cash- game player, or tournament player, and being a very good poker player. You have to be able to play all of the forms of poker, understand what is going on at the table, understand where you are in a hand, and understand where your opponent is in a hand. The thing about cash-game players, really good cash-game players, is that they have a good sense of what is going on around them at the table. They know who is steaming and who is not steaming. They know how they are feeling, personally, and they use that to decide if they should stay at the table for a long time or cut their session short. It is just an instinct that you develop through years of experience.

LH: Which cash-game players do you most respect, and why?

PI: I have to say that the cash-game player I admired the most was Chip Reese, just because of the way he managed the decisions he made. Chip knew when to play longer and when to quit; he just knew how to get the money. That is the bottom line when you are playing against people who are pretty much equal to you in skill. For the most part, you have to figure out ways to beat them and get the money. That is what made Chip Reese such a great poker player.