Before he was legally allowed to enter casinos, his fake ID had him named Jerome Graham. Now, Jerome spent so much time in the casino that the regulars started to call him “No Home Jerome,” a name Phil Ivey is still proud of today. It was during that time that Ivey started to hone his skills, the skills that make him one of the best young poker players in the world today. His elementary poker lessons started much earlier, though.

When Ivey was only eight years old he was introduced to poker by his grandfather. His grandfather wasn’t a big poker fan. The reason he was teaching his grandson about poker was to show him how he can be cheated. Granddad and Ivey would play penny ante five-card stud, with Granddad taking cards from the bottom of the deck and hiding cards. His attempt at trying to thwart the young Ivey away from gambling forever greatly backfired. Shortly after those lessons, Ivey began telling everyone he knew that he would be a championship poker player one day.

At the age of 16 he started gaining entrance to some backroom poker halls in his native Atlantic City, NJ. Conveniently for Ivey, he lived in a gambling town, and joining these games as a youngster was hardly ever a problem. After having some success in these backroom games for a few years he decided to purchase a fake ID and start playing with the big boys at the real casinos.

It was here that Ivey, known as Jerome, began learning the rough lessons of a poker pro. He spent more time losing than winning these days, but unlike other aspiring pros, when his money ran out he could still go back home to his parents house and get a real job. It was his job at a telemarketing agency that allowed him to replenish his bankroll during the times he busted out. He wouldn’t be busting out for long, though.

When Ivey turned 21 he threw away his fake ID, and walked into the casino showing his real ID. He somewhat expected to be shown the door due to years of entering illegally, but the casino staff, and the regular poker players said he never caused any trouble, so they let him in without a problem.

Ivey took the next couple of years to iron out the wrinkles in his game by studying the hardened veterans and taking advantage of his near photo like memory. It wasn’t until the year 2000 that Ivey first stepped up to the tournaments frequented by the big boys of poker.

In his first ever attempt at the World Series of Poker he made the final table in two events, including a win in a pot limit Omaha event, which netted him near 250,000 dollars, not bad for a first time out. Including the bracelet he won for the pot limit Omaha event, he has gone on to win four other WSOP bracelets – not bad considering he just turned thirty.

Many people have called him the “Tiger Woods” of poker because of the similarities regarding how they took over there respective sports, and it also helps that they look a lot alike. Ivey however has gone as far as saying he hates being called that, and he wants to be known as the Phil Ivey of poker. Well, the Phil Ivey of poker has won over 5 million dollars in tournament poker, and much much more playing cash games in Las Vegas.

Ivey is one of the designers at Full-Tilt Poker, and he can also be seen playing there every once in a while. On a sort of funny note, Ivey routinely comes home to a crying wife because she had lost a few dollars playing online poker that night. Ivey has to laugh, because on any given day he can win or lose thousands of dollars on a single hand.