Antanas Guoga, aka Tony G, is one of the most famous players in the world of poker thanks to his skills, his aggressive style, but also thanks to his character. He’s well-known for his loud, outgoing personality and show-making abilities that can make a poker table a much more lively place.
Oftentimes, this led to some very funny moments in normally stressful and tense situations. Here are the top 5 moments when Tony made us laugh.
1. “I got the heart!”
In the first video, Tony plays at the Big Game in Germany and there’s a two-way pot worth almost $500k, contested by him and Rob Yong. Rob was the favorite after the flop, and then before the river as well, but Tony got a bit lucky, drew an 8 on the river, and won.
The way he reacts is basically the essence of Tony and how he behaves during a game. Screaming “champagne for the casino” and “I got the heart!” at the top of his lungs even got Rob Yong himself smiling after a while. In most corners of the internet, the technical term for this sort of behavior would definitely be “trolling”.
2. Bullying a player to call… and then losing to him
The second moment tells us a lot about Tony’s relationship with other players, which is always amusing, but very ambivalent. It’s a combination of benevolent joking, trash talking, and intimidation, which puts other players under pressure, but also makes the game much more entertaining.
Here, Tony was bullying another player to call his raise to such an extent that the other player, Roland de Wolfe, actually did it. Namely, Tony went all-in with 57 big blinds, holding a pair of 7s, and de Wolfe called with A-8 offsuit. Tony assures him there’s “no risk” involved and even offers to give de Wolfe the money right away if he’s got the better hand.
Finally, de Wolfe agreed. But the real fun starts after the dealer draws an ace on the turn and it’s priceless to watch just how much that annoyed Tony.
3. The Hellmuth rant
Tony hates limpers, nits, and anyone who plays too cautiously or tends to overthink. He’s also got a very specific relationship with another top player, Phil Hellmuth.
Now, Phil Hellmuth was taking an eternity to make a decision whether to call an all-in bet by Russell Harlow. After a while, Tony gets very irritated and starts complaining out loud and attacking Hellmuth for playing like a coward against an amateur player. Then Hellmuth calls the floorman to intervene.
Surprisingly, the floorman takes Tony’s side, and gives Hellmuth only 1 minute and 10 seconds to decide. Hellmuth folds, and it’s very difficult to explain just how happy Tony is because of everything that happened. A small, but enjoyable victory for him.
4. “Give him a refill!”
This funny moment comes at the end of a spectacular three-way pot that saw Tony holding pocket aces, while his opponents held AK and QQ respectively. Naturally, Tony went all-in straight away.
Everything in this video is hilarious – from how he makes his opponents enter the pot using reverse psychology, to how he behaves while the dealer is drawing cards to shouting “A nit calling me like this? It’s unbelievable. Bring me more of them! Give him a refill!” after he wins.
5. Lying to Phil Hellmuth
At the very end, here’s another one from the Guoga – Hellmuth rivalry. In this legendary game, Tony tries to convince Hellmuth to go all-in against him with AJ offsuit, by claiming he hasn’t even seen his own cards. Hellmuth believes him and concludes it’s a safe bet to play against a guy who has no idea what he’s holding. So he goes all-in.
As soon as that happens, Tony starts laughing and reveals his hand, which was, unsurprisingly, very strong – AK suited.
Hellmuth is shocked to realize that he’s obviously been fooled. “Oh, you lied!”, says Hellmuth, completely baffled, to which Tony replies “Of course I lied. It’s poker, Phil!”. The argument between the two players that follows is one of the most entertaining back-and-forths a poker fan can find on the internet.