On Phil Ivey, Full Tilt and ESPN

I found myself home between 4pm and 5pm today and, thanks to Elaine, turned on my TV in time to catch Chad Millman's E:60 segment on Phil Ivey.

I haven't read the article that Millman wrote for ESPN the Magazine, but I knew the basic premise. Millman accompanied Ivey on a four-city, three-day jaunt to Foxwoods, then Montreal, and then Amsterdam before arriving in Salzburg, Austria for the Full Tilt Million Euro Challenge. Ivey diced for 30 minutes at Foxwoods, where he won about a quarter million, and 30 minutes in Montreal, where he won three-quarters of a million despite the fact that he let Millman throw the dice with $240,000 on the table and Millman sevened out. The segment included some clips of Ivey dicing, shots of private villas, private jets, fancy cars and all of the extravagances that you would expect along with such a lifestyle, and interviews with a childhood friend and Ivey's mother. There was also the story of Ivey's early days in NJ, his move to Vegas, and his success in Larry Flynt's high-stakes stud game in LA.

One thing that was missing? Almost any mention of Full Tilt Poker.

Sure, there were shots of various Team Full Tilters wearing the logo. There was an interview with Howard Lederer in front of a Full Tilt step-and-repeat (probably from Salzburg). And there was a throwaway line at the end of the segment about Ivey "building his image as the face of Full Tilt Poker". But that was it.

I know that Ivey's success in poker is what's driven him as far as he's gone in life, and Millman makes sure to point out that Ivey was reputed to have made $7 million playing online poker last year. But to me it's irresponsible journalism not to mention that Ivey is reputed to earn $1.5 million a MONTH from his association with FTP. That's $18 million a year, more than twice Ivey's take from cash games last year, and an amount that surely helps Ivey not to care about how much money he throws around when dicing or playing poker.

I'm not trying to take anything away from Ivey's poker accomplishments. He is without a doubt one of the very best (if not the best) players in the world and definitely the most feared player in the world. But by ignoring this major income source, ESPN paints a misleading image of a fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants gambler. Ivey may be willing to go broke -- admitting there were some nights that he went broke and slept under the Boardwalk in AC are testament to that -- but unless his -EV gambling gets wildly out of control, Ivey doesn't have to WORRY about going broke ever again. ESPN gets a big demerit for missing (or choosing not to report) that angle of the story.

Still, despite that flaw, I'd recommend the segment. It's a glimpse of something most of us are never likely to see.