Ivey is back!

Poker was arguably more exciting than ever in 2011. The Brits were on top, Erik Seidel proved that old dogs can learn new tricks and even Phil Hellmuth was back on the scene (for the right reasons). But throughout it all, one Phil Ivey-shaped hole still remained. The world’s best poker player went into hiding after Black Friday, perhaps never to be seen again. Until now.

At last week’s Aussie Millions, Ivey announced his return the only way he knows how: beating poker’s biggest names to ship the $250 Challenge and $2mAUD.

On a final table poker lovers can only dream of, Ivey saw off Daniel Negreanu, Jason Mercier, several wealthy businessmen and his Full Tilt compatriots Gus Hansen and Patrik Antonius for his biggest cash in a glittering 14-year career.

Negreanu was the unfortunate bubble boy, missing out a $800k min-cash when he finished in fourth, leaving Hansen, Ivey and Antonius to battle it out. And once Hansen had busted in third place, Antonius and Ivey tussled for over an hour before Ivey’s A-Q held over the Finn's K-3 for the big payday.

‘It feels good to be back,' said Ivey. ‘I took some time off from poker. This is one of my first tournaments back and it’s nice to get back to winning again.’

Is No Home Jerome back for good, or was it just well-timed one off? We're willing to bet the latter.

Here’s how the $250k Challenge finished up:

1. Phil Ivey $2,000,000 AUD
2. Patrik Antonius $1,200,000 AUD
3. Gus Hansen $800,000 AUD