News / nono / 09 June 2008 / Leave a comment

Tom was born in 1953. As a good luck charm, Tom uses a Benjamin Franklin silver half dollar as a card protector, appropriately minted in 1953.

Tom lives next door to the former owners of Binion's Horseshoe, which owned the WSOP through 2003. Oscar Goodman, Mayor of Las Vegas, also lives a few houses away.

Tom collected $477,990 for first place. He also earned his first WSOP gold bracelet. This was Tom's first-ever final table at the World Series.

Phillip Tom made the following remarks in a post-tournament interview:

I really think this sort of format (the Shootout) fit my playing style. I have to eliminate players as I go along, and the seats are not re-filled. So, you can concentrate on the task at hand, which is focus on your opponents who are actually at the table.

It's a great feeling. This is what it's all about - to win at the World Series.