 |
Poker people |
 The blond, blue-eyed teen dream heart-throb from the Backstreet Boys was at The Palms Hotel and Casino Resort in Las Vegas for the LG All Star Poker Showdown, which took place in the hotel’s mega-swanky Hardwood Suite, where he was joined by her ex-flame, Paris Hilton, only to find himself bested at the table by Danny That 70’s Show Masterson. |
 Actor, screenwriter (Hulk, 2008), Yale graduate, bilingual (Spanish, Japanese, and some French) charitable philanthropist, and poker enthusiast provide a tiny glimpse into the many layers of who Edward Norton is. |
 While viewers might be more familiar with her as Donna, the hot red-head on Fox’s successful That 70’s Show, in real life Laura Prepon travels in Hollywood’s hip poker circles. She played in the 2004 World Series of Poker and is often seen at the Bicycle Casino with her boyfriend, Malcolm in the Middle’s Chris Masterson. |
 Ben Affleck as a poker player can be compared with Shana Hiatt: 90 per cent of the audience watch him playing not because they are interested in poker but because he is “The Sexiest Man Alive”. Being a professional poker player he has become very enthusiastic about poker. |
 Her real last name is not Tilly… it is… (drum-roll) Chan! There is no wonder that she won being Chan. |
 Make no mistake, Layla Kayleigh is smokin’ hot. The freshly announced new hostess of the WPT season six which airs January 2008 on GSN already has a following of loyal, if not drooling supporters. |
 Anybody who is not aware of Ellen DeGeneres has probably spent the last few years living in a cave or an Amish community. Ellen’s career has been hallmarked by dramatic moments, massive successes and the occasional public airing of her very personal dirty laundry. She has gone from the stand-up stage to her own hit television sitcom, to near public anonymity. After some rather torrid personal issues, she rose from the ashes and is now back on top as the host of her own hit talk show. |
 Paris Hilton has gone from simply being a fabulously wealthy hotel heiress to a pop-culture phenomenon of epic proportions. She has found herself in starring roles on not only the film and television screen, but Paris has had top billing on more than a few computer screens. Those who are familiar with her body or work will agree that she is a talented and flexible young lady who is willing to take in everything that Hollywood has to offer. Currently, what it is serving up is a healthy portion of poker. |
 The little boy grew up and was now always carrying three pistols: two .45 automat and a small .38 revolver. It was hard at that time to manage without them. |
 At the tender age of 3 Sully Erna was beating on drums. Erna’s father, Salvatore Erna, played the trumpet and his great grandfather was a celebrated Sicilian composer. He began playing penny poker with his dad as a youngster. |
 As a child, Mimi used to accompany her father, an accomplished card shark, on trips to Lake Tahoe, where she illegally played poker and blackjack. She has competed on TV’s Celebrity Poker Showdown and World Poker Tour, and sits on the World Poker Tour Board of Directors. She competes in the World Poker Tour and Professional Poker Tour events and continues to hone her skills in her regular home games with her Hollywood friends. |
 Shannon was born in Houston, Texas in 1973 and raised in Waco, Texas. Unlike many other celebrities who wanted to be stars as soon as they were first exposed to television, Shannon’s focus wasn’t on a life in front of a camera. Much of her time was spent preparing for a career as a professional athlete. While in high school, she was still working towards a future in tennis. |
 The most enduring vision that comes to mind about Leonardo DiCaprio is him, standing at the prow of the Titanic, proclaiming himself to be "King of the World". Outside of Hollywood it would probably be tough to find three people who would agree with his declaration of sovereignty. Most folks would say that a world run by Leonardo Dicaprio is a world they would prefer not to live in. In reality, Leonardo probably has very little designs on running the planet, though it would seem he has some interest in being crowned king of the poker world. |
 Traci Bingham first appeared on the radar screen for most people when she portrayed Jordon Tate on the show Baywatch. It was here where she crossed a racial barrier. Traci was the first African American to don the red bathing suit of a Baywatch lifeguard. This wasn’t exactly Jackie Robinson stepping on to the diamond at Dodger Field for the first time, but it got the attention of many of us. |
 Most of us know Christopher Meloni from his role as Detective Elliot Stabler on the Law & Order spin off Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. After looking at Christopher, most folks would agree that it wouldn’t be difficult to mistake the tall, athletic actor for a real law enforcement agent. |
 If Spiderman can do whatever a spider can, then spiders must be able to play poker, because the web slinger’s alter-ego certainly knows his cards. One of Hollywood’s hottest young stars, Maguire is also one of Tinseltown’s leading card sharks, having won the Phil Hellmuth Invitational No Limit Hold’em 2004 National Championship of Poker, walking away with a first prize of $95,480. |
 The last time most of saw Jack Black, he was introducing a big Gorilla who would eventually run amok through the streets of New York. No, we are not talking about "Larry the Cable Guys" last vacation to the Big Apple. Jack recently starred in the Blockbuster remake of the 1933 film, "King Kong". |
 In a recent admission by the leggy bombshell, Cameron admitted that poker has become an obsession with her. Her near religious conversion to the game came from a rather unusual missionary. Diaz credits talk show host, Ellen Degeneres as the person who introduced her to the game. |
 Who knew that when, in 1987, Gail O’Grady was sitting in VW, being dismembered by a Werewolf in a bad Made for TV movie, that it would be the start of a long and impressive career. Since doing the dance of death with a mythical beast in a German automobile, Gail has found herself part of some of the most popular and groundbreaking television shows in history. The Detroit actress has been part of the cast for NYPD Blue, China Beach, and most recently American Dreams. |
 Phil Gordon is considered one of the nicest guys of poker. In his 35 he is a professional poker player, poker author and analyst, Celebrity Poker Showdown co-host and a millionaire. Moreover – he has been in more than 50 countries. |
 Although known to millions of TV viewers as the Brillo-headed proto-punk Hyde on Fox’s mega-successful That 70’s Show, Danny Masterson is also one of the hottest club promoters on the Hollywood scene, the half-brother of Malcolm In the Middle’s Chris Masterson, and the co-owner (along with fellow That 70’s Show stars Ashton Kutcher and Wilmer “Fez” Valderrama) of the Los Angeles restaurant Dolce. |
 The boyishly handsome Matt Damon was trained by poker star Phil Hellmuth for his role in the 1998 movie Rounders, where he played a law school student who loses his tuition money in a high stakes poker game, only to be dragged back into the circuit to pay debts incurred to a Russian mobster. |
 A lot of the actors and actresses that we are seeing recently seem to be second or even third generation thespians. The trail was blazed by the people who came before them and they had little to do besides be born to inherit the Hollywood lifestyle. On the other side of the fence there are those who got to where they are the old fashioned way, the worked hard for it. Tom Everett Scott is one of those actors who took the way less traveled. |
 Most people who appear on Bravo’s celebrity poker are seem to be on the back end of their careers, while taking any job to claw their way back into the limelight. Gina is a bit different though. Like some of the players there, she seems serious about the game. This is no surprise though. |
 The son of a heating contractor and a junior high school teacher, Erik Palladino is a fun-loving, daring poker player, as seen on the World Poker Tour. According to the actor, when the cameras aren’t on him, he likes to play poker with his neighbor Adam Jones. |
 A couple of years ago the beautiful young actress who became famous as the vampish cheerleader in American Beauty (1999) was working on a film with Nicholas Cage in New Orleans. It was there that she started hanging out in casinos, learning first to play Texas Hold’em, then moving on the Seven Card Stud. And avid fan of the game, Suvari states that she tries to play as much as she can. |
 It is not often one hears the words "Cambridge honor student" combined with the words "television star". For the most part, the television has been dubbed "The Idiot Box" more for the people who appear on it instead of the folks who watch it. Jamie is an anomaly though. Before going into acting he achieved a 1st Class MA Honors in Modern Languages. This is the highest rank a student can achieve. |
 A little lost on why Matthew Fox is profiled as a poker player? After all, the 6’ 2" "dreamboat" isn’t a rounder, nor is he a pro tourney player - he is, in fact, an actor, and one of the main characters on a TV show that has seized the global zeitgeist, "Lost". |
 By turns a frontiersman, army scout, and lawman who helped bring order to the Wild West, Hickok’s tragic death while playing poker would earn the hand he was holding at the time - a pair of black aces and a pair of black eights plus an unknown fifth card - the name "Dead Man’s Hand". |
 Most of us became aware of Kevin Sorbo when he played the lead role in the television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. The show was popular even though Kevin was widely regarded as the least imposing Hercules the screen had ever seen. He certainly was no Steve Reeves. What he lacked in muscle mass he more than made up with by having really good hair. In the end, the show was a hit, and Kevin became a star. |
 As one might expect, legendary Hollywood wild man Gary Busey is as unpredictable at the poker table as he is in his reality television show I’m With Busey, as his appearance on World Poker Tour Game 4 amply proved. Busey has gone on record as saying that his favorite gambling movie is The Cincinnati Kid, and in the 1985 Stephen King horror flick Silver Bullet you can see him playing a few hands of poker with his underage co-star. |
 Actor Errol Flynn, famous for such swashbuckling roles as Robin Hood and Captain Blood, was as big rouge as any of the characters he played on the silver screen. A die-hard womanizer, drinker, and gambler, the hey-day of Flynn’s stardom was behind him in 1947, when he sailed his yacht Zaca to Port Antonio. |
 As a skilled golfer and avid poker player, John O’Hurley was viewed as the natural choice to host The Golf & Poker Invitational, a made-for-television event backed by the World Golf League and Mandalay Sports Action Entertainment that will include six PGA tour players and six professional poker players in a crossover competition with a winner take all prize. |
 Academically gifted people are a rare commodity in the celebrity rank and file. The entertainment industry is one that values silicone over gray matter. This is precisely why Nicole Sullivan is so special. Not only does she have some of the attributes that are prized in a profession that exists as a monument to shallow thinking, but she is also one of the brightest actresses out there. |
 Mike has so many strange mannerisms while playing and is so unpredictable that the only thing you know for sure about his game is that you don’t know anything for sure about his game! |
 In the fall of 2005 actor Lou Diamond Phillips teamed up with CelebPoker.com to provide a free instructional video on how to play Texas Hold’em. In the video Lou shared some tips and inside information speaking clearly and concisely when explaining the sequence and variability of the game, as well as sharing his favorite hands, inside play routine and betting strategy, showing why he is one of today’s top celebrity poker players. |
 Brad Sherwood is one of the few Hollywood personalities whose life in the entertainment industry has actually helped prepare him for tournament poker. He is best known for his appearances on the show Whose Line Is It Anyway? The whole point of this particular comedy is that the actors are given a topic, and must perform a scene with no script, no direction, and none of the other perks that usually come with a television performance. In other words, to succeed on this show one has to be able to quickly think on their feet. He has done so well at this that he is not only a regular on the weekly ABC version of the show, but he is also a common face on the British version that is aired on Comedy Central. |
 Everyone who is interested in poker tournaments knows the name of Mike Sexton. The professional poker player, the co-host of the World Poker Tour he’s one of the main figures in the world of modern poker. |
 Who cares what a player he is? “Remember, he is an actor that plays poker. Not the other way around,” it was said about him once. Well, this is exactly what I mean. |
 Ming-Na’s name translates as "enlightenment", something she certainly seemed to have in abundance of when she cleaned up at the Hollywood Home Game in game three of the second season. Poker fans watching the game were pleasantly surprised to discover that the former ER star showed she had what it takes to become a pro-level card player. Jennifer Tilly, known all over the world as not only a Hollywood Player, but a champion poker player as well, was in the same game as Ming-Na and only managed to come in second. |
 James Woods might be a relative newcomer to poker, having only been playing for a couple of years, but he proved himself to be a natural to the game at the WPT event at Foxwoods, where he placed just outside the money. The award-winning Woods has lent his name and face to Hollywoodpoker.com, helping to make it one of the most popular poker sites on the web. Woods has appeared twice on Bravo TV’s Celebrity Poker Showdown, World Poker Tour and is the ringleader of the James Wood Gang on GSN’s Poker Royale. |
 Andy "A-Rod" Roddick is an accomplished 24 year old tennis star. The Omaha, Nebraska born Roddick boasts over $12,011,546 in career prize money. He now calls Austin, Texas and Boca Raton, Florida his adopted hometowns. |
 On October 31, 2004, Chevy Chase appeared on Tournament 4, Game 4 of Bravo’s Celebrity Poker Showdown, but he already had a long history of playing high stakes poker against fellow Hollywood stars before that. |
 During the shooting of Ocean’s Twelve, award-winning actor Don Cheadle, who took over the part originally essayed by Sammy Davis Jr, played Texas Hold ’Em night after night atop the roof terrace of the ultra-chic Hotel de Russie in Rome with cast members and fellow Rat Packers Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Michael Douglas, Casey Affleck, and director Steven Soderbergh. |
 Brad Pitt is well known for many things: his success as an actor, his success in landing Jennifer Aniston as wife, his divorce with said wife, his acquisition of new beau Angelina Jolie, and subsequent adoption of a handful of children with his fellow actor. So what, you may ask, does Brad Pitt have to do with poker? |
 John Wayne was famous for his fondness for playing poker with the cast and crew of his numerous films. While filming the movie Hondo, Wayne won the famous dog star Lassie away from her owner and trainer, Rudd Weatherwax, in what has been described as a "highly lubricated" after-shooting-hours poker game. Wayne, whose nickname of "Duke" came from the name of his childhood dog, graciously gave the world-famous collie back in the morning. |
 The frantic, fast-talking comedienne has caught poker fever and is totally enjoying the thrills and chills it brings her. "I love everything about poker," Griffin said in an interview. "It’s really fun trying to figure out what the other players are like. Maybe my favorite thing is if I have a great hand and I just slowly bleed the other players." |
 We’re not sure where Jack Judge was standing when he composed the song It’s a Long Way to Tipperary but I’m guessing he would have a new appreciation for distance if he followed the career of Seth Meyers. Perhaps the road to the Irish county mentioned in the song would have only seemed like a short day trip compared to the long haul that Seth Meyers has made in the name of his love of comedy and acting. |
 When trouble arises on the beach of the island on the hit TV show "Lost", there are a number of characters that you can count on to spring into action, and Sawyer is definitely one of them. Of course, if there isn’t trouble, you can count on Sawyer being the one to stir it up. |
 Actress, songwriter, and poker player, broadcaster, and author - Tiffany Michelle of Los Angeles is a gorgeous new presence making a name for herself on the poker scene. |
 This stunt man turned actor, best known for playing the hockey-masked killer Jason in the undying Friday the Thirteenth movie series, managed to slash his way through the competition at the Hollywood Poker World Poker Tour Celebrity Shootouts I and II, and joined Josh "West Wing" Malina as the last celebrities standing in the respective tournaments. Kane was amongst the celebs that represented Hollywood Poker in the World Poker Tour Legends of Poker event in Bell Gardens, California. |
 Always that Sklansky… Because he is one these pros who know poker in all its minutest details and can explain it in simple phrase. |
 Craig is the latest actor to wear the mantle of 007, despite his blond hair (Bond has always been dark haired.) His first outing is also in the Bond film that has held the most anticipation of them all, and one that is heavily flavored with poker. |
 Brian Alspach is a mathematics genius with the pedigree to back it up. He has a B.A. from the University of Washington and M.A. from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Ph.D. as well from the same school. What has he done with his talent? Well he has used his intelligence and experience with math to figure out poker. |
 Schwimmer took his passion for poker back to the small screen where he earned his fortune. He was one of the first players to appear on the show, “Celebrity Poker Showdown”. Not only did he get to indulge his passion here though, but he got to preview the film that he and fellow Celebrity Poker alumni, Ben Affleck, are working on. |
 If you scream "Serenity Now!" whenever you feel the pressure of life beginning to overwhelm you, or tell the girls you meet in Vegas that your name is Art Vandelay, and you’re an architect from New York, then you are probably familiar with the work of Jason Alexander. Mr. Alexander is better known as George Costanza, the walking nuclear bomb of stress and rage. |
 Kim Coles is one of those actresses who would fit well back in the "Golden Age" of television. It was at that time where being an actor or actress meant that you could do just about everything. Kim has brought this level of versatility to her act. |
 Born April 24, 1959 in Dallas, Texas, Morshower started his acting career at age 17 with small roles - most frequently playing secret service type or military characters. He balances marriage, two children, acting, speaking engagements, and time for charitable poker tournaments. |
 Hank is one of the more visible celebrities who enjoys poker, even though most people only know him by the voices he provides on The Simpsons, the longest-running animated series in the history of television. |
 Most people who are successful in Hollywood make it only after several years of struggling while waiting tables at greasy spoons and mailing head shots to anyone with the words "Executive Producer" attached to their name. Of course some people bypass the whole waiter phase and just happen to be in the right place, at the right time. Of course when you are in that correct place at a time when it counts, it helps to be a child with the sort of cuteness that is priceless in Hollywood. Fred Savage is one of those stars who made a career out of his childhood precociousness and likeability factor. |
 There is some argument as to how the lead Marx Brother got his stage name. It is agreed that monologist Art Fisher stuck the name "Groucho" on him during an all-night poker game, but it is uncertain whether the name came from his saturnine disposition, for the fact that he carried his poker money in a "grouch-bag" for safe keeping, or after Knocko the Monk, a popular comic strip of the day which included a supporting character named "Groucho." |
 Although he claimed he had never played Texas Hold ’Em before, Hollywood legend Mickey Rooney somehow managed to make number 7 on the World Poker Tour Invitational, held at the Commerce Casino. Rooney’s determination to win, along with a great poker face, carried him through a challenging tournament and helped him to finish higher than many of the actual poker legends. |
 Poker players and rap musicians both require street smarts, an ability to recognize opportunities in order to gain an edge, and the necessity of keeping their composure and not showing weakness when things get tough. Hip-hop recording star Coolio understands these disciplines, bringing the same intensity to the poker table that he does to the recording studio. |
 Rene Angelil was born January 6, 1942 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and is of Lebanese and Syrian descent. His career began as a 1960’s pop singer in Montreal, where his band, "The Baronets" was considered "Quebec’s Beatles." |
 One of the legendary Marx Brothers, Chico was an ardent poker player and is alleged to have had a photographic memory that allowed him to memorize the positions of cards in a deck. |
 Emmy and Tony Award winning actor Ken Howard can occasionally be found in Hollywood Poker’s online poker room, with a bounty on his head, no less. While he might be best known for his role on The White Shadow, a series he co-created based on his own experiences as the only white player on his high school basketball team, Ken Howard was also the star of the such 1970s television shows as Adam’s Rib and Manhunter, and has enjoyed reoccurring roles on the hits shows Crossing Jordan, Melrose Place, Dynasty and The Colbys. |
 Amy Poehler popped onto the radar screen in 1999 as one of the cast members of the infamous film Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo. Amy played Ruth, the tourette’s syndrome victim who could, at any time, break into a string of obscenities that would make Dick Cheney blush. Two years after she cursed her way into the hearts of Rob Schneider fans everywhere, she traded in the drive-by obscenities for the words "It’s Saturday Night!" |
 The lovely and talented Cheryl Hines was born September 21, 1965 in Miami Beach, Florida. She was raised in Tallahassee and was a student at the Young Actors Theatre during high school. |
 Growing up in Canton, Ohio, Natalie McIntyre was often made fun of because of her funny sounding voice. It is ironic that the unique vocal intonations that made Natalie a bit of an outcast in her formative years would be her ticket to stardom when she emerged decades later as Macy Gray. She is far from simply a unique voice though. |
 Dennis Quaid recently got several well-known stars and celebs together for a special poker tournament to benefit the International Hospital for Children Foundation, a charity he backs, to provide aid for the children affected by hurricane Katrina. |
 It’s only fitting that the man who, from his starring roles on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Lou Grant, has come to symbolize the very essence of the crusty news reporter to two generations of television viewers should also prove himself to be a tough, skilled poker player. |
|
