The Pro-Am Poker Equalizer is a televised poker tournament that pits professional poker players against celebrities in a game of Texas Hold’em. It began airing in the US on ESPN in January 2007. In order to “equalize” the poker table, the celebrities start the tournament with 50% more chips than the professional poker players, handicapping these pros at 100,000 in chips.
Commentated by Phil Gordon and Ali Nejad, two of poker’s top poker voices, the Pro-Am Poker Equalizer also features a final episode where each of the winners of the six regular episodes face off against each other at a final poker table with a $500,000 grand prize. Filmed at the South Coast Casino in Las Vegas, the four professional poker players and two celebrity enthusiasts play in a Sit & Go Texas Hold’em tournament.
The first episode featured Phil Ivey, John Juanda, Erick Lindgren and Daniel Negreanu against actress Cheryl Hines and baseball player Jose Canseco. With Hines’ sense of humour and Canseco’s quick game, the professional poker players were in danger of losing to these celebrity amateurs, but Phil Ivey ended up taking the game.
The following episodes read like w who’s who in the poker world. Professional poker players to take part in the televised poker tournament are: Johnny Chan, Gus Hansen, Mike Matusow, Shawn Sheikhan, Allen Cunningham, Ted Forrest, Clonie Gowan, David Williams, Chris Ferguson, Jennifer Harman, Phil Laak, Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch, Gabe Kaplan, Erik Seidel, Gavin Smith, David Benyamine, Jamie Gold, Jeff Madsen and Huck Seed.
Celebrities featured include: Nicholas Gonzalez, Jeremy Sisto, Don Cheadle, Shannon Elizabeth, Jason Alexander and Shana Hiatt. Gonzalez was the only non-professional poker player to proceed to the final poker table. He joined Phil Ivey, Huck Seed, Phil Laak, Allen Cunningham and Andy Bloch. The first season ended with Andy Bloch declared the big winner and Phil Laak as runner-up.
