Celebrity Poker Online

Lost reruns

2006-03-28T09:21:00.000-08:00

This weekend I spent some time with friends - a good dinner and some games. We were talking about Lost, and he informed me that a TV season was just recently changed to 36 weeks (though we aren't sure what it was before). That means a regular TV show (which runs for a typical 24 episodes) has to fit in 12 weeks of reruns during the season. That's why Lost is getting pulled apart every other week, making us wait a few before a new episode.

Hopefully they've been losing viewers, and are able to see their loss - so that some change can be affected. This is getting ridiculous.

V For Vendetta

2006-03-21T14:21:00.000-08:00

I watched a fantastic movie this weekend called V For Vendetta. It was by the same guys who did the Matrix trilogy (the Wachowski Brothers), but this time it's based on an old, but highly regarded comic book series (by the same name).

The movie is set in the near future (perhaps 25-50 years), and stars Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith from The Matrix) as V, a vigilante who is seemingly obsessed with the idea of toppling the corrupt British government. He befriends Evie, played by Natalie Portman (Padme from the Star Wars prequels), and slowly turns her loyalties, as well as those of police inspector Stephen Rea, against a government that has murdered and lied to it's population. John Hurt plays the High Chancellor, and his face and voice, booming down from a massive video screen, are reminiscent of his role in the film adaptation of Orwell's 1984.

V is a masked man, and he speaks in shakespearean soliloquies and prose. He is a burnt and twisted soul underneath his costume, destroyed (or created) by a government who has blinded their people, fearful of the revolution which V has promised. The catch phrase of the movie is "People should not be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people." It's a stirring notion, which the Wachowski brothers try to tie in with modern affairs (particularly, the US led war in Iraq). The date whereby the revolution is to begin - the 5th of November, is in honor of a historic moment when a revolutionary named Guy Fawkes tried to blow up Parliament in 1605. There's an eerie speech about the power inherent in the destruction of a symbolic building that will have nearly every American envisioning the shadow of Osama bin Laden looming over the World Trade Center.

"Remember, remember, the 5th of November..." is a haunting line, used a few times through the film by V, that recalls those real life events of September 11th.

Politics aside, the movie is well written, superbly acted, and the visual effects are really nice (and not overbearing).

Go see it!

And the Oscar goes to... POKER.

2006-03-07T09:56:00.000-08:00

The Oscars were on Sunday... but who really cares, right? I used to watch them religiously when I was younger, but nowadays it seems that they only recognize a very certain breed of film, which isn't quite in line with what I consider to be good, entertaining, thought provoking, or educational. Most of the time, I end up renting the list of "best picture" movies after they come out on DVD and, most of the time, I end up regretting it. I think it was about 2001 where they started to go downhill. Beautiful Mind in 2001 was a good movie, but not the best picture that year. Lord Of The Rings should have taken that honor, or Moulin Rouge. In 2002, Chicago somehow beat out the next Lord Of The Rings picture, Gangs Of New York, and The Pianist single handedly. Luckily the academy made up for it in 2003 by giving Peter Jackson's trilogy a nod with the best picture award going to Return Of The King. Sadly, 2004's Oscar went to Million Dollar Baby, which looked substandard against The Aviator, or Ray.

And this year, I'm not even sure who I would have cheered for... so I didn't watch. I've heard Crash, this years winner, was a good movie, so I'll rent it. But just hearing that it's good was not enough to bring me to the TV to watch the ceremony. Like Jennifer Tilly, I opted to sit this one out and play poker instead.

Gordon and Stewart playing for charity

2006-02-28T10:52:00.000-08:00

Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart will gamble next month for a worthy cause. The two NASCAR champions will be among the central figures in the Jeff Gordon Foundation Poker Classic in Las Vegas on March 7-8.

Gordon has recruited a host of celebrities for the $1,000 buy-in tournament at Caesars Palace, including poker professionals Chris Moneymaker, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson and Steve Danneman.

The public is invited and encouraged to participate.

Among the charities Gordon's foundation supports is the Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis.

Internet gambling prohibition

2006-02-22T11:12:00.000-08:00

It seems like the US House Judiciary Committee is looking into a bill right now that would prohibit online gambling. This was announced on Friday and the bill should be reviewed today. If the bill passes and becomes an act, internet gaming at big online poker sites would be restricted by law.

How this would effect gaming sites on the whole is unknown, since many gaming sites are run on foreign soil, where the Act would have no jurisdiction. It would also mean that some group would need to monitor the habits of online gamers, which raises issues around privacy.

The concept of internet gambling prohibition seems too large in scale for the government to take seriously. Millions of Americans play online poker daily - and keeping them in line with the law would be expensive, time consuming, and eventually fruitless. However, they likely said the same thing about alcohol prohibition back in the 1930's, and yet that was enacted regardless of alcohol's popularity.

I'll be keeping a close eye on this bill as it runs the course over the next few weeks.

James Woods on tonight's Late Late Show

2006-02-01T10:13:00.000-08:00

I was watching Craig Ferguson last night and found out that James Woods will be appearing on the Late Late Show tonight. Not sure if he's going to be talking about Hollywood Poker, or his upcoming guest appearance on ER, but it should be interesting. I'll post all about what James had to say tomorrow.

Willie Garson, laying down the law at Hollywood Poker

2006-01-31T10:18:00.000-08:00

Willie Garson is one of those guys that you've "seen around" but you likely wouldn't match the face to the name. His close friendship with Sarah Jessica Parker is well known to celeb buffs. In poker circles, Willie is quite well known for his skill at the table. He's appeared in such films as There's Something About Mary, Groundhog Day, Kingpin, Mars Attacks, The Rock, Being John Malkovich, and Play it to the Bone.

Celebrity Poker Night is Hollywood Poker's (http://www.hollywoodpoker.com) latest celebrity event. Each week it brings a new celebrity to the table. You can catch Willie Garson on Celebrity Poker Night this week.

James Woods to be on ER

2006-01-24T15:40:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite actors is James Woods. I loved him in Salvador, and in Vampire$, and in Ghosts Of Mississipi. He's also an astute poker player, and plays over at my favorite online poker site - Hollywood Poker. Well, I just found out that James is going to be on ER soon week (one of my favorite shows). Here's the article.

http://www.newkerala.com/news.php?action=fullnews&id=90129

BitTorrent for dummies

2006-01-17T09:34:00.000-08:00

I discovered BitTorrent! What's a torrent, you ask? It's a file sharing protocol. Torrents have become the biggest thing on the internet. They're really revolutionizing the way people share information. Though this technology has been around for a while, I hadn't bothered to look into it until recently.

Basically, you've got .torrent files all over the internet. There are search engines devoted to looking for .torrent's (like TorrentSpy, IsoHunt, and a couple others I've discovered). This .torrent file is like a primer - and it tells your BitTorrent program (client) what to download.

There's a lot of BitTorrent clients, including the official one from Bittorrent.com. I've used three of them now, and personally, I like uTorrent the best. Azureus and Bitcomet are also good. Once you have that installed, you can search for what you want on TorrentSpy.com and when you find it, click the download link. This will send your BitTorrent program into action.

I found a ton of good Poker resources, as well as a bunch of copies of the "World Series Of Poker 2005" (the video game) and "Celebrity Poker Showdown" (the TV show). This raises a point... you need to be aware that all these Torrent search engines will bring up results that are illegal for you to download. While a lot of people do this (and get away with it), it's a dangerous gamble. And if you can afford the gamble, you should be able to afford whatever it is you're downloading.

Though the results you get on a search may contain illegal material, it's not the responsability of the search site to filter this out or keep it from you. They are just a vessel. It's the responsability of the public users that create .torrents and download .torrents to keep things clean.

...so, that likely won't happen.

Letterman has 2-3 years left?

2006-01-10T09:57:00.000-08:00

It was just an off handed comment on Lettermen when Albert Brooks mentioned that this was Dave's last week. An inaudible gasp seemed to come over the audience, but it was just a joke. However, later on in the interview Letterman said he had "2 to 3 years left"... and then repeated this sentence a few minutes later. This could just be an off hand remark made in conversation with the joking Brooks, but perhaps not. It's been more than 15 years since Letterman took the helm at CBS's Late Show. This was after he left Late Night at NBC when he was passed up for the Tonight Show by NBC executives who favoured, of course, Jay Leno.

The holiday is over, chum. Now get back to work.

2006-01-03T11:46:00.000-08:00

Christmas is over! NEW YEARS IS OVER! This is one of my favourite times, when the hooplah has died down and people are going back to work, to school, and to their "normal" and "everyday" lives. I enjoy a little of Christmas, and the New Year holiday. It's nice to see friends and family and to spend some time just relaxing. I don't deny that I had plenty of down-time, which was spent doing close to nothing except enjoying the booty I managed to cull from under the tree.

But it's always a relief to get it overwith - to bring the holiday to a close and get back to normality. So there you go. I'm a little older, a little fatter, and a whole lot happier.

2005-12-19T16:52:00.000-08:00

I'm not a grinch - don't get me wrong. However, the worst part about the holidays is the masses of people that make it difficult for you to go anywhere and get anything done with some kind of effectiveness. I personally have to drive about 6 hours on Christmas day (picking people up, multiple times, dropping people off, multiple times). This means that I can't just sit down and enjoy the day (like some people seem to be able to do). Instead, I'm battling more traffic.

Then, just when you expect it to be over (Christmas Eve's quiet, and Christmas morning's slow din), well... that's when you hit the sale days after Christmas, and the masses start all over again... leading right up to New Years Eve and New Years Day.

So he's a toast (cue the eggnog) - to Christmas... and feelings of merriment. May they bless you this holiday season.

The Fantastic Four

2005-12-13T10:46:00.000-08:00

I used to be a big comic book fan when I was a kid. I never really liked the Fantastic Four, but I had a few stray issues of the comic here and there. I knew all about Invisible Sue and Fiery Johnny Storm. I was acquainted with clobberin' Ben Grimm and Stretch Richards. When the movie was released I didn't have much interest in seeing it though... except maybe for the Jessica Alba factor.

But I knew I'd rent it - and so last night I did. The movie is hokey, but with the 4, it kind of needs to be. Still, they captured the look of them all, and the effects weren't terrible. Doctor Victor Von Doom looked authentic, but I feel they really mucked up the voice. Victor should sound like a menacing monster... not like a pranking frat boy behind a fuzz pedal.

And I'm usually not one to call foul when I see continuity problems, or when we witness Ben Grimm's girlfriend steps out of her downtown apartment in the middle of the night with nothing but a teddy on, but sometimes, you just gotta.

So - if you were a comic book fan as a kid, check it out. I won't lie to you - it pretty much sucks. But it's that tolerable, sentimental kind of suck... so that makes The Fantastic Four okay.

Spreading some of that old Christmas fear

2005-11-24T12:00:00.000-08:00

Help me. It's almost time for that Christmas spirit to kick in - and along with it, the fear. As it happens, I loose a little Christmas spirit every year. There's more spending, more fighting in lines, more navigating through crowded malls, and more snow and cold. Not even TV can cure me, as it seems like all the good Christmas movies just keep getting older and more dull, and the new ones aren't working.

I keep putting up lights and ornaments every single year, and getting more and more frustrated with them. Worse yet, just knowing that by putting them up I'm creating work for myself in the near future when they'll have to come down.

Wrapping gifts is a whole day activity filled with tape and scissor mishaps and miscalculated paper dimensions.

But then on the evening of the 24th something magical happens... the stores close up, city traffic disappears, people vanish from the streets. I get to put out those gifts and sit down, sip on eggnog, eat chocolate and smoke a cigar in the house. Everything is peaceful - the calm before the storm. Then - the chaos of Christmas Day ensues. It's not bad though, because it's easy chaos - requiring very little effort to enjoy. The smiles, the relaxation, the good food, it all becomes worthwhile for that short period of time.

Then it's cleanup time, which runs into January and destroys the mood, setting up for the anxiety which will inevitably arrive next December.

Poker booms in pop culture

2005-11-17T14:04:00.000-08:00

It's unbelievable how far popular culture has gone with the poker craze. It seems that everywhere I turn people are talking about it... and sometimes the results are just funny. I'm not really a big fan of CSI, but I ended up watching some of CSI: New York last night after a really great episode of LOST. (Ana Lucia kicks ass!)

In this CSI episode, four people are sitting in this apartment playing hold'em when one gets busted for double dealing. They throw him out and someone kills his partner (who is left behind) by shooting him through the peephole. Anyways... bad and stretching forensics ensue and Gary Sinise's character ends up analyzing the deck they played with and playing out the hands.

It was such an obvious attempt at just injecting some Texas Hold'em into a popular show for the sake of roping in the new addicts to the game. I suppose this isn't all bad... it's just sort of embarrasing.

Jarhead

2005-11-14T10:52:00.000-08:00

I'm going to see Jarhead this coming weekend. I finished reading the book (also titled Jarhead) last week and I loved it. The novel was really gritty... and felt very authentic. It's all from the perspective of an ex-sniper in the elite special forces in Iraq. He explains the fear that grips you during battle and illustrates the harsh reality of combat. He attempts to relay the loneliness of warfare, and how this effects a soldier's view of the politics behind the war.

Jarhead was a great book... I recommend it. Hope the movie lives up (though I know it usually doesn't)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

2005-11-07T11:09:00.000-08:00

This weekend I watched Charlie And The Chocolate Factory - the new Tim Burton film. I'm a big Tim Burton fan - even though he wrecked Batman. That's okay, though - since Chris Nolan is fixing that. But Burton is at his best when he's allowed to play and the story is light, bizarre, comical, and has a brooding and fairy tale undertone. (see Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow, Big Fish).

I haven't laughed at a movie this much in years. Johnny Depp was hilarious as Willy Wonka - and this guy certainly has range (as quirky as it may be). Come to think of it, I can't recall a role of Johnny Depp's that I didn't like. I certainly can't picture what he must be like in real life, so I would guess that's a good sign of a talented actor.

I remember this book from when I was a young kid, but I don't remember a lot of it. I remember the golden tickets, and the Oompa Loompfa's (sp?). It seems to me that Burton has updated the tale radically and added some genuinely unique dialog and musical numbers. The essence of the original is still there, though.

This is where Burton needs to be... this is his comfort zone. The weird, odd, strange, creepy, but always human and touching stories are Tim Burton's strongest medium.

Alex Rodriguez warned about his poker playing

2005-11-02T14:25:00.000-08:00

I'm not a big Yankees fan, but I ran across this story and I thought it was interesting enough to post, since Phil Hellmuth was mentioned (and he's one of my favourite players):

NEW YORK -- (AP) Alex Rodriguez was cautioned by the New York Yankees that playing poker in illegal clubs could be dangerous and harmful to his image, according to a newspaper report.

Early last month, the Daily News reported the star slugger had attended games at an underground club with professional card player Phil Hellmuth.

Scott Boras, the third baseman's agent, denied that the Yankees had warned his client.

"The Yankees have never addressed or spoken with me in regard to any off-field activities regarding Alex Rodriguez. And the Yankees have never spoken to Alex regarding any of his off-field activities," Boras was quoted as saying in a story published Wednesday.

Playing at such clubs is not illegal, though it can be against the law to operate them, the Daily News reported.

Rodriguez was not punished or ordered to stay out of the clubs, but commissioner Bud Selig was monitoring the situation and could intervene if necessary, the newspaper said, citing sources it did not identify.

What I wonder is - why was he warned if it's not illegal to play at these clubs? Furthermore, if he was warned by the Yankees, why would they not order him to stay out of the clubs?

New Celebrities Playing Poker on Celebrity Poker Online

2005-06-17T11:07:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

I had added about 15 new poker playing celebrity bios to Celebrity Poker Online.

They include Al Alvarez, Tom Parker Bowles, Alan Brazil, Tony Cascarino, Steve Davis, Matt Etherington, Ed Giddins, Stephen Hendry, Paul Ince, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Nick Leeson, John McCririck, Teddy Sheringham, Clive Sinclair, Matthew Stevens, Jimmy White, and Mark Williams.

Al Alvarez was born in London 1929 and educated at Oundle School and Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Alvarez was a poetry critic and editor for The Observer and later became a poet and novelist. Recently, Alvarez wrote Poker: Bets, Bluffs and Bad Beats (2000), and his autobiography Where did it all go right?.

Tom Parker Bowles is well known because his mother is Camilla Parker Bowles and his future step-father is Prince Charles. Tom Parker Bowles is a talented poker player. He got into the final of the Celebrity Poker Club Series 2, in Cardiff in July 2004.

Alan Brazil co-presents the Talksport Radio's breakfast show with Graham Beecroft. Alan Brazil is a retired professional football (soccer) player who won 13 caps for Scotland and played an important role in an attractive and successful Ipswich side.

Tony Cascarino played european football for Gillingham, Millwall, Aston Villa, Celtic, Chelsea, Marseille and Nancy. Tony Cascarino co-presented with Patrick Kinghorn the early evening Talksport Radio show known as "The King and Cas".

Steve Davis began playing snooker at the age of 12 and became a snooker professional in 1978 and just three years later he was ranked Number 1. Davis has written a book on chess, and has been seen playing poker on television along with the likes of Stephen Hendry and Mark Williams.

Matt Etherington plays football (soccer) as a midfielder for West Ham United. Matt Etherington has also had great success in poker. On December 1, 2004 Etherington picked up a cheque for £17,000 for taking first prize at a Poker Classic Tournament.

Ed Giddins was born in Eastbourne, Sussex in the United Kingdom. Ed Giddins played cricket for Hampshire, Sussex, Warwickshire, Surrey; as well as for England.

Stephen Hendry started playing snooker at 12, and was the youngest ever winner of a professional title - The Rothman's Grand Prix in 1987. Seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry was recently named the greatest snooker player of all time.

Paul Ince was an authoritative midfield marshal and became known as "The Governor". In his extensive career Paul Ince played for West Ham, Manchester United, Inter Milan, Liverpool, Middlesbrough and latterly Wolverhampton Wanderers. After England's disappointing performance in Euro 2000, he called it a day for his international career and has taken up poker.

Yevgeny Kafelnikov became a professional tennis player in 1992 and amassed $23,883,797 of prize money. His proudest achievement in tennis is that he won 26 singles titles. Kafelnikov has hired fellow Russian, Kirill Gerasimov, professional poker's Rookie of the Year in 2002, to coach him. In October 2004 Kafelnikov won the Korona Russian Poker Championships in Moscow.

Nick Leeson is a British investments trader whose actions caused the collapse of Baring's Bank, the United Kingdom's oldest investment banking firm. Leeson was appointed Commercial Manager of Galway United Football Club in April 2005 and enjoys playing poker.

John McCririck is a television horse racing pundit from the United Kingdom who supports the Newcastle United football (soccer) club. John McCririck is a keen poker player, and if his television performances are anything to go by, he has an insatiable appetite for bluffing.

Teddy Sheringham is well known for playing football in England. Teddy Sheringhamis one of the classiest and cleverest English attackers of modern times.

Clive Sinclair is a British entrepreneur and inventor of the world's first pocket calculator in 1962. Sir Clive Sinclair was knighted in 1983 and is a keen poker player and has appeared on the Late Night Poker TV series.

Matthew Stevens has become a professional snooker player that has consistently been in the top 10 snooker players for over five years. Like a lot of his fellow professional snooker players Stevens has been seen on television turning his hand to poker, and has won a major poker tournament.

Jimmy White is certainly the most popular snooker player on the circuit. White became the youngest ever world amateur champion. Jimmy White may have lost a lot of money gambling but he was a shock winner of the second Poker Million, and is ranked 70th best English poker player.

Mark Williams turned to a snooker professional in 1992 and in the last six years he has never been out of the first three in the world snooker rankings.

Tobey Maguire Professional Poker Player

2005-04-26T11:54:00.000-07:00

Tobey Maguire is well known for his acting career, especially for being Spiderman. Tobey was born on the 27th of June 1975, in Santa Monica, California, USA. Maguire has also starred and appeared in Seabiscuit, Empire Records, Pleasantville and Cats and Dogs. He has now moved into the poker playing scene and has done quite well. The majority of Hollywood actors turning into poker players lack the poker skill, and just attract crowds to watch them play poker because they are celebrities. But not Tobey.

Tobey finished first in the $2,000 Phil Hellmuth Invitational - No Limit Hold'em 2004 National Championship of Poker, Los Angeles on 27-Oct-04 taking home $95,480. On 12-Oct-04, Tobey finished fourth in a $2,500 No Limit Hold'em Final Day 2004 Festa al Lago III Poker Tournament in Las Vegas. He won $17,967. Next, Maguire finished 17th in the $500 No Limit Hold'em 2004 Legends of Poker in Los Angeles, United States, taking $1,900 on 18-Aug-04. On 10-Aug-04 he won $1,040 in a $300 No Limit Hold'em 2004 Legends of Poker in Los Angeles by finishing 25th. On 29-Jul-04 Tobey finished 24th in the $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Final Day 2004 Mirage Poker Showdown in Las Vegas, taking home $16,201. Finally, Tobey won $5,271 in a $2,000 No Limit Hold'em 2004 Mirage Poker Showdown, Las Vegas by finishing 15th on

28-Jul-04.

Tony Hawk Promoting Playstation Portable (PSP)

2005-04-19T10:36:00.000-07:00

Just in case you missed "Tony Hawk Underground 2's" release on every major console last fall, the good people at Activision have ported it over for the PSP (Playstation Portable), and "THUG 2 Remix" is nearly identical in every way to its TV-tethered counterpart.

Many titles enjoy simultaneous releases on GameCube, Xbox, PS2, and Gameboy Advance. The games on the home console are virtually identical to each other, but the GBA edition of the same game, while sharing the title and similar themes, often differs slightly in gameplay and vastly in the graphics department. "Remix" breaks this handheld trend.

While technically impressive, this feat is really a double-edged sword. First of all the game is an absolute joy to look at, featuring dynamic lighting, texture mapping, and all the bells and whistles you'd find at home. Skaters are fluidly animated and nicely detailed. The true 3D environments are astonishing to behold on a handheld device.

The sound department is more than up to snuff as well. Fifty-plus songs, fair environmental effects and voice-acting are all CD quality. However, you won't be able to enjoy the sound as much without headphones.

This is the same game many played to death in October of last year. The challenges, cutscenes, story (if you can call it that), levels and skaters are nearly identical. Anybody that is familiar with "THUG 2" will not gain much from "Remix," and some things do suffer in translation.

The biggest problem is the different type of controls. The lack of a true analog stick becomes annoying during some challenges. The "nub" works well enough, but despite your preference you will be using the D-pad. The complete absence of a second type of right hand control means that the camera is entirely out of your control. While this isn't a problem most of the time, there are some excruciatingly frustrating bits that will have you throwing your PSP against a wall. Even though "Remix" is graphically superior to every other handheld game out there (except some other PSP titles) the imagery is not PS2 quality; close, but not quite.

Other than that, "Remix" has the same hits and misses of the console version. It's terribly juvenile. Mature gamers may question the bits about vandalizing property by one method or another and their purpose in a skateboarding game. And the Jackass/Viva la Bam/other MTV shows that are still popular for some reason may put you off. But this is the skateboarding culture the game makers wish to perpetuate and we buy it. The bottom line is that this is a fully featured Tony Hawk game in your pocket. Take it or leave it, just don't expect anything new.

Celebrities Playing Poker on Hollywood Hold'em

2005-03-30T11:42:00.000-08:00

Hollywood Hold’em is the latest celebrity poker television show, following in Celebrity Poker Showdown’s footsteps. Hollywood Hold’em features fewer celebrity poker players than Celebrity Poker Showdown and adds a more personal touch as the celebrity hosts the show at his or her house. Hollywood Hold’em is hosted the “The Unabomber”, Phil Laak, who is an extremely exceptional professional poker player. Phil Laak has some pre-taped tips for poker players that get shown throughout the show. Hollywood Hold’em has a bright future as it offers much more than Celebrity Poker Showdown since the celebrities get a chance to show of their Hollywood homes!

The first couple episodes focused on the cast of “That 70’s Show” including Laura Prepon, Danny Masterson, Mila Kunis and Wilmer Valderrama. These “That 70’s Show” actors seemed genuinely knowledgeable about poker and did show some glimpse of poker skill. The winner of the first episode was Danny Masterson.

The third episode features some expert poker players in James Woods and Vince van Patten. This poker game will definitely be a game of skill and style as these fellow Hollywood Poker hosts battle against each other!

Click here for more information.

Mena Suvari Celebrity Poker Player Bio

2005-03-16T16:31:00.000-08:00

My next celebrity poker player biography is going to be on Mena Suvari.

Mena Suvari

Mena Suvari was born in Newport, Rhode Island. Mena was the fourth child in her family, but was the first girl. She is named after an Egyptian godmother, Mena.

Mena is known for her amazing performance in the Academy Award winning American Beauty. This beautiful girl hasn’t slowed down her sensational acting career since, and has added television appearances, most notably with a recurring role in the HBO hit, Six Feet Under.

Mena started her career in commercials at 12 years old, after which toook upon an acting career with the prestigious Wilhelmina agency, before coming to Hollywood. She worked regularly at the agency until landing a career starting role in the hit American Pie. That had to be one of the funniest movies of all times!! Mena is married to Robert Brinkman, a cinematographer.

Mena Suvari started playing poker a couple years ago and she's learning poker quickly. She has worked alot on her poker skills since her appearance on the Celebrity Poker Showdown. Mena was knocked out by the eventual table winner Rosario Dawson. I hope Mena gets another chance on the Celebrity Poker Showdown and shows how well she can play poker!

Poker Playing Celebrity Biographies

2005-03-07T12:30:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,

I am going to take your advice and start to list some Celebrity Poker Playing Biographies on this blog. I really appreciate your feedback and will begin the poker biography section with my favorite celebrity, James Woods.

James Woods was born in Vernal, Utah in 1947. James Woods studied political science at M.I.T, but left to start his acting career. Woods made his film debut in 'The Visitors' directed by Elia Kazan in 1972. James Woods was sensational in the brilliant film 'Salvador' directed by Oliver Stone in 1986. He was nominated for an Oscar for best actor for his role as journalist, Richard Boyle.

In 1997 James Woods was again nominated for an Oscar. This time for best supporting actor for his work in 'Ghosts of Mississippi'. Although succesful in the movies, Woods has had greater critical success on television, winning Emmys for his performances in 'Promise' (1986) and 'My Name is Bill W.' (1989); and nominations for 'Citizen Cohn', 'Indictment: The McMartin Trial' and, most recently, 'Rudy: The Rudy Giuliani Story'.

One of Hollywood's most intense supporting and leading actors, James Woods has built a distinguished career on stage, screen, and television. Early in his career, Woods, with his lean body, close-set eyes, and narrow, acne-scarred face, specialized in playing sociopaths, psychopaths, and other crazed villains, but in the 1990s, he added a sizable number of good guys to his resumé.

James Woods gave an extraordinary interview to Amy Reiter that was published in salon.com in August 2003. In it he explains his leaning towards independent film and his history of playing a lot of finks, villains and cheats:

"I've never really done many blockbusters, actually. I wouldn't know how to do them. I couldn't hop around in "Spider-Man" in, like, a little Spandex outfit. I mean, I enjoy going to those movies. I'm really glad they're making them, because it makes it possible to make other movies and it makes this business healthy. But I don't know how good I'd be in them.

"... If you're the more mature, accomplished, middle-aged, white, heterosexual male in that equation, you're usually going to be the villain because that's how those things are set up. And to hop around in a little mask and tights, I can just find better things to do with my time."

Earlier this year (2004) Woods appeared in Bravo TV's Celebrity Poker Showdown where he was the third person knocked out in tournament 2. Please visit our celeb poker player pages to see biographies and poker records of other stars who play poker.

A list of James Woods' movies are:

Be Cool
John Q
End Game
Night Train
Stuart Little 2
Scary Movie 2
Any Given Sunday
General's Daughter
Hercules

Celebrity Poker Showdown Tournament 5 Championship Game

2005-03-02T07:20:00.000-08:00

The Celebrity Poker Showdown Tournament 5 Championship Game was played last night. It was an exciting poker game and I enjoyed very much watching these celebrities play poker against one another. Filmed recently before a live audience at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, each episode of Celebrity Poker Showdown will feature five celebrities competing against each other for a piece of the $250,000 prize pool in a game of No Limit Texas Hold'em poker for the charity of their choice. Each week a new crop of stars will take to the table to challenge their peers. The winner from each week's game will go on to compete in the championship final sixth episode. Viewers will have the inside track on the hands the different players are holding via hidden cameras. They will also be able to hear from the eliminated players, who will watch the remainder of their respective matches from the "Loser's Lounge," via closed circuit television.

All players are guaranteed at least $5,000 in prize money for their chosen charity. Just for making it to the finals, fifth place will win $7,500, fourth place will win $10,000, third place will win $12,500 and second place will walk away with $20,000 for their charity. The Celebrity Poker Showdown champions will each walk away with $100,000 for the charity of their choice.

This Celebrity Poker Showdown Championship Poker Game featured "Everyone Loves Raymond"'s Brad Garrett, "Seinfeld"'s Jason Alexander, Bonnie Hunt, Colin Quinn, and "The Cosby Show"'s Malcolm Jamal Warner. All these celebrity poker players had dominated at their respective previous poker table games and all us fans knew this was going to be an exciting Hollywood celebrity poker game.

Colin Quinn began the onslaught by beating out Jason Alexander with three Queen's, aka triplets in the poker world. I really enjoy JAson and wish he didn't get eliminated first, but celebrity poker is surprising and very radical for a poker game, you know how these celebrities like to be big shots and think they are all poker players :p. Surprisingly, my favourite poker player in this Celebrity Poker Showdown, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, was beat out by Bonnie Hunt and Colin Quinn crippled Malcolm's poker chips.

Colin continued his winning streak by eliminating Bonnie Hunt from the poker table with a flush of poker hearts. Colin is a serious poker player and would be great to play against online at a poker card room. Finally, between Brad and Colin, Lady Lucky came into play allowing Brad to defeat the poker man, Colin Quinn. It was nice to see Garrett get into the action, but you got to love Colin's poker skills by taking everyone out!

Celebrity Poker Showdown

2005-02-23T11:02:00.000-08:00

Hey Celebrity Poker Fans,
Last night Celebrity Poker Showdown had on Heather Graham, Jesse Metcalfe, Andrea Parker, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, and Fred Willard. It was such a good Celebrity Poker Showdown I hope you didn't miss it, unless you were playing online poker! The first to go out was Andrea Parker as she called Jesse Metcalfe on nothing!! Andrea was trying to bluff her way past Jesse, but Jesse forced her all-in with her Queen King offsuit, while he had the upper poker hand with pair of tens after the flop. Andrea had to join the Loser's Lounge after that. After this Jesse was rightfully taken out by Malcolm-Jamal Warner as Malcolm raises to $1500 before the flop. Jesse with an ace-ten suited calls. Raises and re-raises bring the pot up $23,200 before the flop. After the flop, both check. After the turn, both check. When the river exposes a third three (giving Malcolm a full house), Jesse goes all-in on a dangerous bluff. Malcolm calls and Jesse is off to the Loser's Lounge. This Malcolm-Jamal Warner is so exciting and is the best celebrity poker I have seen in a while.

Unfortunately Fred Willard was next to go from the poker table. Malcolm comes into this with nearly 80% of the chips on the table. Lady luck still favors Malcom as he gets a king-ace suited. Heather raises, Malcolm re-raises and Fred calls before the flop. Heather folds. The flop gives both Fred and Malcolm two pair, but Malcolm's dominates. Fred, assuming his two pair dominates, goes all-in. When the cards are revealed Fred knows only a six on the turn or river can save him. Unfortunately for Fred, the turn helps no one and an ace on the river only makes Malcolm's hand stronger. Fred joins the others for a cocktail in the Losers' Lounge. I love Fred Willard as Amy's father in Everybody Loves Raymond. He is so perfect for the part with the lady playing the mother's part.

Lastly, the sexy Heather Graham is next to leave the celebrity poker table. Heather has the best hand before the flop, she raises to $1600. The flop turns Malcolm's poor hand into a pair of fours — the turn gives him two pair. Heather, having nothing, tries a stone-cold bluff by going all-in before the river. With a massive chiplead, Malcolm is not scared off and he calls. Only a king or eight on the river can save Heather, but an ace is what the dealer delivers. Malcom receives the silver chip and a chair in the Championship Game.

Don't forget to check out my celebrity poker website and read some celebrity biographies!

Poker Celebrities

2005-02-16T06:52:00.000-08:00

WOW!!

Gotta love Colin Quinn at last night's Celebrity Poker Showdown on Bravo. Colin Quinn took everyone out of that game, thats' why they call Colin Quinn, Callin' Colin!! Colin showed his poker skills and techniques against some strategic celebrity poker players that include Camryn Manheim, Tom Verica, Brandi Chastain, and Kevin Weisman. Celebrity Poker is so exciting to watch, as they bad mouth each other and show their love for playing poker.

Everyone probably knows how popular texas holdem has become for poker playing celebrities. My site is all about poker playing celebrities. I am not going to deny how hollywood starstruck I am, and I know many of you are the same. That's why I love playing online real money poker against celebrities at Hollywood Poker.

Check out Celebrity Poker Online (www.celebrity-poker-online.com) for a list of poker playing celebrities that play at Hollywood Poker.

Celebrity Online Poker

2005-02-09T06:59:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,

My name is Andy Murphy and I'm a 27 year old session musician from Venice Beach, California, and an avid online poker player. I have been playing online poker for a few years and have even set up my own site related to my favorite online poker site. My celebrity online poker website is Celebrity Poker Online. I update my site by adding new celebrity poker players information in the Celebrities Playing Poker section.

Online poker playing celebrities that are already included in the section include poker shark James Woods, Vince van Patten, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Tobey Maguire, Shannon Elizabeth and the list goes on and on.

The site has a How to Play Poker section as well. In here you can learn some basic poker hands, poker playing styles (including loose play and tight play) and poker betting structures.

Some Online Poker Tips and Tricks include bluffing poker hands and playing poker odds.

I would really appreciate if you visit the site and give me some feedback if you are an online poker player that enjoys playing online poker against celebrities.