It’s been a glorious return to the World Series of Poker for Phil Ivey since he’s made two final table thus far – and we’re not even halfway through the 2012 WSOP. After skipping the 2011 WSOP due to Full Tilt Poker negligently mishandling player deposits, Ivey has played remarkably. This being said, here’s a quick look at what he’s done so far:

Event #15 Final Table

The 2012 WSOP Event #15 tournament was certainly difficult since it was loaded with lots of top-level pros. This is immediately apparent when you consider that the final table consisted of Bryn Kenney, Adam Friedman, John Monnette, and Todd Brunson. Unfortunately for Ivey, his chip disadvantage coupled with the strong competition saw him bow out in 7th place ($34,595). Friedman would go on to win the tournament along with $269,037, but it was a strong showing by Ivey indeed.

2012 WSOP Event #18

While Event #15 was tough, the Event #18 field may have been even stronger since only the best anted up the $10,000 buy-in to compete in this PLO tournament. But as many good players as there were, only one mattered to the media among the 179 grinders since Phil Ivey had grabbed a big chip lead.

He couldn’t have asked for a better situation either when he still carried a chip lead into heads-up play against Andy Frankenberger. With WSOP bracelet #9 firmly within reach, Ivey traded hands with Frankenberger until his advantage slowly disappeared. Eventually, it was Frankenberger with the chip lead, and he was able to finish Ivey off to grab his second career bracelet.

As for Phil, he hasn’t won a gold bracelet since 2009. Now for most players this isn’t a bad thing at all; however, Ivey is widely considered the top all-around poker player in the world. So it’s no doubt that he’ll be vigorously seeking bracelet #9 at some point in the 2012 WSOP.