5 Poker Playin' Movie Stars: Part One of Two Parts - Ben, Matt, and Friends Tackle Texas Hold 'em

Part One of Two Parts.

Lights! Camera! Action! Hold ‘em! Fold ‘em!

If the norm American is ga-ga astir the Texas Hold ‘em craze, how make you believe the film stars, who can afford to drop r-e-a-l-l-y large vaulting horses at a friendly Saturday nighttime poker game, experience about it?

They experience so good that some are taking private lessons from the pros. Several, like Ben Affleck and Mark Tobey Maguire, have got actually won large tournaments.

* Let’s start with Ben, who took lessons from top pro, Annie Duke, and “Welcome Back, Kotter’s” Gabe Kaplan, now a Vegas poker professional. Affleck is the existent deal, besting 90 players including chap actor, Mark Tobey Maguire, on his manner to a $356,400 win at the October, 2004 Golden State State No Limit Hold ‘em Poker Championship in Los Angeles.

* Flatness Damon. Flatness and Affleck won Academy Awards for authorship “Good Volition Hunting.” Flatness plays No Limit,Texas Hold ‘em poker, comes in the World Series of Poker each year, but have not yet attained Ben’s success. He and Erectile Dysfunction Norton starred in a poker film classic, “Rounders.” Shortly after making the 1998 movie, Flatness entered his first World Series of Poker, plunked down $10,000 and establish himself seated at a table with the greatest name in poker, Doyle Brunson. Flatness didn’t last very long.

* One of the few Jennifer’s that Ben Affleck hasn’t dated is Jennifer Tilly. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Function for her portion as a hopelessly bad actress in Woody Allen’s 1994 pic, “Bullets Over Broadway,” Jennifer have a couple large wins. Her first was a prized World Series of Poker event, The Ladies World Poker Championship, which paid $158,335. Savoring her victory, she said that this was “better than winning an Oscar.” She followed this up with a World Poker Tour Ladies Night victory, taking place another $25,000.

* Vince Avant Garde Patten. Vince is best known as the co-host (with Microphone Sexton) of the Travel Channel’s popular “World Poker Tour.” Type A kid actor, a world class lawn tennis player, a director, a television star, and a poker player, Vince is known as “King of the Hollywood Home Games,” a regular meeting of actors, comedians, writers, and other film common people who play serious poker for serious money. He and chap histrion and poker player, Jesse James Woods, patron an online poker site, HollywoodPoker.com.

* Gabe Kaplan. Vinnie Barbarino / Toilet Travolta played opposite a instructor by the name of Kotter / Gabe Kaplan. Can you believe it have been 30 years? Yes, it’s the same guy. Kaplan grew up in a card-playing family and took his love of the game to a new degree when he moved to Las Vegas to go a poker pro. Though he still makes stand-up comedy, his first love is poker. When not playing, he is a television observer on poker shows. His “official” poker life travels like this: “Gabe Kaplan is a proud alumnus of P.S. 161 in New House Of York City. He names his business as a marine life scientist and thoroughly basks armadillo races. His moniker is ‘Pookie’ and he accumulates a modest residuary paycheck for his years on Welcome Back, Kotter.” Funny, huh? Not so amusing was a paycheck he picked up in the 2005 World Series of Poker for $290K.

One piece of advice. Beware of histrions at your table. Because, after all, what is a bluff, but good acting?

Stay tuned for Part Two.

© 2005 Potato James