Jennifer Tilly “The Unabombshell“

Birthplace
Harbor City, CA

Hometown
British Columbia, Canada

Birthday
September 16

Total Winnings
$146,950

Born in the Los Angeles area but raised mostly in the Victoria, British Columbia area of Canada, Jennifer Tilly was born Jennifer Chan but took her mother's maiden name of Tilly when she decided to pursue an acting career. She put herself through the theater program at Stephens College in Missouri by winning prizes in writing competitions. With much hard work and dedication, she became a working actress in Hollywood and landed such roles as Olive Neal in Bullets Over Broadway, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award in 1994. Her film and television resume is packed with a plethora of roles ranging from horror movies to hit TV shows like Frasier. But it was her role in a 1989 film called Let It Ride through which she acquired an interest in poker.

Jennifer played in home games for a number of years and was then invited to play at the WPT Invitational tournament at Commerce Casino in 2003. It was there that she met professional poker player Phil Laak, and the two began dating. Under his tutelage and an intense study of the game through videos and books, her skills drastically improved, and in 2005, she won the World Series of Poker ladies event that consisted of 600 players and took home a coveted bracelet.

Soon after, Jennifer was invited to play at the WPT Ladies Night tournament and defeated such players as Isabelle Mercier and Marsha Waggoner to take that title as well. In 2006, she won the well-attended Paul Hannum charity tournament at the Bicycle Casino, and at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic at Bellagio later that year, she won the $1000 no-limit hold'em event. Her skills have amazed even the most skeptical poker enthusiasts, and she is quite proud " rightly so " of her poker accomplishments. Balancing a successful acting career and now a successful poker career are a testament to what this woman can accomplish when she puts her heart into it.