*Phil Ivey is the undisputed king of poker.
With millions in the bank and more winner bracelets and championship trophies than he can count, he’s established himself as one of the game’s leading lights over the last decade.
In fact, at the last count, Ivey had racked up almost $24 million in live tournament earnings and millions more in cash game earnings. However, like all savvy gamblers, Ivey hasn’t simply confined himself to poker.
Whenever a new opportunity arises, he reaches out and grabs it with both hands. Over the years that’s led to him building up an impressive portfolio of businesses.
Ivey’s Sporting Connection
The latest venture to be added to his roster of investments is a new DFS site called PhilIveyDFS. Operating on the iTEAM Network, the site will offer Daily Fantasy Sports games across a range of sports, including basketball and American football, and use the image of Ivey to promote the platform.
According to the latest reports, Daily Fantasy Sports is an industry worth $2.6 billion in the US alone and, if the figures from Eilers Research are correct, annual revenue will increase by 41% annually until the market is worth $14.4 billion in 2020.
For Ivey, grabbing a piece of this pie was a natural step and something he will have learned from his time as a poker player. Indeed, since the advent of online poker, there has always been a way to get something extra. Because the average online poker operator rakes in upwards of $100 million each year, they’re often willing to give something up for nothing in order to win someone’s custom.
Finding a Valuable Opportunity
Known technically as poker bonuses, these cash rewards can vary from site-to-site and, today, you can visit an online aggregator and get an overview of the latest deals. For example, if you were to read about the latest deposit deal for a major online operator, you can then compare it to the other deals on the site and see whether or not it’s worth your time investing in.
This process of identifying an opportunity and using it to their advantage is something that all skilled poker players will do. Ivey and his peers are experts at assessing the overall value of a market and working out how best to exploit that value. Poker bonuses are one such example of this and it’s this skill that Ivey has used to bolster his bankroll outside of poker.
Spotting Sporting Talent
Spotting the massive potential of Daily Fantasy Sports is the main reason Ivey has jumped on the bandwagon in recent months and it could well be a gamble that pays off handsomely in the next few years. Of course, if his exploits in the DFS arena don’t work out then he can always rely on his entertainment company, All-In Entertainment LLC.
Working to promote up and coming boxers such as Dusty Hernandez, the company is yet another example of how Ivey has used his poker skills to achieve success in business. Indeed, one of the key skills any live poker player needs is the ability to read their opponents and assess their skill level.
Although Ivey isn’t a boxer himself, he is a massive fan of the sport and this interest, coupled with his ability to spot talent and weakness, has allowed him to build a business based on his skills.
Poker might not seem like the perfect training ground for success in business, but if Phil Ivey has proved anything it’s that he’s certainly more than just a pretty poker face.
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