Poker is a mind sport played and enjoyed globally today. The game, however, requires diverse qualities and skills on the part of the players to establish themselves in the poker world. Given below are three great poker players who established themselves as members of poker’s elite but they withdrew themselves from the limelight. The year 2017 saw them making a comeback to the felts:
1.Chris Ferguson
Chris Ferguson has been praised widely for his poker skills. However, he drew some negativism from poker community for his alleged involvement in the 2011 Full Tilt Poker Ponzi scheme scandal. Following the same scandal, the co-founder of Full Tilt Poker and 2000 WSOP Main Event champion, Ferguson disappeared from the live poker scene. Little was heard about him in the years after 2011. The player however reappeared on the live poker stage last summer, when he joined in the WSOP event in Las Vegas. And it is interesting to know that he cashed in ten events, with his 4th-place finish in the No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed Championship event.
While Ferguson made his official comeback last year in 2016, it was this year that he made big headlines. For his amazing performances across various WSOP events, the player was crowned as the 2017 WSOP Player of the Year. Ferguson cashed out in 17 WSOP events during the summer season and in 5 more events at the WSOP Europe which took place in October at King’s Casino Rozvadov in the Czech Republic. The player collected 1,178.53 points and topped POY ranking.
In Las Vegas, he came out with 2 notable final table finishes, the first in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship for $150,929, and the second in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship for $151,700. When Ferguson re-entered the world of live tournament poker world, lots of people were not ready to welcome him back happily, including the great Daniel Negreanu. However, players who felt he was innocent and not involved in the Full Tilt Poker Ponzi scandal welcomed him back to the live felts. Like him or hate him, but he made a great comeback.
2.Gus Hansen
After building a terrific career and earning huge reputation for his poker skills, Gus Hansen disappeared from the poker stage. After losing millions at the online tables of PokerStars and Full Tilt, the player decided to move away from poker. However, he made a comeback this summer and was was reported playing at the cash game tables of various Las Vegas casinos. In a November 2016 interview, the Great Dane confirmed that he was planning to re-enter the poker stage in 2017 and it came true. Hansen was seen at more cash games during the first half of the year.
This spring, he even made his televised appearance, participating in the Celebrity Cash Kings cash game festival at King’s Casino Rozvadov and playing against Antanas Guoga, Leon Tsoukernik, Sam Trickett, etc. Hansen also appeared in this year’s WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic $10,400. Although he did not cash out during this event, he is making a comeback to the game poker.
3.Phil Ivey
Ivey has been having a rough time off the felt over the past several years. The player has been facing a lawsuit from Atlantic City’s Borgata. He even have failed to sue London’s Crockfords Casino for not paying him out the £7.7 million in baccarat winnings from 2012. Ivey being trapped in law suits, the less was heard from him. One of Ivey’s cases concluded in October and he lost his appeal to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, with Supreme Court justices upholding that Crockfords Casino should not pay the player his winnings due to his use of edge-sorting to gain advantage.
Due to the above law suits being faced by him, Ivey almost disappeared from the live poker. He was last seen in January 2016 when he cashed in a live tournament. He finished 5th in the $200,000 Triton Super High Roller for $656,500. While the player remained off the felt for several months, he made a comeback in the second half of 2017 and was seen playing cash games at Macau casinos. It is important to note that the poker player was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame this year.
Many people from the poker world thought that Ivey would return to the live tournament stage during the WSOP series this summer, but that did not happen. However, as per his interview with an Asian media outlet, the player plans to make a comeback and continue playing in 2018.