Poker Player - Phil Gordon
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Phil Gordon, the 6'9 professional Poker player, was born on 6th July 1970 but is notable for more than his height. Graduating from Georgia Tech in 1991 with a degree in Computer Science, Phil Gordon earned success early by becoming the first employee to be hired by Netsys Technologies, as a lead software engineer. Netsys was bought out by Cisco Systems in 1996 for over 95 million dollars and Phil Gordon took the money, and left his high tech career behind him.
Never one to follow convention, Phil Gordon became an adventurer, spending the next 5 years travelling the world, seeing over 50 countries, diving with sharks, climbing Kilimanjaro, snowboarding, gorilla trekking, white water rafting down the Zambezi River, and exploring some of the most remote and fascinating corners of the globe. It seems that Phil has been everywhere from the Galapagos Islands to Australia, where he had time to not only climb Ayer's Rock, but also judge a wet T-Shirt competition! Phil's numerous travel adventures can be found documented on his site www.pgordon.com.
With all this activity, Phil Gordon is relatively new to the world of professional poker playing, but in typical style, he made a grand entrance. He entered the 2001 World Series of Poker $10,000 No Limit Hold'em main event, his first major tournament, and he finished in fourth place. He took a cash prize of $400,000. The following year, he made 2 final tables, including a 6th place finish in Pot-Limit Hold'em poker and a third place finish in Omaha 8/Better. He then beat some of the top players in the world to scoop the $250,000 first prize at the inaugural World Poker Tour tournament in Aruba. In 2003, with his star in the ascendant, Phil Gordon was now providing expert analysis and commentary at the World Series of Poker championship event at Binion's Horseshoe, including daily radio reports on Sporting News Radio's Murray in the Morning show. And then in 2004, with spectacularly dramatic style, Phil Gordon won the Bay 101 Shooting Stars WPT tournament, with its first prize of $360,000 confirming his place in the world of professional poker. To win, he beat 2003 World Series of Poker Champion, Chris Moneymaker. In 2006, Phil Gordon's documented tournament winnings are already in excess of a million dollars.
Phil Gordon also makes a serious contribution to Cancer Research, in honour of the woman who taught him how to play the game he is so good at. His tutor died of liver cancer, and now Phil Gordon actively participates in fund raising events for cancer research and even asked his fellow players to contribute 1% of their winnings in the 2003 WSOP.
Phil Gordon also contributed to an online poker room - Full Tilt Poker and like many other new generation players, often plays online as well as in live tournaments. He has written three books regarding the game of poker: "Poker: the Real Deal", "Phil Gordon's Little Green Book: Lessons and Teachings in No Limit Hold'em" and "Poker: Insider Tips from the co-host of Celebrity Poker Showdown". He has also released a DVD called "Final Table Poker."
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