Better known as ‘Tony G’, Antanas Guoga is the Australian-Lithuanian poker star and business man. People always think of him as a super loose or aggressive player, and he uses that image to snatch big pots several times. He has appeared multiple times in Pokerstars’ The Big Game and given some of the best moments in poker history. In this report, we will delve into Tony G’s early life, education, poker career, earnings, net worth, and personal life.
Who is Tony G? Early Life and Introduction to Poker
Tony G is a professional poker player, a business personality, politician, and philanthropist. Born on December 17, 1973, in Lithuania, he was very skillful since childhood. His parents moved to Australia when he was just 11 years old. In Australia, Guoga attended school in Melbourne and did some short-term gigs, such as washing cars and lawn cleaning.
As he grew up, he became enthusiastic about finance and went on to earn a degree in accounting and finance. At the age of 20, Guoga began working for Citibank in Hong Kong. To be perfect in his job, he went one step further and learned Cantonese, showing his love for learning. Guoga used to play card games in his childhood and ultimately got into poker in the late 90s. He never took poker seriously. He always thought of it as a time-pass game rather than a career.
In Jeff Gross Podcast, Tony G said, “People who work purely on poker and don’t do anything else in life, they are missing out on a lot.” He further added, “Poker players who are really good in the game could probably do a lot more in life than just play poker.”
Although his opinion may not resonate well with some people, Guoga’s approach toward poker is very different from other players. However, poker played a pivotal role in Tony G’s life. In 2005, he founded Poker News and several other affiliate websites. Following his retirement from the Lithuanian Parliament in 2021, he scored numerous cashes, including the 2021 Super High Roller Series in Cyprus. As of September 2024, he has more than $11 million in tournament live earnings.
Tony G’s Poker Career Highlights and Earnings
Guoga began his poker journey in the late 90s by playing cash games. He scored his first live poker title in 2002 and followed that up with a runner-up finish in the 2002 Vienna Spring Festival €2,055 for $38,449, which was the first big score for the poker player, and it boosted his morale to compete in further tournaments.
One year later, he finished 5th in the WPT Euro Finals of Poker to collect $17,223. His first six-figure came in the 2004 WPT Grand Prix de Paris €10,000 NLH, where he finished as the runner-up for a staggering $414,478. He scored another six-figure in 2005 after winning the 2005 European Poker Championship Main Event for $456,822.
In 2006, Guoga won several tournaments, including the Asian Poker Tour Singapore $5,000 Championship event for $451,700. The next year, he triumphed in the Moscow Millions $10,500 Main Event for $205,000.
In 2009, he came 3rd in the EPT Monte Carlo €25,500 High Roller and banked $552,239. The same year, he also founded the online poker and sportsbetting site TonyBet.
In January 2010, he placed 5th place at the A$100,000 + 500 $100,000 Challenge at the 2010 Aussie Millions Poker Championship, Melbourne (Australia) for $92,296. The same year in August, he won the $20,000 Episode 10, The Poker Lounge, Cardiff (Wales) for $120,000 and placed second at the £15,000 No Limit Hold’em – High Rollers Event WPT London (England) for $131,479. In 2011, he won the World Lithuanian of the Year prize.
January 2012 saw him placing 4th at the A$100,000 + 500 No Limit Hold’em – $100,000 Challenge at the 2012 Aussie Millions Poker Championship, in Melbourne (Australia) for $249,133. In April that year, he finished 5th in the No Limit Hold’em PartyPoker.com Premier League Poker V in Vienna (Austria) for $100,000
In 2017, he won the ARIA High Roller $25,000 NLH for $353,280. He then scored a runner-up finish in the German Poker Championship €25,000 High Roller for $353,682. In 2018, Guoga placed 4th in the Super High Roller Championship Poker EM 2018, Velden for $ 146,222 and then notched up another 4th place in the Leon’s High Roller at WSOP Europe for $ 399,531
In 2019, he won the partypoker MILLIONS Europe €25,500 Short Deck and collected $265,859. He then took a break and returned to poker again in 2021. He first took down the $25,000 No Limit Short Deck Hold’em event for $382,500 and then won the $100,000 No Limit Short Deck Hold’em event for $1.196 million.
In 2022, Guoga competed in his first Triton series and ended up as the runner-up in Triton Madrid €100,000 Short Deck Main Event for a career-high score of $1,389,436. He also won the Mediterranean Poker Party $10,000 High Roller for $257,500. He ended the year by finishing 10th in the Triton Series Cyprus $200,000 Invitational for $485,000.
Despite several major cashes, Tony G has scored no bracelet in his poker career. He has cashed over 20 World Series of Poker events. He came 3rd in the 2007 WSOP Europe £5,250 PLO FOR $190,056. He again came close to securing a bracelet in 2019 WSOP Europe but busted out in 4th place for $888,942. As of now, he has earned $1.8 million in cashes from the World Series of Poker.
In last two years, Tony G hasn’t competed in any live tournaments, rather he has focused on playing high-stakes cash games in Triton and Hustler Casino. In 2023, he appeared in several Triton cash games and also appeared in Hustler Casino Live $1 million buy-in cash games. Talking specifically about 2024, he recently participated in the Triton Montenegro Cash Game and clinched a massive pot of $2 million with a bluff.
Tony G’s Net Worth In 2024
While we don’t have exact figures regarding his net worth, some websites report Tony G’s net worth in 2024 to be around $36 million, which he has made from his poker career and other business ventures. He currently has more than $11 million in live earnings and ranks first in Lithuania’s all-time money list. Since he also competes in cash games and has business ventures to his name, we assume his net worth to be much higher than this.
He is a smart investor and has invested in several poker-based and crypto coin-based businesses. He is the one who founded PokerNews, and also runs CryptoNews.
Tony G became a sponsored pro with PartyPoker in 2010 and represented the brand at several prestigious events. He is also the ambassador of the Crypto-based poker site CoinPoker. He was also a politician in Lithuania from 2014 to 2019, which is why he couldn’t give enough time to poker during that time.
Tony G’s Personal Life and Philanthropy
Tony G married model Aistė Šlapokaitė in 2014. The couple has two sons. Additionally, he also has daughters and a son from other relationships.
He also believes in sharing and caring as well. He has donated millions of dollars to charity, and he even sponsored several projects such as the Vilnius University Foundation, Lithuanian Armed Forces, Labas Gas Prienai, and more. For his donation and charity in 2017, he was among the Top 200 list of philanthropists and Social Entrepreneurs.
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