Phil Gordon

Phil Gordon was born July 6, 1970 and is a poker player, author, and commentator, based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

At the age of 15, Phil reached the finals of the National Merit Scholarship. In 1991, Phil graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in computer science before the age of 20. After working at Santa Cruz Operation and Lockheed, Gordon joined Netsys Technologies as their first hired employee. Then 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.

Phil Gordon finished 4th the World Series of Poker (WSOP) championship event in 2001 where he won $400,000. He also landed a spot on the Travel Channel documentary ("Inside the World Series of Poker"). Then in 2002, Phil made two more WSOP final tables, finishing 6th in the $2,000 Pot Limit hold 'em event and 3rd in the $2,500 Omaha Hi/Lo Split event. At the 2005 WSOP, Phil took 3rd in the $1,500 No Limit Texas hold 'em Shootout event. Although Phil has made several WSOP final tables, he has yet to win a bracelet.

Sports journalism became especially attractive to Gordon in 2003 as he provided expert analysis for the WSOP Championship Event for Binion's live Internet broadcast, as well as daily reports for a national radio audience. In March 2004, he knocked out two players at once, one of which was Chris Moneymaker, to conquer the WPT's "Bay 101 Shooting Stars" tournament.

Phil Gordon has written three books on poker. A tip booklet he wrote for Celebrity Poker Showdown is now sold as a fundraiser for the Cancer Research and Prevention Organization, a charity he has supported since his Ultimate Sports Adventure fundraising tour in 2003-04.

Fun Facts:

• 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.