World Poker Tour

Paul Phillips “Dot Com“

Hometown
San Francisco, CA

Total Winnings
$1,499,005

Growing up in San Francisco, California, Paul Phillips was in the right place at the right time when the Internet boom hit the U.S. He studied as a computer science major at the University of California at San Diego, then went on to climb his way up the corporate ladder at a leading Internet company, eventually landing in the position of Chief Financial Officer. During college, however, he also discovered poker. Throughout his somewhat short-lived career in the business world, he began honing his game through live and Internet play, as well as through message boards where discussions revolved around poker.

Paul's bankroll had been set aside from his corporate earnings, and he finally left the Internet business in the late 1990's to play poker on a full-time basis. While he has always been very active in the poker world, he has also been very outspoken, a trait that led to several rifts with the World Series of Poker management and the reason that he sometimes withdraws from the tournament circuit for periods of time. Even so, he continues to play cash games and invest his winnings wisely.

With consistent cashes in tournaments around the world, Paul's resume has been ripe with cashes and wins since 1999 when he first cashed at the World Series of Poker. His first significant victory came in 2000 in the $1000 no-limit hold'em tournament at the L.A. Poker Classic, then he found television fame with the World Poker Tour at the 2003 Legends of Poker main event where he finished in second place nearly $300,000. Only a few months later did he claim a WPT title at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic for over $1.1 million and the prestigious first-place trophy. Paul remains a vocal member of the poker community and, more importantly, a solid presence at any table he joins.