Poker Writer
Lithuanian poker player and former politician Antanas Guoga, known popularly as ‘Tony G,’ watched with joy on Tuesday as a horse he partially owns won a prestigious horse race. Half Yours, running as No. 14, won the 165th version of the Melbourne Cup to take home 4.5 million AUD (~$2.9 million).
Tony G, who moved to Australia at 11 years old, called the win a childhood dream come true on X.
Childhood dream came true
Very proud to have won the Melbourne Cup with our horse Half Yours!
#14 ran an incredible raise [sic] and won $4,500,000 for first place.
History With Horse Racing
Tony G purchased a 10% share in the horse Half Yours for about $30,000 and also bet $100,000 on the horse to win with odds of $8.50. It was among the favorites in a massive 24-horse field. He told AFR news after the win:
Picked up $1 million. Pretty good. It’s much easier just betting on horses and investing in them. That’s much easier than playing poker, trust me.
The Melbourne Cup was not Tony G’s first foray into horse racing.
Earlier this year, in March, he posted on his Instagram that he was making some moves in the industry.
I just made some contributions to Australian horse racing which I love and grew up as a kid on. So happy that I’ve been able to support the local racing industry and very happy with Calvin McEvoy and Tony McEvoy who are training and looking after some of the horses that I made a small contribution into.
Business Ventures and More
Guoga has many irons in the fire when it comes to gambling, income, and his professional ventures. He has been known to the poker world as a fun personality on cash game shows, where he has had several memorable moments against Phil Hellmuth through the years.
What is Tony G’s net worth? The 51-year-old claimed to have a net worth of $300 million in May of this year. He describes the source of his wealth as “running a blockchain company” in a video featuring multiple wealthy individuals. He proceeds to offer advice on diversifying wealth and not putting all one’s eggs in one basket.
Tony G practices what he preaches.
He founded PokerNews in 2002. Early on, he even wrote several articles for the site. In his words, he “built it up to the No. 1 poker site in the world.” However, he began selling his equity in iBus Media in 2010 and steadily distanced himself from PokerNews‘ management and ownership.
The Lithuanian-born businessman also ventured into politics in his home country. In 2020, he was elected to the Seimas, Lithuania’s unicameral legislative body. But, he quickly resigned his seat just three months later after a parting of ways with Chairman of the Labour Party Viktor Uspaskich.
Prior to that, he had been a member of the European Parliament for the Liberal Movement from 2014-2019.
His poker appearances are sporadic these days. But he sometimes appears on the Triton Super High Rollers series, both in high-stakes tournaments and the occasional streamed cash game.
Image Credit: Augustas Didžgalvis via Wikimedia Commons (license)
