Phil Ivey Snatches All Time Money Winning Record from Daniel Negreanu

Just months after Daniel Negreanu took the title from long time holder Jamie Gold, the record for the top money winner has changed hands to none other than Phil Ivey. Finishing in second place at the Aussie Millions $100k Challenge on Monday, Ivey made enough to outdo his fellow poker pro making him the new all time money winner for live tournaments.

“It’s exciting,” said the pro from Team Full Tilt. “I’ve been after that for a while now, so it feels good to get there.”

Even though Ivey lost heads up to broker Dan Shak at the tournament in Melbourne, Australia, he still gets to go home a winner. His total career earnings were boosted up to a whopping $12,804,433 with his approximate $544,219 payday at the Aussie Millions event.

This tops Negreanu’s record by nearly $400k, whose moment came when he lost to Cardplayer’s Barry Shulman at the 2009 WSOPE Main Event coming in second place for the championship. He was disappointed to come so close and not take down the title, but he was grateful for setting the bar higher with his now broken $12,432,367 record.

When asked about how he will celebrate his latest achievement, Ivey answered, “I don’t think I’ll celebrate too much. I’m just going to go to dinner, maybe have a glass of wine or two and play some poker later.”

He is planning on participating in the Aussie Millions Million Dollar Cash Game where some of the industry’s top players are expected to be in attendance. Ivey is hoping to do well in it so he can’t really party too much if he wants to win the tournament.

Even though this has taken Ivey to another level in the poker world, he isn’t letting it go to his head. “It’s just another poker game. I’m just going to play and try to win some hands,” he said. “I don’t really thing, ‘oh I’m the best in the world.’ I just try to perform the best that I can day in and day out.”