At only 33 years old Phil Ivey continues his poker prowess and never before has a 33 years old man been so successful at poker. Phil does not hold all poker records yet, but given his young age and if he can live a few more decades, all current records will have been pulverized.

So Phil Ivey just won his 8th WSOP bracelet in the $3,000 HORSE event. Only four players have ever won more bracelets. Phil Hellmuth has 11 bracelets (46 years old), Doyle Brunson 10 bracelets (77 years old), Johnny Chan 10 bracelets (52 years old) and the late Johnny Moss 9 bracelets (but the first one was by vote). And he is in a tie with Erik Seidel (51 years old) for 8 bracelets. Given that Phil is the youngest by a wide margin, it is clear that he has a good chance to become the player with the most bracelets at some point. Phil has said himself that he believes that he could win as many as 30 bracelets in his career.

Phil Ivey also won the first prize of $329,840, adding to the total of his live tournament winnings which is close to $13 million. Here no record broken because Phil was already the number one player and no one has ever surpassed this amount of money won at live poker tournaments. Daniel Negreanu is just behind in the number two spot with over $12 million, but he remains behind so far as he has not won a major prize at the WSOP.

Phil Ivey is considered by many poker players in the world as the best player, and this result confirms the general belief. Note that Phil is the most well-rounded player, as he can play well both live and online, both in ring games and in tournaments and in all poker variations. Interestingly Phil has not yet won a bracelet in Holdem, but he did in Omaha, Stud, Draw poker and mixed games (HORSE, SHOE, Omaha-Stud Hi/Lo).

Online, Phil Ivey plays exclusively at Full Tilt Poker as he was one of the founding poker pro at this online poker room. The highest stakes section is named after him and he can often be seen there mostly playing NLHE or PLO at stakes as high as NL100,000. A large crowd of railbirds follows all his moves, hoping to learn a few tricks from the master.

You may have heard this somewhere else, that pokerstars is number one. But is it true, and by what measure? Like all number ones, it depend on what measure you use, and as far as traffic is concerned, Stars is the uncontested number one, with a big lead over the number two, Full Tilt Poker.

And all other poker rooms are left in the dust, far behind. But nothing is static and the rankings can change fast in online gambling. So beyond the fact that pokerstars in number one for traffic, are they also number one by other measures?

Pokerstars is easily the largest and most popular online poker room on the globe.  If you are looking for a reason to sign up at pokerstars, this is already in itself a great reason. More traffic means more poker variations and tournament formats available, more ring game table and stakes with action  to choose from, more lucrative promotions dues to their bigger budget. More frequent and larger freerools, less waiting times at practically any poker activity you are interested in.

Some of the best pros in the world have chosen to sponsor Pokerstars, such as Daniel Negreanu and Vanessa Rousso. This is a sign of quality as these people are among the best poker players in the world, and they would not tarnish their reputation by joining a room they do not trust and enjoy playing at.

An added advantage of having all these poker pros  is that it improves the overall quality of the games, and this is certainly a feature that will help you improve your poker skills. As the large buy in tournaments and the highest stakes ring games are where these pros operate, the amateurs who confront them learn from them and this  knowledge somehow flows to the lower limit levels.

So if you do not have an account at stars, now is the time to get one.