Tony G is a Lithuanian professional poker player who was born in Kaunas, Lithuania in 1973. Today, he is one of the world's top poker professionals and one of the most animated at the poker table.
At an early age, Tony G was somewhat of a prodigy. He went to a gifted school for chess players in the Soviet Union and was a Rubix cube champion in his hometown in Lithuania. Just after, he turned 11, his family moved to Australia. He began to play basketball at his school and began playing with in poker games with his buddies. By the age of 15, he was already playing in high stakes local cash games.
He was already better than a lot of the older, more seasoned players in his games. When he was 18 he moved to Hong Kong to become a dealer, made a decent wage and watched other players' tendencies and play style to help improve his game.
Eventually, he moved back to Australia and built his bankroll to several hundred thousand dollars. Tony G dreamed of Las Vegas and decided to go there despite not being of legal gambling age. He secured a fake ID and tried his hand at the tables. Unfortunately, like many gamblers first trip to Sin City – Vegas got the best of him.
Tony G headed back to Australia broke, but determined to get better at poker. He bounced around a bit moving to London and other European cities before finally settling in Vienna, Austria. In Austria, he put his name on poker wait lists as "Tony G" and the alias stuck with him at local casinos. After a few years, he was one of the best players in Vienna and was feared by most regulars at the casinos.
He then discovered online poker. Instead of waiting around for high stakes games live, he realized, he could play in the same high stakes games – without the wait – and get a larger number of hands per hour online.
Tony G has over $2 million in live tournament earnings, including 15 WSOP cashes. He has also been on many live poker television programs, such as Poker After Dark.
Tony G currently resides in Lithuania.
