[7] Ivey first began to develop his poker skills by playing against co-workers at a New Brunswick, New Jersey, telemarketing firm in the late 1990s.

[9] One of his nicknames, "No Home Jerome", stems from the fake ID card he secured to play poker in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in his teenage years.

In winning the tournament, Ivey was the first person to defeat Amarillo Slim heads-up at a WSOP final table.

[15][16] Ivey's tournament accomplishments include winning three bracelets at the 2002 World Series of Poker, tying Phil Hellmuth Jr, Ted Forrest, and Puggy Pearson for most World Series tournament wins in a single year (Jeff Lisandro and George Danzer have since tied the record).

event in a final table made up of other notable players, which included Bill Chen (2nd), John Juanda (3rd), Jeff Lisandro (5th), and Chad Brown (8th).

[41] During the sixth season of the WPT in February 2008, Ivey made the final table at the LA Poker Classic at Commerce Casino that included Phil Hellmuth and Nam Le, eventually capturing the $1,596,100 first prize and putting an end to his streak of seven WPT final tables without a victory.

His six opponents were (in reverse finishing order) Mike Matusow, Phil Hellmuth, Gus Hansen, Chris Ferguson, Dave Ulliott, and John Juanda.

[46] On the January 22, 2007, airing of NBC's Poker After Dark, Ivey won the $120,000 winner-take-all "Earphones Please" tournament by eliminating Matusow, Tony G, Andy Bloch, Hellmuth, and Sam Farha.

[47] On the April 15, 2007, airing of NBC's "National Heads-Up Poker Championship", Ivey was defeated by actor Don Cheadle in the first round.

[48][49] On January 29, 2012, Ivey won the Aussie Millions A$250,000 High-roller event, defeating Patrik Antonius heads-up for a prize of A$2,000,000, at the time placing him second in the all-time career tournament earnings.

[51] On February 10, 2014, Ivey won the 2014 Aussie Millions LK Boutique $250,000 Challenge for AU$4,000,000 — the largest single cash of his career.

In May 2011, Ivey filed a lawsuit in Clark County, Nevada claiming Full Tilt had breached his contract.

[61] Ivey has twice been successfully sued by casinos on accusations of breach of contract, both incidents being due to his manipulation of edge sorting.

In August 2012, Ivey was reported to have won £7,300,000 (US$12,000,000) playing Punto banco at Crockfords, a casino in London, but was refused payment beyond his initial £1 million stake due to his use of edge sorting.

"[65] In April 2014, the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey sued Ivey, claiming he cheated at baccarat by taking advantage of a defect in the manufacturing of the playing cards.

[69] On October 8, 2014, a UK court held that the techniques Ivey used at Crockford's constituted cheating and decided for the casino with costs.

[72] A further appeal to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom led to a unanimous judgement delivered on October 25, 2017, which found in favor of the casino.

[73][74][75] In January 2019, a federal judge allowed the Borgata to pursue Ivey's assets in Nevada to recoup more than $10 million he won at the casino using edge-sorting.

[76] On June 27, 2019, the US Marshals Service served a writ of execution to the World Series of Poker and seized Ivey's 2019 winnings to be used towards payment to The Borgata.

[91] The foundation raised $260,000 (mostly for Empowered 2 Excel) at a July 3, 2008, charity poker tournament,[90] and is also involved in children's literacy projects and programs to feed the homeless.