Phil Ruffin Biography

Phil Ruffin Bio

Citizens of Las Vegas and the business world in general know American businessman Phil Ruffin. The Las Vegas resident has been listed on Forbes 400 list of wealthiest people in the world numerous times. He is worth well over $2 Billion.

While he is known for many of his business ventures, his most well known venture may have been the purchase of the Frontier Hotel and Casino in 1999. Margaret Elardi and her family owned the casino at the time and the casino was in a long term strike with the Culinary Workers Union. Soon after the sale, the strike was settled and Ruffin ran the property until 2007. He then sold the property to El Ad Properties for $1.2 Billion. The 36 acre property commanded the highest per acre price in the history of the Las Vegas Strip.

In addition to his dealings with the Frontier Hotel and Casino, Ruffin holds half interest in the Trump International Tower and is a full owner of the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino. Outside of his casino interests he has numerous other real estate investments. He owns several hotels, he owns several manufacturing plants, and he leases 61 convenience stores in three states.

Not much is known about Ruffin’s personal life or even his true poker ability. He has won a celebrity poker tournament in the past, but many of those are on a par with daily tournaments held by most casinos. In a Forbes interview, when asked where to invest $100,000, his answer was in a “high stakes poker game.” As such, one can assume he has done a bit of “investing” in poker over the years.

Ruffin will showcase his ability on Season 7 of High Stakes Poker. Whether he has the ability remains to be seen, but it can be safely assumed that he can afford the loss. After all, he likely has more money than all of the players in Season 7 combined.