Phil is a poker player, writer and journalist from London, England. He started playing poker with friends whilst an English student at Oxford University in 2002 because of the UK TV show Late Night Poker, and soon began playing online after that at the start of the internet poker boom. When he graduated in 2003 he decided to take it more seriously to provide an income whilst also looking for journalism work and began playing $20-$200 sitngos, then found the perfect combination in a job as Editor of Poker Europa magazine (run by Nic Szeremeta, creator of Late Night Poker), which allowed him to play poker and write about it too, as well as getting sent to major tournaments around the world.

In 2005 he left this role to play poker and freelance full time, writing for poker magazines like Inside Edge and Poker Player, as well as other Dennis Publishing titles, magazines and newspapers. In 2006 he had a breakthrough year in poker, with online tournament wins of approximately $76,000 and $42,000, as well as a live televised final table at the British Poker Open for £14,000. He then graduated full time into high stakes online cash games, mainly playing $5/10 to $50/100 No Limit Hold'em.

In 2007/8 he expanded his role into writing books, with the bestselling Secrets of Sitngos by D and B publishing, and began making poker videos for poker training site CardRunners alongside high stakes pros like Brian Townsend, Taylor Caby and Cole South. He also began expanding his poker playing into high stakes mixed games, and high stakes sitngos in order to achieve the coveted Supernova Elite status on PokerStars. He currently plays $200-$2000 sitngos, $25/50 - $200/400 mixed games and $5/10 to $50/100 No Limit and Pot Limit Omaha, as well as occasional tournaments. The sequel to his first book. Secrets of Non-standard Sitngos, was released in 2010. He is also occasionally available for private coaching.

In 2011 he co-founded Merge Consultancy to provide consultancy services to iGaming and E-commerce businesses, building on prior experience in the sector and combining this with the expertise of his other partners, as well as writing for industry magazine Inside Poker Business. Most recently, he joined PokerStrategy.com, the largest poker school in the world, and will be acting as a holistic video producer primarily making high-stakes videos covering mixed games and sitngos for Diamond members, and advising on poker strategy in the forums.