Two-time WPT Champion
Phil Gordon is a world traveler, adventurer, best-selling author, TV and radio personality, spokesman, businessman, heli-skier, avid golfer, and philanthropist. And when he has time, he plays a little poker.
Phil was born in Stone Mountain, Georgia, a city mentioned in Dr. Martin Luther King's monumental "I Have A Dream" speech. "Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia." Phil took the request to heart.
As a National Merit Scholarship finalist, Phil entered college when he was just 15. He graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a degree in computer science and went to work for Lockheed Missiles and Space Company. After several years working as a computer programmer, Phil went to work for NETSYS Technologies. When his company was purchased by Cisco Systems, Phil decided to change his life. For five years he traveled the globe, walking through rain forests and deserts, climbing mountains and sailing across oceans. In all, he visited 50 countries on five continents.
Phil returned to the States but was determined to keep the adventure going. In 2001, he played in his first World Series of Poker Main Event and finished in fourth place. Since then, he's also won a World Poker Tour title at the WPT's inaugural tournament in Aruba. His knowledge, love and enthusiasm for the game was so evident in the documentary Inside the World Series of Poker, that he was asked to co-host the TV series Celebrity Poker Showdown.
Phil's other big passion is raising money for cancer research. Since the death of his great-aunt to lung cancer, Phil has helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars. Currently, he's a national spokesman and Board of Directors member of the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation.
Despite all of his accomplishments, Phil is the first person to tell you that there's nothing unique about him – except for his height (he's 6'9"). Like playing poker, be believes in making well informed decisions. And early on, he realized he shouldn't be afraid to try new things. As decisions go, that turned out to be a good one.
