Tony G’s Amazing Horse Delivers $4.5M Win at Melbourne Cup

Antanas Guoga, in the poker world more affectionately known as Tony G , had a very successful off-felt weekend when his horse Half Yours, which he partially owns, won the 2025 Melbourne Cup.

The win paid out A$4.5 million in what was the 165th running of the country’s biggest and most famous horse race. Tony G, who was born in Lithuania but moved to Australia at age 11, wrote on X that his “childhood dream came true” by winning the Melbourne Cup.

The Australian horse race is one of the country’s biggest and most famous one, this year celebrating its 165th run. Tony G, whose win paid out A$4.5 million, was born in Lithuania and then, at the age of 11, moved to Australia. He shared the great news on X, captioning it “childhood dream came true” by winning the Melbourne Cup.

Childhood dream came true 🏆

Very proud to have won the Melbourne cup with our horse Half Yours!

#14 ran an incredible raise and won $4,500,000 for first place. pic.twitter.com/LlG5eUeVXo

— Tony G (@TonyGuoga) November 4, 2025

“Very proud to have won the Melbourne Cup with our horse Half Yours!”

– tweeted the poker player.

There were some interesting storylines involving the race, including the winning jockey, Jamie Melham, becoming just the second female jockey to win the Great Race. Michelle Payne was the first woman to win it 10 years ago.

The race featured some interesting storylines that wrote history in the sport. Jamie Melham, the winning jockey, became the second female jockey, after Michelle Payne, ever to win the Great Race.

After the race, Payne congratulated Melham with a “Welcome to the club.”

What a Day for Tony G

The first-place finisher suffered a near-fatal injury two years ago in March, after she fell off her horse during another race. She fought through a brain bleed and days of induced coma. Victory must have tasted phenomenal. Melham even defeated her husband, Ben Melham, who finished in 14th place with his horse, Smokin’ Romans.

While Land Legend, the No. 11 horse, was leading through much of the race, Half Yours (No.14) was stuck in the middle of the pack. However, Half Yours picked up the pace at the home stretch and won the Melbourne Cup by three lengths, leaving the second place to No.20, Goodie Two Shoes.

Next to Half Yours, Guoga is also a part-owner of another horse in the field, Al Riffa (No.1), who is also a big favorite. The Lithuanian poker legend and former European Parliament member continues the list of successes off the felt. This year, he appeared in a TikTok video that later went viral, telling an influencer how he made $100 million in a year.

Guoga, the former Lithuanian politician, founded PokerNews in 2002 and earned $11.3 million in live poker tournament cashes, reports The Hendon Mob. He was also featured in some of the world’s top cash games, appearing on livestreams such as Triton Poker and Hustler Casino Live. During the 2000’s, he was a key figure in televised poker shows, often trash-talking his opponents, especially Phil Helmut. Now he can expand his resume to’ Melbourne Cup Champion’.