Tyler Phillips caught the poker bug at a very early age, along with his older brother Carter. While Carter made a name for himself on the circuit during the height of the poker boom, taking down a European Poker Tour main event and two World Series of Poker bracelets, 33-year-old Tyler has caught fire as of late, putting together a career year in 2025.
The Charlotte, North Carolina native has been particularly successful at nearby Harrah’s Cherokee Casino, where he is among the top 10 on the venue’s all-time money list. His run there started in 2019, when he took down the $400 no-limit hold’em event at the WSOP Circuit stop for his first ring and $123,216.
More deep runs and final tables followed after the pandemic, and in December of 2022, he finished runner-up in the $1,700 WSOP Circuit main event for $220,613. The next year, he returned to the same final table, this time taking fourth for another $123,261.
Phillips’ 2025 campaign included two final table appearances at the WSOP in Las Vegas, taking third in the $1,500 stud event, and sixth in the $1,500 2-7 single draw lowball event. He then went on to outlast 2,541 players in the Wynn Summer Classic Mystery Bounty event for $241,001.
Of course, the year also included more wins at Cherokee, including a second Circuit ring in May in a $400 pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better event. He would close the year with ring no. 3, taking down the $400 Monster Stack event for $127,911. He now has career earnings of more than $1.8 million.
Craig Tapscott: To what do you attribute your amazing year?
Tyler Phillips: Drinking way less and losing 40 lbs. was probably a big help for my mental focus last year. Also, getting glasses. I highly recommend getting your eyes checked if you ever struggle to see the community cards. It was a game-changer.
CT: Being able actually to see the flop is always a good thing. How do you plan to follow up your performance in 2025?
TP: My wife and I are expecting a second child in February, so I’m not sure what 2026 has in store for me in poker. I would love to increase my online volume and really get a lot better across all forms of tournament poker. I know I have some big ICM (Independent Chip Model) leaks and am probably a bit too aggressive in every spot. I’m hoping to spend more time on focused studying and enjoying the learning aspect of the game again.
The new tax laws also have me wary of playing anything live bigger than a $3,500 World Poker Tour event (except for World Series of Poker and WPT 10,000 main events).
Event: WSOP Circuit Cherokee Monster Stack
Buy-In: $400
Entrants: 3,241
Prize Pool: $1,069,530
First-Place Prize: $127,911
Craig Tapscott: Let’s talk about your latest win and six-figure score.
Tyler Phillips: Despite winning the tournament, I can’t really recall the huge hands I lost. Early on day 2, after building a stack, I did bluff off half of it on the river. But I can’t remember the details of the hand, because I was just so locked in on not letting anything affect my play.
The two hands I’m going to focus on instead were the two that I won.
Hand No. 1
Stacks: Tyler Phillips – 4,000,000 (50 BB) Villain – 1,600,000 (20 BB)
Blinds: 40,000-80,000 with an 80,000 big blind ante
Players Remaining: 24
Players: 8
CT: What do you know about this opponent?
TP: My read on this player was that he was a good mid-stakes reg. He was smart and aggressive. I played with him most of day 1, and believed he was a solid, aggressive, live pro.
He won the opening event at Cherokee a week earlier as well, so his confidence was already sky high.
Phillips raised to 160,000 from UTG+1 holding Q♦10♦. The Villain called from the big blind.
FLOP: 6♥5♦3♥
Villain bet 110,000.
CT: What did you make of this donk bet?
TP: Even with ICM adjustments and what should be a lack of offsuit gappers that make straights here, this board is still one where big blind will have some leads.
But I believe most aggressive live regs at the mid-stakes are leading far too often here. A lot will just see a low board and auto-lead 100 percent of their range.
Also, my hand just has too much equity in general versus the big blind range to fold to a 25% bet here.
Phillips called.
TURN: 2♦
Villain bet 330,000.
CT: Did you give the Villain any more credit now with the turn bet?
TP: Once the Villain leads on the flop, they are 100 percent barreling this card as well.
I picked up a backdoor flush draw, and now I can really never fold unless the big blind does something unexpected, like jamming 2x+ pot.
After playing with him for two days, I wasn’t worried that he was somebody who would mostly have it here when he continues to barrel.
CT: What was the plan?
TP: I had two options. I could call, hope to hit a queen or ten, and bluff-catch. Or I could hit a diamond, and be ahead of basically all of his value.
The other option was to jam the turn and deny all equity, and possibly get some one pair hands to fold.
I was very focused on his actions while counting out chips, trying to get a read on what his confidence level was in the hand. While he was thinking about what to do and counting out chips, it just appeared to me that he was not confident in his bet, and he seemed very uncomfortable.
I also assumed that when I missed, I would lose the pot 100% of the time because I felt like it was extremely unlikely my opponent was ever going to check-fold. They were either jamming rivers or check-calling.
This ultimately led me to the decision to take the line of jamming, hoping to get the fold and end the hand right there.
Phillips moved all-in, and Villain folded. Phillips won the pot of 990,000.
TP: Fortunately for me, my opponent snap-folded, and I took down a significant pot.
Hand No. 2
Stacks: Tyler Phillips – 70,000,000 (58 BB) Jacob Ferro – 60,000,000 (50 BB)
Blinds: 600,000-1,200,000 with an 1,200,000 big blind ante
Players Remaining: 2
TP: Going into heads-up play, I had been playing defense basically the entire final table anytime my opponent had opened or three-bet due to ICM pressure.
Ferro had held a pretty significant chip lead from six people on and was playing very well, and aggressively. This led to me being a nearly 4:1 dog going into heads-up play.
CT: What were you feeling as heads-up play started?
TP: To be honest, in these spots, I actually feel more relaxed and ready to battle because my expectations aren’t as high. I am just focused on playing well and giving myself a chance to win.
Early on in the match, I was able to get value in a few spots and bluff catch in others. Momentum was heavily in my favor, and we were basically even in chips going into what was a very significant hand.
Ferro raised to 2,500,000 from the button. Phillips called from the big blind with 9♦8♦.
CT: Would you ever reraise in this spot?
TP: I did consider a three-bet, but it’s also a situation where if he four-bet jams, it’s pretty sad to have to fold this type of hand.
FLOP: [invalid notations]
Phillips checked, and Ferro checked behind.
TURN: 8♣
CT: Would leading out be appropriate after he checked behind on the flop?
TP: I think going for a large bet or going for a check-raise are both on the table. I do think I will have bluffs, so leading large was fine.
Phillips bet 6,500,000, and Ferro called.
RIVER: 10♣
TP: That was a horrible river. One that I am going to have to check and hope they check-back or check-fold. So many hands that can face a large pot-sized turn bet got there. Those hands can now bet for value or check back and win.
Phillips checked.
TP: Ferro immediately reached for chips to start counting them out.
Ferro bet 22,000,000.
CT: What did you make of the bet?
TP: Something felt off about the sizing, and in general, my gut was telling me almost immediately that he was hoping for a fold.
CT: How so?
TP: I understood that he had a lot of combos that were going to have me beat on the river. I also didn’t believe he’d put this much pressure on me in a spot that looks like I may not have much that can call a large river bet.
We can go down the rabbit hole of… ‘if he knows you think that, then maybe he’d bet larger, so you level yourself into a call.’ But ultimately, I just had to go with my gut, and I decided he wanted me to fold.
Phillips called, and Ferro turned over 8♥4♥. Phillips won the pot of 63,200,000.
CT: I doubt you expected Ferro to have that hand.
TP: I was surprised when he showed 8♥4♥ for a worse two pair. Clearly, turning it into a bluff, not going for value.
I would have assumed that hand was strong enough to check back and win at showdown a high enough percentage of the time to not have to bluff.
CT: Great call. How much longer did heads-up last?
TP: After a few more hands, I jammed K-8 offsuit on the button and won versus Q-J offsuit to secure my third ring. I was very happy to win because my dad was planning on leaving that day, but decided to stick around to see how the tournament went for me.
It was great to share a victory photo with him and a memory that will last the rest of my life. It was also great having friends stick around to sweat the final table and support me. I feel very fortunate for everything that went into that win.
Follow Phillips on Twitter/X @TylerP_Poker.
- Photos by WSOP, WPT