Phil Ivey - Poker God?!

2008 was an eventful year at the highest online cash game tables. Top earner - as to no real surprise - was Phil Ivey. In the new year, he could already accept an unbelievable challenge by Tom 'durrrr' Dwan.

Ivey,
who is counted amongst the world's best poker players, lived up to his name in the past year and was able to gather the biggest profit with only few played hands in comparison. He only needed 95,248 hands to win this unbelievable sum.

In the same period, Phil 'OMGClayAiken' Galfond
(picture on the right) added almost 7 million Dollars to his bankroll. In 153,907 played hands, his earnings amounted to exactly $6.97M and rank 2 on the winnings list of 2008.

On ranks 3 and 4, two more famous names of the poker scene can be found: Tom 'durrrr' Dwan (+$5.36M in 223,044 hands) and Di Dang aka 'Urindanger' (+$3.68M in 168,801 hands).

FULL TILT POKER

100% up to $600 bonus

Bonus Code: PSVIP

Download Software

Download Instructions

Between those two, the so far "most expensive" hand of online history took place as well. $723,938 slid over to 'Urindanger' - holding , he got 'durrr' to move all-in with .

The "second biggest" hand involved Phil Ivey, when $678,025 made their way towards his bankroll.

Ilari 'Ziigmund' Sahamies chalked up a new record in the online history. He might not be found in the TOP10 list of the big winners, but nonetheless he had a conciliative end of the year: 'Ziigmund' left the table with $1.4M - so far the biggest amount ever. For some time, he had even more money at the table!

While many players enjoyed their winnings, some also had to endure heavy losses. The 'Cirque du
Soleil' founder Guy Laliberté, known High Stakes "fish", had several million Dollars go down the drain.

However, it's not really sure how much Laliberté has really gambled away. The nick 'ladymarmelade' is clearly associated with him, but it could also be that he can be found with the synonyms 'patatino' and 'elmariachimacho' on Full Tilt Poker. If that is the case, he lost about $15M last year.

Below now once again the Top10 of the winners and losers in the High Stakes cash game year of 2008:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The year 2008 offered a lot of action, but 2009 kicks off with a bang: Tom 'durrrr' Dwan (picture on the left) -
without a doubt one of the most feared High Stakes players - issued a challenge: At stake are $1,500,000 on his part, and $500,000
for his opponent.

Naturally, it's a poker challenge. Dwan offers every player worldwide to face them in a heads-up. The only exception: Phil 'OMGClayAiken' Galfond. Apparently, this player instills the most respect in him.

At least 50,000 hands should be played in the variants NL
Hold'em and Pot-Limit Omaha with blinds of at least $200/$400.
During the sessions, the two should always duel each other on four tables. If a stack moves below 75BB, a rebuy has to be made. Furthermore, a player is allowed to leave the table with more than 250BB.

The $1.5 million wager by Dwan will be paid out as long as you emerge victoriously from the played heads-ups. Any amounts won during the games of poker can be kept. However, if Dwan's opponent loses the bet and at the same time ended up losing $1M for instance, the overall loss would be $1.5M.

Altogether, this sounds like an enticing offer. However, if anybody accepted the challenge already so far is not yet known. Hot candidates would certainly be Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius (picture on the right) or one of the Dang brothers. As poker fans, we can at least look forward to some interesting heads-up duels.