Over the last couple of months poker pro Phil Ivey has had a tough go of things. He dropped out of the WPT Doyle Brunson Classic just three spots short of the money. And then back at Full Tilt Poker headquarters Ivey lost two massive Omaha pots to Finnish online competitor Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies. Still, according to many of his peers, Phil Ivey is the world’s best player. Here’s why:

Born Feb. 1, 1976 in Riverside, Calif., Phil Ivey’s accomplishments include three bracelets at the 2002 World Series of Poker, tying Phil Hellmuth Jr and Ted Forrest for the most wins in a single year. Ivey also has WSOP bracelets in Pot Limit Omaha from 2000 and 2005. In 2000, he was the first player to beat Amarillo Slim heads-up.

Ivey also won the $1,000,000 first prize at the Monte Carlo Millions tournament on Nov. 20, 2005 and then a day later he took home another $600,000 for finishing first at “The FullTiltPoker.Net Invitational Live from Monte Carlo”.

To date Phil Ivey’s tournament winnings total more than $8 million.