Phil Gordon (poker player)

Gordon was born in El Paso, Texas. He spent his formative years in Stone Mountain, Georgia. Gordon began attending Georgia Tech at the age of 15 while still attending high school. At the end of the 11th grade and after being awarded the National Merit Scholarship, Gordon dropped out of high school and attended Georgia Tech full-time.{{Cite web |last=Shulman |first=Allyn Jaffrey |date=May 7, 2004 |title=Phil Gordon – a Frog Turned Prince |url=http://www.cardplayer.com/cardplayer-magazines/65535-17-10/articles/13988-phil-gordon-a-frog-turned-prince |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100727011530/http://www.cardplayer.com/cardplayer-magazines/65535-17-10/articles/13988-phil-gordon-a-frog-turned-prince |archive-date=July 27, 2010 |access-date=September 13, 2010 |website=CardPlayer.com}} Gordon graduated from Georgia Tech with a B.S. degree in computer science in 1991. After stints working at Santa Cruz Operation and Lockheed, Gordon joined start-up Netsys Technologies as their first hired employee. In 1996, Netsys was acquired by Cisco Systems, making him a millionaire, and in 1997 he retired from the high-tech industry to travel the world and to play poker.{{Cite web |title=Phil Gordon Plays a Winning Hand |url=http://gtalumni.org/Publications/magazine/spr05/article3.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070223220746/http://gtalumni.org/Publications/magazine/spr05/article3.html |archive-date=February 23, 2007 |access-date=March 10, 2007 |website=Georgia Tech Alumni}}

Gordon currently lives in Newport, Washington, with his wife, Barb, and their two boys, Xander and Zachary.{{cite web|url=http://www.pgordon.com/phils-no-limits-life.html|title=Phil Gordon - a Frog Turned Prince|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101017202113/http://www.pgordon.com/phils-no-limits-life.html|archive-date=October 17, 2010|access-date=September 13, 2010}}

Phil Gordon first entered The World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event in 2001 and finished fourth, winning nearly $400,000.{{Cite web |title=32nd World Series of Poker - WSOP 2001, Championship Event - No Limit Hold'em |url=https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/event.php?a=r&n=3066 |access-date=December 9, 2023 |website=The Hendon Mob Poker Database |language=en}} In 2002, he made two more WSOP final tables, finishing sixth in the $2,000 Pot Limit hold 'em event and third in the $2,500 Omaha Hi/Lo Split event.{{Cite web |title=33rd World Series of Poker - WSOP 2002, Pot Limit Hold'em |url=https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/event.php?a=r&n=4398 |access-date=December 9, 2023 |website=The Hendon Mob Poker Database |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=33rd World Series of Poker - WSOP 2002, Omaha Hi/Lo Split |url=https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/event.php?a=r&n=4407 |access-date=December 9, 2023 |website=The Hendon Mob Poker Database |language=en}} At the 2005 WSOP, he finished third in the $1,500 No Limit Texas hold 'em Shootout event.{{Cite web |title=36th World Series of Poker - WSOP 2005, No Limit Hold'em Shootout |url=https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/event.php?a=r&n=8800 |access-date=December 9, 2023 |website=The Hendon Mob Poker Database |language=en}} Although he made several WSOP final tables, he has yet to win a bracelet. However, he did win the 2010 WSOP Ante Up For Africa event, defeating actress Shannon Elizabeth heads up. He donated the entire $129,086 first place prize to the charity.{{Cite web |title=41st World Series of Poker - WSOP 2010, Ante Up For Africa Charity Event |url=https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/event.php?a=r&n=40144 |access-date=December 9, 2023 |website=The Hendon Mob Poker Database |language=en}}

In March 2004 Gordon knocked out two players at once, one of them former World Series of Poker main event champion Chris Moneymaker, to win the WPT's Bay 101 Shooting Stars tournament.{{Cite web |title=World Poker Tour - WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star, WPT No Limit Hold'em Championship Final Day |url=https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/event.php?a=r&n=6755 |access-date=December 9, 2023 |website=The Hendon Mob Poker Database |language=en}} In 2002, Gordon won the professional division of the first UltimateBet Aruba tournament, before losing the championship to the amateur division's winner, Juha Helppi.{{Cite web |title=Ultimate Bet Poker Classic, WPT Aruba No Limit Hold'em - Pro's Bracket |url=https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/event.php?a=r&n=35196 |access-date=December 9, 2023 |website=The Hendon Mob Poker Database |language=en}}

On Thanksgiving Day 2006, Gordon won the Full Tilt Poker Poker Championship at Red Rock, outlasting 5 other notable poker headliners and ultimately defeating Roland De Wolfe heads-up to win a purse of $600,000.{{Cite web |title=FullTiltPoker.Net Championship, No Limit Hold'em |url=https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/event.php?a=r&n=25575 |access-date=December 9, 2023 |website=The Hendon Mob Poker Database |language=en}} Gordon earned $25,000 at the 2007 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship tournament, finishing in the final 16.{{Cite web |title=2007 NBC National Heads-Up Championship, No Limit Hold'em |url=https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/event.php?a=r&n=26789 |access-date=December 9, 2023 |website=The Hendon Mob Poker Database |language=en}} Gordon defeated Scotty Nguyen and 2006 WSOP Main Event champion Jamie Gold to advance.

As of January 2015, Gordon's total live tournament winnings exceed $2,700,000.{{Cite web |title=Phil Gordon's profile on The Hendon Mob |url=https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=97 |access-date=December 9, 2023 |website=The Hendon Mob Poker Database |language=en}} His 18 WSOP cashes account for $707,537 of his live tournament winnings.{{Cite web |title=Phil Gordon |url=https://www.wsop.com/players/profile/?playerid=214 |access-date=December 9, 2023 |website=WSOP.com}}

Gordon is part of the group known as the "Tiltboys", who helped design the software that was eventually used by Full Tilt Poker.{{cite web|url=http://www.poker-tomorrow.com/poker/players/phil-gordon/|title=Phil Gordon - Adventures in Poker|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101229214040/http://www.poker-tomorrow.com/poker/players/phil-gordon/|archive-date=December 29, 2010|access-date=September 13, 2010}} Gordon was a member of Team Full Tilt.

Gordon is well known for his commentary on poker broadcasts. Most notably, he was a commentator on Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown for seven seasons, before stepping down in 2006. In 2003, he provided commentary for the WSOP Championship Event for Binion's live Internet broadcast, as well as daily reports for a national radio audience, and he provided commentary for ESPN's live pay per view broadcast of the final table of the World Series of Poker main event championship in both 2006 and 2007. He was also the lead broadcaster for the ESPN series, The Pro-Am Poker Equalizer that began airing January 6, 2007.

Gordon has written five books on poker, including the bestsellers Poker: The Real Deal and Phil Gordon's Little Green Book: Lessons and Teachings in No Limit Hold 'em. Gordon has written for poker magazines, and writes a regular column and hosts a podcast, The Poker Edge, for ESPN.com. The podcast has been airing since April 10, 2006. Gordon has also released an award-winning instructional DVD, Expert Insight: Final Table Poker.

Gordon is well known for his philanthropic causes, especially cancer research. Gordon is an active fundraiser and sat on the board of directors for the Prevent Cancer Foundation until resigning in 2011 in the wake of the Full Tilt Poker scandal.

In 2003, Gordon and fellow poker pro Rafe Furst embarked on their Ultimate Sports Adventure Tour. During the trip, the pair attended more than 140 sporting events. At each stop, they collected donations, held auctions, and raffled off prizes to benefit the Prevent Cancer Foundation, raising $100,000. During the trip, Gordon and Furst came up with the idea for their Bad Beat on Cancer, an initiative that asks World Series of Poker participants to pledge 1% of any winnings to cancer research.{{cite web|url=http://twitterpokertour.com/coolwhip-corner/bboc-co-creators-phil-gordon-and-rafe-furst-spend-some-time-in-coolwhip-corner/|title=BBoC Co-Creators Phil Gordon and Rafe Furst spend some time in Coolwhip Corner - Twitter Poker Tour}} Bad Beat on Cancer has been involved in a number of other endeavors, including an annual charity poker event hosted by the Twitter Poker Tour and held online at Gordon's Full Tilt Poker,{{cite web|url=http://worthycausepoker.com/charity-events/online-poker/bad-beat-on-cancer-hosted-by-the-twitter-poker-tour.htm|title=Bad Beat on Cancer Hosted by the Twitter Poker Tour|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100220175006/http://worthycausepoker.com/charity-events/online-poker/bad-beat-on-cancer-hosted-by-the-twitter-poker-tour.htm|archive-date=February 20, 2010|access-date=January 20, 2010}} as well as a breast cancer charity event, the Bad Beat on Cancer Challenge, which was held in November 2009 on PokerStars.{{Cite web |date=October 30, 2009 |title=The Bad Beat on Cancer Poker Challenge Set for Nov. 12 |url=http://www.pokernews.com/news/2009/10/the-bad-beat-on-poker-challenge-set-for-nov-12th-7467.htm |access-date=December 9, 2023 |website=PokerNews.com}} Bad Beat on Cancer has raised over $3 million for cancer prevention research.{{cite web |url=http://www.preventcancer.org/badbeatoncancer/ |title=Put a Bad Beat on Cancer |access-date=March 20, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20060403075428/http://www.preventcancer.org/badbeatoncancer/ |archive-date=April 3, 2006 }}

As a USA Rock Paper Scissor (USARPS) Head Referee{{cite web|url=http://www.usarps.com/tourney-info/roshs-blog/article/view/master-roshs-analysis-of-the-final-match/97/|title=Master Rosh's Analysis of the Final Match|date=June 28, 2005|access-date=July 31, 2009|work=USARPS Leagues|publisher=USARPS|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717175551/http://www.usarps.com/tourney-info/roshs-blog/article/view/master-roshs-analysis-of-the-final-match/97/|archive-date=July 17, 2011}} Gordon has hosted an annual $500 World Series of Rock Paper Scissors event in conjunction with the World Series of Poker since 2005.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/14/world/americas/14iht-rock.1.5699920.html|title=Las Vegas's latest game: Rock, paper, scissors|last=Friess|first=Steven|publisher= NY Times|date=May 14, 2007|access-date = July 23, 2009}} The winner of the WSORPS receives an entry into the WSOP Main Event. The event is an annual fundraiser for the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation via Gordon's charity Bad Beat on Cancer. Poker player Annie Duke won the Second Annual World Series of Rock Paper Scissors.{{cite web|url=http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/rock-paper-scissors/|title=Annie Duke Wins 2nd Annual World Series of Poker's Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament (my research assistant gets knocked out in the first round)|last=Levitt|first=Steven|work=New York Times|date=July 26, 2006|access-date=July 24, 2009}}{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/espn/print?id=2540622&type=blogEntry|title=Where's Annie?|work=ESPN.com|date=August 5, 2006|access-date=July 24, 2009}} The tournament is taped by ESPN and highlights are covered during "The Nuts" section of ESPN's annual WSOP broadcast.{{cite web|url=http://www.pokernews.com/news/2005/06/the-real-championship-wsop.htm|title=The REAL championship at the World Series of Poker|last=Caldwell|first=John|publisher=Poker News|date=June 15, 2005|access-date=July 24, 2009}}{{cite web|url=http://news.pokerpages.com/index.php?option=com_simpleblog&task=view&id=86|title=WSOP Schedule Whiplash|date=June 14, 2005|access-date=July 24, 2009|publisher=Poker Pages}}{{Cite web |last=Craig |first=Michael |date=July 27, 2006 |title=EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE: Roshambo - The Rematch |url=http://pokerworks.com/blogs/craigsjournal/2006/07/27/exclusive-coverage-roshambo-the-rematch/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805095547/http://pokerworks.com/blogs/craigsjournal/2006/07/27/exclusive-coverage-roshambo-the-rematch/ |archive-date=August 5, 2009 |access-date=July 21, 2009 |website=Pokerworks}} 2009 was the fifth year of the tournament.

When Gordon is not playing poker, he often plays tournament contract bridge with some success. He has won two North American Bridge Championships (NABC) events. In 1990, he won the Red Ribbon Pairs, an event restricted to players with 2000 masterpoints or less.{{cite web|url=http://www.acbl.org/nabc/2009/01/bulletins/db7.pdf|title=Red Ribbon Pairs begins today|page=20|website=acbl.org|access-date=February 25, 2016}} At the 2008 Summer NABC in Las Vegas, Gordon was on the team that won the NABC Open Swiss Teams, beating numerous world and national champion players in this event with no masterpoint limit.{{cite web|url=http://www.acbl.org/nabc/2008/02/bulletins/db11.pdf|title=Gordon team claims Open Swiss|page=20|website=acbl.org|access-date=February 25, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140411080608/http://www.acbl.org/nabc/2008/02/bulletins/db11.pdf|archive-date=April 11, 2014}}

Gordon appeared in the 2007 film The Grand.{{Cite web |last=Cullum |first=Paul |date=March 23, 2008 |title='The Grand': Not taking the game seriously |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2008-mar-23-la-et-ca-ca-grand23-march2008-story.html |access-date=December 9, 2023 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}} Directed by Zak Penn, the film was a mockumentary (à la Best In Show) about a long running, annual, winner-take-all Texas Hold 'Em Poker Tournament in Las Vegas. Gordon played himself and had a relatively major role as the color commentator of the televised tournament.

• Poker: The Real Deal (2004) {{ISBN|0689875908}}
• Phil Gordon's Little Green Book: Lessons and Teachings in No Limit Texas Hold'em (2005) {{ISBN|1-4169-0367-4}}
• Phil Gordon's Little Blue Book: More Lessons and Hand Analysis in No Limit Texas Hold'em (2006) {{ISBN|1-4169-2719-0}}
• Phil Gordon's Little Black Book: Beginning Poker Lessons and the No Limit Lifestyle (2006) {{ISBN|1-4169-3641-6}}
• Phil Gordon's Little Gold Book: Advanced Lessons to Master Poker 2.0 (2011) {{ISBN|978-1-4516-4159-2}}

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.philnolimits.com Official site]
• {{IMDb name|id=1503696|name=Phil Gordon}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20061209051151/http://sports.espn.go.com/keyword/search?searchString=Phil_Gordon&source=l_navbar&rT=sports ESPN.com column]
• [https://www.cardplayer.com/poker-players/1254-phil-gordon Card Player profile]
• [https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=97 Hendon Mob profile]
• [https://www.worldpokertour.com/player/phil-gordon/ WPT profile]
• [https://www.wsop.com/players/profile/?playerid=214 WSOP profile]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090401222500/http://www.pokerlizard.com/interviews.html Pokerlizard.com Interview]

{{Team Full Tilt}}

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Category:1970 births

Category:American poker players

Category:American contract bridge players

Category:American gambling writers

Category:American male non-fiction writers

Category:Living people

Category:Poker commentators

Category:World Poker Tour winners

Category:Poker After Dark tournament winners

Category:Georgia Tech alumni

Category:People from Pend Oreille County, Washington