For almost two years, rumors have been buzzing around the mysterious "RaiseOnce" account on PokerStars. Wicked Chops Poker now claims to be able to confirm that the account belongs to none other than Phil Ivey.
The owner of the mysterious "RaiseOnce" account has been revealed to be Phil Ivey
"RaiseOnce" first appeared on
Poker Stars some two years ago, and almost immediately inspired widespread speculation as to who could be behind the account.The style of play and an affinity for high stakes variations of games like H.O.R.S.E. and Fixed Limit Hold'em against the toughest opponents imaginable made many believe that the owner of the account could be none other than Phil Ivey.
Ivey or anyone else, however, never came forward to claim the ownership of the nosebleed account, and instead railbirds have been left guessing ever since.
Phil Ivey's name is nonetheless the one that has been mentioned most often in relation to "RaiseOnce", and according to Wicked Chops Insider, the former Team Full Tilt pro is indeed the player behind the mystery moniker.
The normally rather well informed site makes no mention of how it has been able to verify Ivey's identity, but simply writes that it has identified his ownership "through sources."
The finding is controversial as it not only outs Ivey's presence in some of the most followed games online, but it also reveals that he has been playing on a competitive site for two years while being on a pro contract with Full Tilt Poker.
Not being allowed to play on PokerStars would be a condition of any such contract, and is among other things the reason that former Full Tilt pros like Tom Dwan and Erik Seidel have still to play their first hand on PokerStars, at least officially.
Meanwhile, Ivey has been putting the Mexico-registered "RaiseOnce" screen name to good use, and the account is today listed as the winner of more than $1 million since 2010.
Most of the winnings come from high stakes cash game play, but "RaiseOnce" is also registered for winning a single WCOOP event in 2010 for $348,750.
