Phil Gordon

Phil Gordon

  • Name: Phil Gordon
  • Nickname: Tiltboy
  • Current Residence: Las Vegas, Nev.
  • Born: June 6, 1970
  • Birth Place: El Paso, Texas, United States
  • Poker Room: Full Tilt Poker
Phil Gordon learned to play poker from his Aunt Lib. He says: "My sister and I would visit her house in Columbia, South Carolina every summer for literally months on end. Almost every night, we'd gather around the kitchen table to play penny-ante Five-Card Draw."

At 15, he entered college with a National Merit Scholarship and at 20 he graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a degree in computer science. Because he had dropped out of high school to attend college, his mother called him a "genius juvenile delinquent." After graduation, Phil worked for two years with Lockheed and afterwards joined Netsys Technologies, Inc. as its lead software engineer and first employee. When Cisco systems purchased Netsys three years later, they paid $95 million in stock and cash.

Phil took his cut of the dough and went on a prolonged, 'round-the-world' journey. In South America, he built a balsa raft and floated upon it along the Amazon River. In Uganda, he tracked gorillas. In Australia, he judged a wet t-shirt contest. Lively accounts of his adventures can be found on www.philgordonpoker.com.

Phil made a splash in the poker world when he finished fourth in the 2001 World Series of Poker championship event, winning $400,000. In 2002 he had two final table finishes, 6th in Pot-Limit Hold'em and 3rd in Omaha Eight-or-Better. UltimateBet.com subsequently invited him to play in the World Poker Tour's first tournament in Aruba, where he beat seven of the world's top players to win the $250,000 first place prize. During 2003, Phil was the analyst for Binion Horseshoe's live Internet broadcast of the championship event of the WSOP and he gave daily reports on Sporting News Radio's Murray in the Morning show. March 2004 found Phil winning the World Poker Tour's Bay 101 Shooting Stars tournament for a cool $360,000.

It was at Bay 101 that Phil and his group of fun-loving friends, known as the "Tiltboys," showed up at a ladies-only poker event dressed in drag. Phil went by the name Phyllis and he wore a lovely dress, Lancôme makeup, stockings and pumps. The "Tiltgirls" were cheered by the crowd; one patron did advise them not to say "I'm holding the nuts." At the end of the tournament, its director Matt Savage announced that at future women’s tournaments "panty checks" would be conducted.

Phil's further exploits have been reported on in Cigar Aficionado, National Public Radio's "This American Life," Smithsonian Magazine, CNBC's "Squawk Box," Card Player Magazine, as well as in many other magazines and even in an episode of "Blind Date!" As host of television's "Celebrity Poker Showdown," he has himself become a celebrity.

Trivia

  • Helps raise money for cancer research through the "The Bad Beat on Cancer" initiative
  • Former host of Bravo/NBC's "Celebrity Poker Showdown"
  • Author of several works, including the Little Book series
  • Graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Former software engineer

Notable Tournament Cashes

Tournament Place Winnings
2007 WSOP, Event 40, Mixed Hold'em (Limit/No-Limit) 15th $7,309
2007 WSOP, Event 35, No-Limit Hold'em 28th $16,989
2006 WSOPC, Harrah's New Orleans 4th $116,697
2007 Special, NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship 9th $25,000
2006 WSOP, Event 21, No-Limit Hold'em Short-Handed 6/table 16th $14,467
2006 WSOP, Event 14, No-Limit Hold'em w/re-buys 56th $4,636
2006 WSOP, Event 4, Limit Hold'em 42nd $5,831
2006 WSOP, Event 2, No-Limit Hold'em 46th $9,094
2005 WSOP, Event 16, $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout 3rd $75,350
2005 WSOP, Event 11, $2,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em 27th $4,970
2005 WSOP, Event 7, $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em w/Re-buys 8th $66,055
WPT Season 2, San Jose's Bay 101 Shooting Star 1st $360,000
2002 WSOP, Event 20, Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 3rd $33,840
2001 WSOP, World Series of Poker Main Event - 2001 4th $399,610
2002 WSOP, Event 11, Pot-Limit Hold'em 6th $14,220
2000 WSOP, Event 16, Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 14th $4,400
2000 WSOP, Event 18, Pot-Limit Hold'em 26th $3,600

Play with Phil Gordon at Full Tilt Poker

Full Tilt Poker Join Phil Gordon and play high stakes poker or just for fun at Full Tilt Poker.

Get Exclusive Full Tilt Poker Bonus!

Read Review (Score: 8.65)