BY TOM SOMACH

So much for the favorite.

Phil “Poison” Ivey, favored by USA Today and a number of Internet sportsbooks to win the main event of the 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas, has been knocked out of the tournament.

Considered by many to be the top poker player in the world–he has five championship WSOP gold bracelets but has never won the main event–Ivey was listed as the 500-1 favorite to win this year’s main event by USA Today oddsmaker Danny Sheridan.

Internet sportsbooks around the world listed him at the same or similar odds.

The fact that the favorite was still such a longshot shows how hard it is to beat out thousands of other poker players and win the main event, even if you’re a top player like Ivey, who is the youngest person to have amassed five bracelets.

Other top poker pros who failed to make it through the first weekend of 2007 WSOP main event play were Josh Arieh, Andy Bloch, Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson, Johnny “The Orient Express” Chan, Annie Duke, Sammy Farha, John Juanda, Aaron Kanter, Phil “Unabomber” Laak, Howard “The Professor” Lederer, Marcel “The Flying Dutchman” Luske, Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, Men “The Master” Nguyen, Thomas “Amarillo Slim” Preston Jr., Greg “Fossilman” Raymer and David Williams.

Brunson, Chan and Preston are all two-time winners of the WSOP main event.

Raymer won the main event in 2004.

The main event is the 55th and final event of the 2007 WSOP, which is taking place at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, just off Las Vegas’ famed Strip.

The main event is a $10,000 buy-in, no-limit Texas hold ‘em tournament.

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.)