- Whatβs the Video All About?
- Iveyβs Starring Role
- Does This Advert Make Ivey a WPT Ambassador?
4 Minute Read
Phil Ivey conquered the World Series in 2022, and has turned into a viral video star overnight for the WPT.
When the life and career of Phil Ivey is viewed in retrospect, itβs likely that the poker legendβs status as a Poker Hall of Famer and 10-time WSOP bracelet winner sit high on the list of what makes him world famous. Synonymous with poker success he may be, but this weekβs appearance in a World Poker Tour viral video promoting their forthcoming $1 for $1 million event means all anyone is talking about is Iveyβs iconic screen presence.
Whatβs the Video All About?
The promotion that is being spoken about during the video is the one dollar for one million tournament on WPT Global, which as the premise suggests, is more than a little off-the-charts in terms of value for money. The $1 For $1 Million tournament is already running and will continue to do so until over a million is given away by the final day of August 22nd.
With a mildly insane 18 opening flights, each flight is restricted to just 5,000 entrants, with each flight taking place on Wednesdays and Sundays until August 17th. With the top 13% of each flight heading to Day 2 on August 21st, just eight finalists will remain at the close of that day.
On the final day of the event the WPT Global site will play host to the finale, with all the action broadcast βas-liveβ on the WPT Twitch channel. Itβs sure to be an eye-catching final day of action, and if youβre not happy with scraping through a Day 1 flight with a micro-stack, you can always re-enter in order to try and pile up a chip mountain.
Iveyβs Starring Role
“OK boss, weβre all over it.”
Phil Iveyβs role in the video is that of a WPT Global customer service phone operator. Picking up a call at the start of the 30-second short, Ivey is incredulous with a caller who is asking about a βdollar for a millionβ event. As the 10-time WSOP bracelet winner quips back: βNo chance! Why would we do that?β
Turning to his nearest co-worker β Tony Dunst in a cameo role par excellence β Ivey asks why he keeps getting these kind of calls.
βOne dollar for a million?β says Dunst. βCome on β no chance.β
At that moment, a βmanagerβ appears to check that Ivey and Dunst got the memo asking them to push the dollar for a million event.
βOK boss, weβre all over it.β Says Ivey.
βBeen doing it all day!β quips Dunst and the two men lean back in their chairs in order to show βthe bossβ that theyβre co-operating in their roles as WPT Global phone drones.
The advert has had a really positive reaction from the poker industry who are just loving seeing Ivey taking part in the away from the felt side of the game. Greg Jennings called it the βfirst fun, creative poker ad since 2010.β Former Survivor Ronnie Bardah said it had β…a very similar feel to the ESPN fun commercials.β Both sum up the feelings of 99% of poker fans.
Does This Advert Make Ivey a WPT Ambassador?
If Iveyβs appearance in this advert wasnβt enough, he was even pictured wearing World Poker Tour merch at the 2022 WSOP. Ivey cashed for over $2 million at the 2022 World Series of Poker across nine events, finishing second in the 8-Max high Roller Event #42 for his biggest cash when he ended the event as runner-up to Latvian Aleks Ponakovs.
Iveyβs reputation in the game is always going to be stellar, but in recent months, he has taken a step back into the limelight in terms of playing live tournaments, including big-field MTTs, something that in 2015 or 2016 was practically unheard of.
Iveyβs star has been rising in televised appearances for some time, with brief cameos in cash games such as High Stakes Poker on PokerGO. A full comeback of one of the greatest β arguably the greatest β of poker players would go some way to casting Phil Ivey as being the most relevant of all the current poker legends still plying their trade in the biggest games.
You can watch the full advert right here and get your poker fix of Ivey in action on screen.