Analyzepoker Background Information about Tony G Poker
Born Antanas Guoga, and known in the world of poker as Tony G Poker, this exceptional poker player is a man of different shades. He is more than a poker star. He is both a politician and a businessman, and of course a philanthropist. Tony was born in Kaunas Lithuania on the 17th of December, 1973. The Australian-Lithuanian professional poker player is the Public CIO to Remigijus Simasius, the Mayor of Vilnius. In addition to this, he is also a renowned member of the European Parliament for the infamous Liberal Movement. He is a philanthropist, who has engaged in various charity works to better the lives of people in need. Tony G Poker is well known for a wide range of things, including his contribution to the world of poker, his charity works, and his passion for what he does. In this blog article, we explore the life of this great poker star. We take a look at his poker career, his major winnings, private live, scandal, and of course, Tony G Poker net worth. It is definitely going to be an informative read.
Highlights of Tony G Poker Career Dates
He stepped into the world of poker officially in the year 2002 and his first game was in the same year. He played in the €200 Seven Card Stud at the Winter Challenge 2002, Seefeld. He placed first in the event and won €7,350, which translates to $6,491 at that time. In the same 2002, Tony G Poker launched PokerNews.com. In 2004, he made it to the final table of the televised World Series of Poker event.
The year 2005, he won the first place in the £5,000 + 50 Main Event – No Limit Hold’em at the European Poker Championships in London. His first place position earned him £260,000, which totaled $456,822 USD at the time. In 2006, he also placed first in the World Poker Tour Bad Boys of Poker II event where he played against Mike Matusow in the No Limit Hold’em game. He won $25,000 at the event.
In 2007, he won the first place in the Moscow Millions Main Event where he played in the $10,500 Moscow Millions Main Event – No Limit Hold’em event and won $205,000. In the year 2009, Tony G Poker founded TonyBet. By the following year, he also created the Lithuanian Poker Federation. He was the recipient of the World Lithuanian of the Year prize award in the year 2011 and in 2017; he won the first place at the $25,000 No Limit Hold’em – High Roller event in Las Vegas. He won the sum of $353,280 at this event. Tony G is yet to win any World Series of Poker bracelet or a World Poker Tour title.
Early Poker Career of Tony G
Tony G Poker was born and bred in Kaunas, Lithuania, Alytus district to be precise. When he turned eleven, he relocated to Melbourne, Australia. It is important to mention that before his move, Tony was the Rubik Cube champion of Lithuania. He was in Melbourne, Australia all through his formative years. He attended a secondary school in Melbourne and after he graduated from the school, he took up a number of jobs, such as washing cars, and repairing sewing machines, before he enrolled in college. In the course of these years, Tony G Poker began to play poker and chess with his family.
While in college, he enrolled to study Accounting and Finance and after graduation he took up a job as an assistant to the chief of Australian Mortgage Brokers, Bill Buchanan. He later went ahead to take up a job position with one of the Hong Kong investment banks managed by Citibank. In the year 2002, Tony created PokerNews.com and started to win his first cashes at live tournaments. He started making appearances in World Series of Poker in 2004 and it was from this time that he began to gain popularity.
Tony G Poker’s World Series of Poker Highlights
Tony G’s first World Series of Poker appearance was in 2004 during the 35th WSOP event in Las Vegas. He played in the $1,500 Seven Card Stud event and placed 24th. He made a winning of $2,140 USD. He has participated in a couple of WSOP events but none has earned him a million dollar win yet. In 2007, he played in the £5,000 + 250 Pot Limit Omaha event during the 2007 World Series of Poker – Europe (WSOPE) and placed 3rd. He won $190,056 at the end of the event. He also participated in the 2008 World Series of Poker and played in the $40,000 No Limit Hold’em – 40th Anniversary event. He placed 10th and won $172,120 USD. His biggest winning at World Series of Poker was at the €100,000 No Limit Hold’em – Leon’s High Roller event during the 2018 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) where he placed 4th and won $399,531 USD.
Tony G Poker is yet to win any World Series of Poker bracelet. However, he has won a little above $1 million USD in total in the course of his 20 WSOP(E) cashes.
Tony G Poker’s World Poker Tour Events Highlights
Tony has higher cash winnings at the World Poker Tour than he has in World Series of Poker. In 2004, he finished in the second place at the World Poker Tour Grand Prix de Paris and he won the cash prize of $411,315. He has finished in money about seven times and made it to final table three times. Below are the highlights of Tony G Poker’s World Poker Tour events:
| Year | Tournaments | Winning |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | €10K No Limit Hold’em – World Poker Tour Euro Finals of Poker | $17,223 |
| 2003 | $2,500 No Limit Hold’em 2003 Bellagio Five Star World Poker Classic WPT Championship | $4,888 |
| 2004 | €10K Grand Prix de Paris/ World Poker Tour No Limit Hold’em | $414,478 |
| 2004 | $15K + 300 World Poker Tour Championship – No Limit Hold’em Five Diamond World Poker Classic | $21,781 |
| 2005 | €5,000 + 50 Main Event –No Limit Hold’em The European Poker Championships | $456,822 |
| 2006 | No Limit Hold’em World Poker Tour Bad Boys of Poker II | $25,000 |
| 2011 | €3,000 + 300 No Limit Hold’em Event World Poker Tour Malta | $8,501 |
| 2012 | €3,000 + 300 No Limit Hold’em – Main Event World Poker Tour Malta | $10,853 |
Tony G Poker net worth has been impacted by his winnings at both World Series of Poker and World Poker Tour events. As mentioned earlier, Tony is yet to win any bracelet and he has also not won any WPT Title in the course of his poker career.
Other Tournaments of Tony G Poker
Apart from the WSOP and WPT, Tony G has also participated at other tournaments in the course of his poker career. He has been successful in a couple of them, although he didn’t make it past the first day and first round in some of the event. In this segment, we explore the various winnings of Tony G Poker at other poker tournaments. Let’s go right into it.
In August of 2005, he played in the £5,000 + 50 No Limit Hold’em Main Event during the European Poker Championships in London. He placed first at this event and made a winning of $456,822. He also placed second in the Grand Final of the 2006 Intercontinental Poker Championship, which took place in Las Vegas. He won $150,000 at this event. In the same 2006, he played at the Championship Event – No Limit Hold’em Betfair Asian Poker Tour. He won the game and earned $451,700.
In the November of 2007, Tony placed first in the $10,500 No Limit Hold’em Moscow Millions Main Event in Russia and he won $205,000. About a year later, he also placed second in the $75,000 No Limit Hold’em Final PartyPoker.com Premier League Poker. He won $150,000 for his second place.
In May of 2009, Tony G placed second during the €25,000 + 500 No Limit Hold’em at the European High Roller Championship, European Poker Tour – 5 Grand Final. He made a winning of $552,239 for his 3rd place. He placed 5th at the A$10,000 + 500 $100,000 Challenge of 2010 Aussie Millions Poker Championship and won $92,296 USD. In August of the same year, he placed 1st at the $20,000 Episode 10 at the Poker Lounge in Cardiff. He won $120,000 for his performance at the game.
In September of 2010, he played in the £15,000 No Limit Hold’em High Rollers Event – World Poker Tour, London. He placed 2nd and made a winning of $131,479. January of 2012, he placed 4th in the A$100,000 + 500 No Limit Hold’em – $100,000 Challenge of the Aussie Millions Poker Championship in Melbourne. He won $249,133. In April of the same year, he placed 5th in the No Limit Hold’em PartyPoker.com Premier League V FOR $100,000.
In 2017, Tony placed 1st in $25,000 No Limit Hold’em – Arial High Roller and made a winning of $353,280. August of 2017, he went on to place second at the €25,000 No Limit Hold’em – GPC Super High Roller 8-Max and won $353,682. He also played in the €25,000 + 750 No Limit Hold’em – Super High Roller Championship event in Austria. He placed fourth and made a winning of $146,223. These winnings all impacted on Tony G Poker net worth.
Tony G Poker Live Cash Games
Tony is a regular player at high stakes televised cash games. He has made appearances in a couple of shows. Some of his most important appearances on shows include the PartyPoker ‘The Big Game’ in 2007. He played with a couple of professional poker players, including Phil Hellmuth. In 2009, he appeared in the Premier League Poker against Tom Dwan. He also featured in the Celebrity Cash Games in 2016. All the winnings he made at this event were donated to his foundation. In the year 2018, he also participated in Partypoker’s ‘The Big Game’ and he won $500K at the end of the event. The winnings from the live cash games also contributed to Tony G Poker net worth.
Online Poker Events of Tony G Poker
Tony G Poker plays a couple of games at the online platform under the nickname, ‘Poker Professor’. He shares some of the videos of his online gaming sessions on YouTube. Unfortunately, there is no reliable record of his winnings and games at the online platform.
Tony G’s Sponsorship Deals
Tony landed a sponsorship deal with PartyPoker in the year 2010. He became the sponsored pro and represented the company at various poker tournament events, including the World Series of Poker, World Poker Tour, and PartyPoker Premier League. He later left PartyPoker when he established his own online gambling platform, TonyBet. Since then, he has remained an ambassador for his own company.
Tony G Poker Net Worth
Tony G has acquired quite a tidy fortune for himself in the course of his poker career. According to the hendonmob.com, Tony G Poker net worth is estimated to be $6,094,182. His best live cash game is $552,239 and he places first on the Lithuania All Time Money List. It is important to mention that the net worth highlighted in this blog is based on his earnings from poker games. This figure is exclusive of his numerous other ventures and businesses. As mentioned earlier, Tony is yet to win any World Series of Poker bracelet or a World Poker Tour Title. However, he is still much in the game, which means anything can still happen. According to the ranking on All Time Money List Current Rank, All Time Money List Best Rank, Global Poker Index Ranking, and Popularity Ranking, Tony doesn’t rank among the top 60 in any of these lists and in some, he doesn’t rank among the top 100.
Tony G Scandals
Scandals are a big part of a celebrity lives, including poker professional players. Tony has been involved in his own share of scandals in the industry. For one, he is known for his bad etiquette, which has got him into trouble a couple of time. He is well known for trolling his opponents at poker table. There was a time he reportedly told a lie to Phil Hellmuth openly without blink an eye. He later admitted to lying later on, and was quoted saying, “…I lied. It’s poker”. By this, he implied that playing a game of poker gives the players a license to lie. Well, there are many poker players who hold on to their integrity at the table.
In 2006, Tony also got involved in another internal scandal among his poker colleagues. He represented Australia at the Intercontinental Poker Championships in the year 2006 and went heads up against a Russian player, Rick Perry. Tony practically bullied Perry into poor play and pushed him to go all-in with unsuited King Jack. Tony reportedly taunted Perry with various phrases to make him lose concentration. Eventually, Perry couldn’t take it further and just went in, giving up to Tony G Poker.
In the year 2017, Tony G also got involved in a political scandal, popularly known as the Paradise Papers scandal. His name was included in the list of the set of politicians that were involved in the Paradise Papers allegations. This list was produced after an investigation was carried out by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism. It was revealed that Tony G Poker was a former shareholder of a publisher of gambling news, iBus Media Ltd. This company is located on the Isle of Man.
In the same year, he was banned from coming into Russia. He responded to this ban on his Facebook page. According to him, he was banned from entering the country because he has been a vocal supporter of the anti-Russian policies. He went as far as dragging a Russian diplomat at a European Parliament hearing. It is essential to mention that the Russian officials never made any comment on the situation or responded to his allegation. Tony G went further publicly to criticize the Russian President, Vladimir Putin. Obviously, he is not a great fan of the Russian President and he never hesitated to air his opinions. Tony has gone far as to offer public comments in relation to Russian hacking as well as their alleged attempts to influence elections across the world. In all the scandals, Tony never felt he has anything to apologize for and he seems not to be bothered about his ban from stepping into Russian soil.
Private Life of Tony G Poker
In the year 2014, Tony G Poker, Antanas Gouga, married his beau, Aiste Slapokaite. She is a former psychology student and has also worked as a photography model for different brands, including Prada, Max Mara, and Armani Jeans. There were a lot of big names from the world of poker that attended the wedding, which took place in Vilnius. One of such attendees was Warren Lush, Tony G’s long time friend.
Tony and Slapokaite met at her 30th birthday party, which held at one of the Vilnius nightclub. The lovebirds got married in 2014 and the couple has two sons. It is important to mention that Tony G has two daughters and a son from his previous relationships. His first son with Slapokaite, Herkus, was born while they were in Brussels in the year 2015 while their second son, Tauras, was born in 2016 in Vilnius.
Tony G’s Business Ventures
Tony is a successful business man with investment interests in different companies in Lithuania. According to him, he prefers to invest in businesses that can create jobs for residents of the city. He established PokerNews.com early in his poker career and he bought the domain name for $6,000. He hired a couple of programmers to develop the site while he wrote the site’s content himself. In addition to the PokerNews.com, Tony G Poker is also the primary owner of many popular poker sites, including Pokerworks.com and Pokeraffiliateworld.com.
When he launched TonyBet in 2009, he created a ‘Tony’ brand along with it. The Tony brand is an international betting company that holds both Estonian and UK gaming licenses. These licenses allow the company to offer betting services to the entire European market. In September of 2016, Betsson, a Swedish company, bought TonyBet business over in Lithuania for the large sum of €6 million.
Known for his business interest and passion, Tony G Poker also ventured into the world of Blockchain in 2017. He launched Blockchain Centre Vilnius in 2017. This center features a co-working space setting and event space, which was designed to offer legal, financial, and technical advisory services to blockchain start-ups. This is aimed to help them attain their business goals. The company is described on its LinkedIn page as the first blockchain technology center that connects stakeholders across Asia and Europe.
In addition to all these ventures, Tony also owns a life insurance company, which is located in Australia. This company is called Rate Detective. He also has a trading business in London as well as a huge investment in the real estate business.
Although Tony G Poker net worth is estimated a little above $6 million USD on hendonmob.com, his real net worth from his various business ventures far exceed this figure. According to the Lithuania Tribute that was published in 2014, Tony G Poker net worth was reported to be in excess of $36 million USD.
Tony G Poker Hobbies
Although he is a dedicated and busy businessman, Tony has also got time for extracurricular activities. For one, he is intensely involved in the promotion of sports in Lithuania, especially basketball. It is noteworthy to mention that Tony has always loved the game of basketball, even as a child. His love for games is evidence in his sponsorship projects. He is a strong sponsor of the Lithuanian Basketball Federation and he paid the major share of the €500,000 of the national team’s application fee, which entitled the team to be a wild card entry for the 2010 FIBA World Championship that took place in Turkey. The team was not qualified for the championship initially but they were later on chosen through the wild card application. Interestingly, they ended up winning the bronze medal at the end of the event.
As a sign of his support and sponsorship, the team played in jerseys that have TONYBET inscribed on them. Apart from his sponsorship of the national team for the championship game, Tony G was also the team’s manager between 2010 and 2012. He was also once the vice president of Lithuanian Basketball Federation and also the primary sponsor for BC Prienai, a professional basketball club.
Apart from his active participation in Lithuanian Basketball Federation, Tony is also very much involved in the Lithuanian Rowing Federation. As a matter of fact, he took up the role of the vice president of the club in the year 2014.
Tony G Poker Charity Activities
Tony is also popular for his various philanthropic gestures. Suffice to mention that when Richtopia put together a list of the Top 200 Philanthropists and Entrepreneurs in the World, Tony G Poker (Antanas Guoga) is the only member of the European Parliament or a Lithuanian that made the list. Tony played at different charity poker events and he usually contributes large portions of his numerous winnings to charity trusts and organizations.
In the year 2016, he played in the Celebrity Cash Kings and won €109,000 at the event. He donated the entire winnings to Bedu Turgus and Maisto Bankas, and Vilnius University. Suffice to mention that Bedu Turgus and Maisto Bankas are two of the best charity organizations in Lithuania. Tony G Poker also has his personal charity organization, which he named A. Guoga Foundation.
Conclusion
Tony is a man of many hats. He is different things to different people. For some, he is just a poker buddy and for some other, he puts food on their table and for many others, he is the hope that keeps them going through his charity works. Although he has not made an astronomic winning at the felt table but he is neither a novice nor a sub at the poker table. He has made a couple of winnings and his total live earnings from games are proof of these. He is not only into poker; he has business interests in a wide range of industry. No doubt, he is one of the poker figures in the industry worth emulating. He is definitely not putting all his eggs in the poker baskets. He has diversified into other lucrative business. Tony G Poker is very active on social media. He has two official websites and his Twitter handle has over 71,000 followers. He also has close to 110,000 fans on his Facebook page and over 3,000 subscribers on Instagram.