Paul Phillips is an American professional poker player who was born on August 9, 1972 in San Francisco, California. He is married with two daughters, and they currently live in Las Vegas, Nevada. Paul Phillips attended the University of California, San Diego, where he wrote the Boa web server. Paul Phillips became the Chief Technical Officer for Go2Net in 1996, but he sold his stocks in the company during the internet stock boom for a large amount of money, which he then used to play poker. It is for this reason that he earned the nickname “Dot-Com” in the poker world.
Paul Phillips acquainted himself with poker in 1994, when one of his college friends introduced him to poker upon discovering his interest in blackjack. He started competing in big poker tournaments in the late 1990s. He took part in his first World Series of Poker tournament in the Pot-Limit Hold’em event on May 7, 1999 and finished fourteenth. On July 19, 2000, Paul Phillips went on to win the Orleans Open in the Limit Omaha Hi/Lo event and pocketed $25,040. On February 19, 2001, he emerged victorious in the No-Limit Hold’em event at the LA Poker Classic tournament and took away $55,500 in prize money. Within a week, he was the runner-up at the same tournament in the Main Event – No-Limit Hold’em and added close to a hundred thousand dollars to his bankroll.
On February 5, 2002, Paul Phillips came back to win the LA Poker Classic, this time playing in the Limit Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo event. Three days later, he finished second in the Pot-Limit Omaha event at the same tournament. From these two finishes alone, Paul Phillips earned a total of $49,262 in cash. At the 33rd Annual World Series of Poker, he was the runner-up in the Limit Triple Draw event and cashed $24,820.
The year 2003 was an eventful one for Paul Phillips, as he went on to make a lot of money in the tournaments that he played. On September 3, 2003, he participated in the No-Limit Hold’em event at the Legends of Poker WPT Season 2 and placed second, which was worth $293,550. However, his biggest career win as of 2008 happened at the 2003 Five Diamond –WPT Season 2, where he bagged a whopping $1,101,980 for his first-place finish in the No-Limit Hold’em event.
At the 35th Annual World Series of Poker held in 2004, Paul Phillips had impressive final- table finishes in three events, which earned him $260,740 in total. On June 17, 2004, he won the No-Limit Hold’em event at the 4th Annual World Heads-Up Poker Championship, pocketing $35,387. Paul Phillips also took home $82,625 for his final-table finish at the Legends of Poker tournament on August 31, 2004. He has 33 cashes, 6 first-place finishes, and around $2,300,000 in tournament winnings as of July 2008.
Paul Phillips is reputed for his knowledge of the game and his ability to read his opponents very well. He is known to be aggressive and talkative at the table and often indulges in big-pot games. Apart from playing poker, Paul Phillips is active among the internet bulletin boards, plays Scrabble tournaments, and also writes a popular online poker blog.
Paul Phillips – Poker Career Highlights
- Event: 2004 Legends of Poker WPT Season 3 WPT Main Event – No-Limit Hold'em / Finished: 7th \ Earned: $82,625
- Event: 2004 Championship Poker at Turning Stone Main Event – No-Limit Hold'em / Finished: 5th \ Earned: $50,000
- Event: 2004 35th Annual World Series of Poker Event #30 - WSOP No-Limit Hold'em / Finished: 6th \ Earned: $89,840
- Event: 2004 35th Annual World Series of Poker Event #7 - WSOP No-Limit Hold'em / Finished: 4TH \ Earned: $88,320
- Event: 2004 35th 35th Annual World Series of Poker Event #5 - WSOP Limit Omaha Hi/Lo / Finished: 2ND \ Earned: $88,320
- Event: 2003 Five Diamond - WPT Season 2 WPT No-Limit Hold'em / Finished: 1st \ Earned: $1,101,980
- Event: 2003 Legends Of Poker WPT Season 2 WPT No-Limit Hold'em / Finished: 2nd \ Earned: $293,550
- Event: 2001 LA Poker Classic Main Event – No-Limit Hold'em / Finished: 2nd \ Earned: $95,950
- Event: 2001 LA Poker Classic No-Limit Hold'em / Finished: 1st \ Earned: $55,500
