As a child, Guoga was the
Rubik's Cube champion of Lithuania before moving to
Melbourne,
Australia, at the age of 11. He has played poker since the age of 18, and is known for his outlandish table talk and frequent attempts at intimidation of his opponents. He had a fifth-place finish in the
World Poker Tour Grand Prix de Paris 2003. He finished in the money twice at the
2004 World Series of Poker in
Seven-card stud and
Pot Limit Texas hold 'em tournaments. Three months later he earned his then biggest tournament money finish in the WPT Grand Prix de Paris 2004, where his second-place finish to
England's Surinder Sunar earned him $414,478. He finished on the bubble later in the same month at the WPT 2004 Mirage Poker Showdown. On 7 August 2005 he won the £5,000 no-limit Texas hold 'em Main Event of the European Poker Championships, earning £260,000. Later in 2005, he made the final table of the World Speed Poker Open. In 2006, he won the WPT Bad Boys of Poker II event when his outdrew
Mike Matusow's on a board of . He wore a
kimono throughout the event to promote poker in
Japan. Also in 2006, he finished second to
Yosh Nakano while representing Australia in the inaugural
Intercontinental Poker Championship, taking down $150,000. True to his reputation, Tony G launched many verbal assaults against his opponents, most notably when he eliminated
Russian Ralph Perry in fourth place. Tony G started to provoke Perry when he was deciding how to play his hand before the flop. When Perry called Tony G's all-in with a worse hand (K-J), Tony G proceeded to ridicule and lecture him. Tony's comments were so scathing that it prompted commentator
Gabe Kaplan to quip "I think Tony G is
speaking more like a Lithuanian than an Australian" and "Tony G could single-handedly reignite the
Cold War". Guoga was more respectful of some other players, such as
Doyle Brunson, calling Doyle his idol after eliminating him. In November 2006, he won the
Asian Poker Tour event held in
Singapore, walking away with $451,700, half of which he indicated he will give to
Asian and Australian charities to be nominated by Betfair. In February 2007, he appeared on the NBC television program
Poker After Dark, coming in third place behind winner
Phil Ivey. In November of the same year, he won a tournament in Moscow, earning $205,000. Often telling his opponents that he has a "big heart", Guoga claims that he left all of his prize money with the officials to give to Russian
orphanages, having been inspired to do so by
Barry Greenstein's habit of donating all his poker tournament winnings to charity. In January 2008, Guoga received the
Shining World Leadership Award in Melbourne Australia. In the 2008 WSOP, he finished sixth in a $5,000 No Limit Deuce to Seven Draw tournament for $78,075. In 2009, Guoga was a founding inductee into the
Australian Poker Hall of Fame. In May of that year, he had a third-place finish in the European High Roller Championship at the EPT in Monte Carlo for €420,000. On 23 February 2010, in
Vilnius, Guoga established the Lithuanian Poker Federation. Tony G occasionally plays high-stakes cash game poker. In 2018, he took part in the PartyPoker "The Big Game" High-Stakes PLO cash game alongside poker pros like
Isildur1,
Sam Trickett and casino owner
Rob Yong. In October 2019, Guoga had a fourth-place finish in the €250,000 No Limit Hold'em - Super High Roller event at the 2019 WSOP Europe in Rozvadov. He won €799,045. In August 2021, Guoga won a $100,000 No Limit Short Deck Hold'em event at the Super High Roller Bowl in Kyrenia for $1,196,000. In May 2022, he earned his largest live tournament cash with a runner-up finish in the Triton Poker Series for $1,389,436. As of 2023, his total live tournament winnings exceed $11,200,000. His 20 cashes at the WSOP account for $1,886,714 of those winnings. == Other sports ==