Jennifer Tilly

At times, the film industry crosses over into poker. There are several well-known Hollywood actors who are serious about the game and Jennifer Tilly is one of them. She is well know for her acting but many don’t realize she has over 25 years in poker. She is often the first one to break out a deck of cards on a Hollywood set in between acting duties and will teach the crew how to play just to have people to play with. She loves the game and plays anytime she can. One of her friends took her to a home game where she met Vince VanPatten and Gabe Kaplan Both huge poker players as well as Hollywood regulars.

In 2004 she attended the WPT Celebrity Invitational at Commerce Casino in Los Angeles. The tournament combined poker with charity fundraising, with a side benefit of potentially befriending poker players with whom to play live poker on occasion. Instead, she met Phil Laak a professional poker player who has become her life partner.

In 2005 she attended the WSOP and entered the Ladies Championship where she won the bracelet and a $158,335 cash prize. And shortly thereafter, she won the WPT Ladies Night invitational event. She still plays ladies-only tournaments when possible because of the camaraderie. And she believes the tournaments are just as tough as open events, maybe even more so. “I think women are tougher than men because they are more intuitive.”

Jennifer has over $1 Million in tournament winnings.