by Mario Alfonsi | Published on Apr 10, 2012 | Updated on Apr 10, 2012For several years now, observers have wondered about the identity of the high-stakes player named RaiseOnce, who has been playing in the biggest games on the PokerStars network ever since 2009. Now, it appears that the rumors that this player was actually Phil Ivey have been confirmed as true.While the Ivey rumors have long been speculated on, it wasn’t until this week when WickedChopsInsider claimed that they could confirm RaiseOnce was Phil Ivey thanks to some unnamed sources. While that may sound like nothing more than another rumor, most in the poker community believe that the information is genuine, particularly coming from WickedChops.Even without the confirmation, most observers had become confident that RaiseOnce was indeed the poker superstar. Ivey was best known for his play on Full Tilt Poker, where he had won close to $20 million since 2007. In his sessions there, he would stick to a strict stop-loss limit of two buy-ins, and would generally play short sessions where he only sat at one or two tables.RaiseOnce followed the same patterns on PokerStars, which immediately started speculation that Ivey had been tipping his toes in the water on the site. In the high stakes games of hold’em, PLO, HORSE and just about any other poker game he could get into, RaiseOnce would play a hyper-aggressive style that made him difficult to play against, earning him several hundred thousand dollars over a relatively small amount of play.Ivey has also made his mark on the PokerStars tournament scene. In 2010, RaiseOnce won the $25,500 World Championship of Online Poker No-Limit Hold’em Heads Up event, taking down the first prize of $348,750. In total, Ivey has won about $1 million at PokerStars under the RaiseOnce account.Ivey is considered by most to be the best all-around poker player in the world. Along with his notable success in the world’s biggest cash games, he has also won eight World Series of Poker bracelets and a World Poker Tour title.
