Analyzepoker Background Information on Phil Gordon
Nicknamed Tiltboy, Phil Gordon was born in July 6, 1970. He is a couple of things to many people. He is an American professional poker player, who has enjoyed a good number of winnings at the poker table. He is also an author and a commentator. He was born in El Paso, Texas and grew up in Stone Mountain, Georgia. Gordon enrolled in Georgia Tech while he was still in high school. He made the decision to enroll in a tech school at the age of fifteen. By the time he finished his 11th grade, he dropped out of high school and focused his attention on Georgia Tech full time. It is important to mention that he was given the National Merit Scholarship award while in high school.
Phil Gordon completed his degree at Georgia Tech in 1991 and graduated with a B.S. degree in Computer Science. After leaving school, he began to work with Santa Cruz Operation and later moved to Lockheed. He worked for a couple of years with these two companies and left to join a startup company, Netsys Technologies. Gordon became the first hired employee of this company when it was established. By 1996, Netsys got a better deal as it was acquired by the infamous Cisco System. This made Gordon a millionaire working in the tech world. In the year 1997, he decided to retire from the high-tech industry and engage in some other ventures. After his retirement, he took an interest in the game of poker. From this point, Gordon began to play at poker tables and to travel around the world.
He stepped into the world of poker officially in 2000 when he attended his first World Series of Poker Event. He attended the 31st World Series of Poker 2000 in Las Vegas and played at two different events. He played at the $3,000 + 80 Pot Limit Hold’em event and finished in the 26th place with a winning of $3,600. He also played in the $2,500 + 80 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo event and placed14th with a winning of $4,400. His total winning during the World Series of Poker of 2000 was $8,000 USD. Although the winning is not such a big deal when compared to his investment but his appearance at these events and the money he won launched him into the world of poker. These earnings also laid the foundation for Phil Gordon net worth and over the years, he has built over it. He has lost some and won some, as it is the case with the game of poker.
Phil Gordon Poker Exploits
In the course of his career as a professional poker player, Phil Gordon has made many appearances at the World Series of Poker. He has made a couple of final tables at WSOP and has earned good money while playing at various events. However, he is yet to win his first bracelet. In this section, we look at the various escapades of Phil at World Series of Poker events and how these events have all impacted on Phil Gordon net worth. We assure you it is going to be a worthwhile read at the end of the day. Let’s go right into the world of Gordon at the various World Series of Poker events he participated in.
World Series of Poker
As mentioned earlier, his first appearance at the World of Poker Series was in 2000 where he made a combined winning of $8,000 from two different events. He returned to the WSOP in the year 2001 and bought into the $10,000 Championship Event – No Limit Hold’em World Series of Poker Main Event. This time around, he finished in the 4th place and won a prize of $399,610.
In the year 2002, he participated again at WSOP and bought into two events. He played at the $2,500 Omaha Hi/Lo Split event and finished 3rd with a winning of $33,840 USD. He also bought into the $2,000 Pot Limit Hold’em event and finished 6th and won the prize of $14,220 USD. He also participated in the 2004 WSOP event but he didn’t go far among the field of players.
His participation at the 2005 World Series of Poker yielded better earnings for Phil Gordon. He played at $1,000 No Limit Hold’em event at the 2005 WSOP event and finished in the 8th place. He made a winning of $66,055 at the event. He also entered for the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Shootout event and finished in the 3rd place with a winning of $75,350 USD.
In 2009, he made an appearance at the World Series of Poker, where he played at the $5,000 Ante Up For Africa Charity Event. He placed 6th at the event and won $30,760 USD. His participation at the 2010 WSOP event was one of his memorable events. He played in the $5,000 Ante Up For Africa Charity Event and placed 1st at the event. He made a winning of $129,086 at this event. This winning contributed towards Phil Gordon net worth, even though he later donated the winning to charity.
No doubt, Phil has made many World Series of Poker final tables. However, he is yet to win any bracelet. His win at the 2010 Ante Up for Africa event during the World Series of Poker earned him the first place and a grand prize of $129,086. He defeated actress Shannon Elizabeth heads up to win this price. At the end of the event, he donated his entire winning to the charity.
Highlights of Phil Gordon World Series of Poker Earnings
| Year | Tournaments | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | $2,500 + 80 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo | $4,400 |
| 2000 | $3,000 + 80 Pot Limit Hold’em | $3,600 |
| 2001 | $10,000 Championship Event – No Limit Hold’em | $399,610 |
| 2002 | $2,000 Pot Limit Hold’em | $14,220 |
| 2002 | $2,500 Omaha Hi/Lo Split | $33,840 |
| 2004 | $1,500 Pot Limit Hold’em | $3,000 |
| 2004 | $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Shootout | $2,000 |
| 2005 | $1,000 No Limit Hold’em | $66,055 |
| 2005 | $2,000 Pot Limit Hold’em | $4,970 |
| 2005 | $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Shootout | $75,350 |
| 2006 | $1,500 No Limit Hold’em | $9,094 |
| 2006 | $1,500 Limit Hold’em | $5,831 |
| 2006 | $1,000 No Limit Hold’em | $4,636 |
| 2006 | $2,500 Short Handed No Limit Hold’em | $14,467 |
| 2007 | $1,500 No Limit Hold’em | $16,989 |
| 2007 | $1,500 Mixed Hold’em (Limit/No Limit) | $7,309 |
| 2009 | $5,000 Ante Up For Africa Charity Event | $30,760 |
| 2010 | $1,000 No Limit Hold’em | $2,244 |
| 2010 | $2,500 Limit Hold’em – Six Handed | $6,314 |
| 2010 | $10,000 No Limit Hold’em – Heads Up Championship | $38,424 |
| 2010 | $5,000 Ante Up For Africa Charity Event | $129,086 |
The above highlighted earnings have all added to what Phil Gordon net worth is today. It is important to mention that since his last game in 2010 at the World Series of Poker, Gordon has not made any appearance at the event again. Of course, he has other ventures other than poker but no one really knows if he has said his final goodbyes to the world of poker or there is still a possibility that he will return to the felt table. The world of poker, especially World Series of Poker, is watching and waiting for the reappearance of Phil Gordon at poker events.
Phil Gordon at World Poker Tour
Although he has not earned any bracelet at World Series of Poker, Phil Gordon has earned himself a title at the World Poker Tour. In the month of March of 2004, Phil defeated two poker players at once to claim the World Poker Tour Bay 101 Shooting Stars tournament. One of the players he defeated at the event was the former World Series of Poker Main Event champion, Chris Moneymaker. He played in the $5,000 + 200 World Poker Tour No Limit Hold’em Championship Final Day event and finished in the first place. His first place winning earned him the World Poker Tour Title and a grand prize of $360,000 USD. Gordon also won the professional division of the first ever UltimateBet Aruba tournament in 2002. He played at the World Poker Tour Aruba No Limit Holde’m – Pro’s Bracket and finished in the first place. He earned $250,000 for his efforts. These winnings contributed significantly to Phil Gordon net worth.
At the 2002 World Poker Tour event, Phil went ahead to lose the championship to amateur division winner, Juha Helppi.
Phil Gordon at Other Poker Event
On the Thanksgiving Day in the year 2006, Phil made his biggest live cash at the Poker Championship at Red Rock, Full Tilt Poker. He outlasted other 5 notable poker professional players and finally defeated Roland De Wolfe heads up. He won the first prize of $600,000, which happens to be his biggest winning at tournaments.
Also at the 2007 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship event, Gordon finished in the final 16. He finished in the 9th place and won $25,000. He went ahead to defeat Scotty Nguyen and Jamie Gold, the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event champion, to advance at the event. Below are the highlights of the make-up of Phil Gordon net worth from his other poker tournaments participation.
| Year | Tournaments | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | $20,000 No Limit Hold’em FullTiltPoker.Net Championship, Las Vegas | $33,000 |
| 2006 | No Limit Hold’em FullTiltPoker.Net Championship, Las Vegas | $600,000 |
| 2007 | $25,000 No Limit Hold’em 2007 NBC National Heads-Up Championship, Las Vegas | $25,000 |
| 2007 | $5,000 + 150 No Limit Hold’em – Championship Event | $116,697 |
| 2009 | $20,000 Week 2 – Speak Your Mind Poker After Dar V, Las Vegas | $120,000 |
| 2010 | $50,000 No Limit Hold’em Qualifying Match 9 FullTiltPoker.com – Doubles Poker Championship | $5,000 |
| 2010 | No Limit Hold’em Finals FullTiltPoker.com – Doubles Poker Championship | $250,000 |
| 2010 | $20,000 Week 13 – Charity In Mind Poker After Dark VI, Las Vegas | $120,000 |
| 2011 | $25,000 No Limit Hold’em NBC National Heads-Up Championship 2011 | $30,000 |
Phil Gordon at Online Poker
Although not many professional poker players embraced the online poker from the beginning, with time most of them got used to the idea and began to play at the online platform. Phil Gordon also made some investment at the online poker platform. He is a member of the group popularly known as Tiltboys. This group helped in the design of the software that was used by Full Tilt Poker. He was also a member of the Team Full Tilt. There was no record of Phil’s games at online poker anywhere. However, given the fact that he was part of the Full Tilt Poker from the beginning, many believed that he would have participated at the online games at a couple of time. Unfortunately, the record of his winnings, losses, or online account is not available on any platform.
Phil Gordon as a Commentator
In the world of poker, Gordon is a well-known commentator on poker broadcasts. He was more popular for his commentary on the Celebrity Poker Showdown organized by Bravo. Gordon was the commentator for seven seasons of the TV Series. He only stepped down from the show in the year 2006. In 2003, he also provided the commentary for the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Championship Event for the live Internet broadcast of Binion.
In addition to this, he was the commentator and the provider of daily reports on the event for a national radio audience. Between 2006 and 2007, Gordon also provided the commentary for the live pay per view broadcast for ESPN. He provided this for the final table of the World Series of Poker main event Championship for the organization. Gordon was also the lead broadcaster for the popular ESPN series, The Pro Am Poker Equalizer. This series began its airing in January of 2007.
Phil Gordon as an Author
Apart from his poker career and a life as a commentator, Phil Gordon is also an author. Over the years, he has authored five different books on poker. These include the bestsellers – Poker: The Real Deal, and Phil Gordon’s Little Green Book: Lessons and Teachings in No Limit Hold’em. He has also written severally for poker magazines. He hosts a podcast and writes a regular column for ESPN.com. His podcast is titled The Poker Edge. His podcast has been on air since April of 2006. Phil has also released his award winning instructional DVD on poker, which he titled Expert Insight: Final Table Poker.
Gordon as a Philanthropist
Phil Gordon is one of the few poker players that have extended their hands of love to those in need. Phil is well known for his various philanthropic causes. One of such is his commitment to cancer research. He is an active fundraiser for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. As a matter of fact, he sat on the Board of Directors of the Foundation until his resignation in the year 2011. His resignation came at the time of the Full Tilt Poker scandal.
In the year 2003, Phil Gordon and a fellow poker pro, Rafe Furst, embarked on the Ultimate Sports Adventure Tour. In the course of their trip, they both attended over 140 sporting events and at each of the events they attended, they stopped to collect donations, raffled of prizes, and held auctions; with all revenues going to the Prevent Cancer Foundation. In total, they raised about $100,000 for the foundation during their tour. While on the trip, Phil and Rafe came up with another idea for their Bad Beat on Cancer concept. This was an initiative that requests World Series of Poker participants to pledge 1% of their winning to cancer research.
Over the year, Bad Beat on Cancer has gotten involved in quite a number of different endeavors, such as the annual charity poker event organized by the Twitter Poker Tour, which was held online at the Gordon’s Full Tilt Poker. The initiative also held a breast cancer charity event, called the Bad Beat on Cancer Challenge. This held in November of 2009 at PokerStars. Over the years, Bad Beat on Cancer has generated well over $3 million USD for cancer research and prevention.
Phil Gordon and World Series of Rock Paper Scissors
Gordon is the Head Referee of a USA Rock Paper Scissor – USARPS. Since the year 2005, he has hosted a continual annual $500 World Series of Rock Paper Scissors event in partnership with the World Series of Poker. During the event, the winner of the World Series of Rock Paper Scissors (WSORPS) will receive an entry into the World Series of Poker Main Event. This event is an annual fundraising initiative for the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation, which was carried out through Gordon’s Bad Beat on Cancer charity activities.
Annie Duke, a poker player, won the second annual World Series of Rock Paper Scissors in 2006. The tournament was covered by the ESPN and the highlights are recorded during “The Nuts” segment of the ESPN annual World Series of Poker broadcast. The year 2009 was the 5th year of the WSORPS tournament.
Phil Gordon and the Tournament Bridge
When he is not playing poker, Gordon is often seen playing at tournament contract bridge. His games have met with remarkable success. For instance, he has won two different North American Bridge Championships – NABC – events. In the year 1990, he also won the Red Ribbon Pairs. This was an event that was limited to players who have 2000 master points or less. During the 2008 Summer North American Bridge Championships event in Las Vegas, Phil was also part of the team that won the Open Swiss Teams of the NABC. The team defeated various national and world champion players at the event, even without any master point limit.
Phil Gordon and Politics
Phil Gordon is not the only poker pro that has ventured into the world of politics. As a matter of fact, there has been a poker professional player that made his intention to run for the U.S. presidency known to the public, even though he later withdrew his aspiration. Gordon has taken steps beyond just speaking about his intentions. In August of 2010, Gordon became an active member of the Libertarian National Congressional Committee (LNCC). According to him, the people of America deserve a Congress that understands that government is not a solution but the real problem of the country. The Libertarian Party is believed to be a feasible alternative to the 2-party travesty that produced the mess the country is currently in.
Other Ventures of Phil Gordon
As could be seen so far, Phil Gordon is a man of many sides. He is not only a poker player, a commentator, an author, and a philanthropist; he is also an actor. He appeared in the film, The Grand, which was directed by Zak Penn and produced in 2007. The film was a sort of mockumentary about an annual long running winner takes all Texas Hold’em Poker Tournament that took place in Las Vegas. In this film, Phil Gordon played the role of himself and he had a relatively major role in the film. He acted the role of the color commentator of the film’s televised tournament.
Phil Gordon Net Worth
Although Phil Gordon has not won big at any major tournaments, neither has he won any World Series of Poker bracelet, he has made some amazing winnings at various poker events. As a matter of fact, he has exceeded the $2 million milestone in the world of poker. According to thehendonmob.com, Phil Gordon net worth from his total live earnings is placed at about $2,786,896 USD. This amount is solely from his poker tournament earnings. Of course, given the fact that he is involved in other ventures, there is a high chance that Phil Gordon net worth is well above what has been quoted on the poker site.
Gordon’s best live cash in the world of poker so far is $600,000 and he occupies the 569th position on the All Time Money List. His rankings on the United States All Time Money List, Nevada USA All Time Money List, All Time Money List Current Rank, and Popularity Ranking are very low when compared to some other big leagues in the industry.
As mentioned earlier, there is no formal announcement by Phil Gordon that he has retired from the world of poker. This means he may still become active in the community. So far he has made a name for himself in every sphere of life he has touched.
Phil Gordon and the Full Tilt Poker Scandal
In 2011, Full Tilt Poker was involved in a scandal that rubbed off on Phil Gordon as well as a couple of other poker players in the community. Gordon was included in the class-action lawsuit that was filed against the online poker platform, Full Tilt Poker. In order to clear his name from any sort of illegal activities that involved the embattled Full Tilt Poker, Gordon engaged Maurice Suh of Gibson, as well as Dunn & Crutcher of Los Angeles. His legal team was requested to press a civil law suit that was filed by some poker players asking for the return of $150 million USD in funds that had been frozen in the United States players’ account on the website.
At the end of the case, Gordon was discharged with prejudice as a defendant after his legal team argued that he was never part of the management decision or the operations at the company. Gordon was later cleared of any money laundering or fraud activity.
While speaking about the event, Gordon stated that he has always held himself to the highest standards of good conduct and as such he has repeatedly reiterated that Full Tilt Poker should repay the frozen money back to the players as soon as possible. According to report, only Phil Gordon was dismissed from the suit as others were later prosecuted and asked to refund the money. Some top poker players that were involved in the Full Tilt Poker scandal are Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson, Jennifer Harman, Chris Ferguson, Andy Block, Erik Seidel, Mike Matusow, Gus Hansen, Patrik Antonius, Allen Cunningham, Erick Lindgren, and John Juanda.
Personal Life of Phil Gordon
Although Gordon is very much involved in various activities, he has tried to keep his personal life out of the public eyes. The fact that he is a celebrity also makes it the more intriguing. The only thing that is known about him is the fact that he has a wife and two sons. Phil Gordon lives in Newport, Washington with his wife, Barb, and their two cute sons, Zachary and Xander.
Conclusion
Phil Gordon is an American professional poker player who has made a tidy fortune for himself in the world of poker. Apart from poker, he has also made great impact in other spheres of life. His commitment to cancer prevention and research is a worthy venture that has endeared him to many. At the time of this writing, Phil Gordon net worth is estimated to be a little below $2.8 million USD.