Pro-Am Poker Equalizer
Encyclopedia
The Pro-Am Poker Equalizer is a televised poker
Poker on television
Poker television programs had been extremely popular, especially in North America and Europe, following the poker boom. However, viewership has been declining dramatically in recent years...

 tournament in which professional poker
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...

 players play Texas hold 'em
Texas hold 'em
Texas Hold 'em is a variation of the standard card game of poker. The game consists of two cards being dealt face down to each player and then five community cards being placed face-up by the dealer—a series of three then two additional single cards , with...

 against celebrities
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...

 which began airing on ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

 in January 2007. In order to "equalize" the playing field, the celebrities start the tournament with 50% more chips than the professionals. The Pro-Am Poker Equalizer is commentated by Phil Gordon
Phil Gordon
Philip Stewart Gordon is an American professional poker player, commentator and author.-Personal life:Gordon was born in El Paso, Texas. He spent his formative years in Stone Mountain, Georgia. Gordon began attending Georgia Tech at the age of 15 while still attending high school...

 and Ali Nejad
Ali Nejad
Ali "Oliver" Nejad is an Iranian-American television poker commentator, who is best known as the off-screen announcer on NBC's Poker After Dark and the National Heads-Up Poker Championship...

. The winners of each of the six regular episodes will face off in the final episode for a $
Dollar
The dollar is the name of the official currency of many countries, including Australia, Belize, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States.-Etymology:...

500,000 grand prize.

Episodes

Six episodes of the Equalizer have been produced, featuring commentary by Phil Gordon and Ali Nejad, and sideline reporting and interviews by Mieke Buchan
Mieke Buchan
thumb|250px|Mieke BuchanMieke Buchan is an Australian television and radio presenter.-Early life:A native of Sydney, Australia, she majored in Film and Television Production in her BA Communications degree at University of Technology, Sydney, and also competed for them in netball in the Australian...

. The series features the following celebrities and pros:

Episode 1 (first aired January 7, 2007):
  • Phil Ivey
    Phil Ivey
    Phillip Dennis "Phil" Ivey Jr. is an American professional poker player who has won eight World Series of Poker bracelets, one World Poker Tour title and appeared at nine World Poker Tour final tables...

     (episode winner)
  • John Juanda
    John Juanda
    Johnson "John" Juanda is a Chinese Indonesian professional poker player based in Marina del Rey, California. Juanda lives in Los Angeles.-Personal life:...

  • Erick Lindgren
    Erick Lindgren
    Erick A. Lindgren is an American professional poker player. He has won two World Poker Tour titles, one World Series of Poker bracelet, and more than seven million dollars in tournament earnings during his poker career.-Poker career:He won his first major tournament at the Bellagio in 2002 and...

  • Daniel Negreanu
    Daniel Negreanu
    Daniel Negreanu is a Canadian professional poker player. He has won four World Series of Poker bracelets and two World Poker Tour Championship titles. He is currently ranked second in the all-time career earnings list and is the star of poker game show Million Dollar Challenge. He plays a big...

  • José Canseco
    José Canseco
    José Canseco Capas, Jr. is a Cuban-American professional baseball manager, outfielder, and designated hitter for the Yuma Scorpions of the North American League and former Major League Baseball player. He is the identical twin brother of former major league player and current teammate Ozzie Canseco...

  • Cheryl Hines
    Cheryl Hines
    Cheryl Ruth Hines is an American actress and director, known for her role as Larry David's wife Cheryl on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm. She currently appears on the ABC sitcom Suburgatory...



Episode 2:
  • Johnny Chan
    Johnny Chan (poker player)
    Johnny Chan rather than his Chinese birth name. born in Guangzhou, China in 1957) is a Chinese American professional poker player. He has won 10 World Series of Poker bracelets, including 1987 and 1988 World Series of Poker main events consecutively....

  • Gus Hansen
    Gus Hansen
    Gustav "Gus" Hansen is a professional Danish poker player who lives in Monaco. In his poker career, Hansen has won three World Poker Tour open titles, the 2007 Aussie Millions main event and was the season one winner of the Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament...

  • Mike Matusow
    Mike Matusow
    Michael Matusow is an American professional poker player, residing in Henderson, Nevada. Matusow's nickname of "The Mouth" reflects his reputation for trash-talking at the poker table...

  • Shawn Sheikhan
  • Yancey Arias
    Yancey Arias
    Yancey Arias is an American actor, perhaps most noted for his work on television crime dramas, particularly his roles as Miguel Cadena in the NBC series Kingpin and as Gabriel Williams in the FX series Thief.-Life and career:...

  • Nicholas Gonzalez
    Nicholas Gonzalez
    Nicholas Edward Gonzalez is an Mexican-American actor, best known for playing Alex Santiago in the TV series Resurrection Blvd..-Early life:...

     (episode winner)


Episode 3:
  • Allen Cunningham
    Allen Cunningham
    Allen Cunningham is an American professional poker player.Cunningham studied civil engineering at UCLA before dropping out of school to play poker professionally. At the age of 18, he began playing at in Indian casinos...

     (episode winner)
  • Ted Forrest
    Ted Forrest
    Ted Forrest is an American professional poker player, currently residing in Las Vegas, Nevada.- Tournament Wins:...

  • Clonie Gowen
    Clonie Gowen
    Cycalona Gowen is an American professional poker player, based in Dallas, Texas.-Early life:Gowen was born in Florida, and grew up in Kiowa, Oklahoma. She won Miss Teen McAlester, Oklahoma, at age 15, and as a teenager moved to Corsicana, Texas...

  • David Williams
    David Williams (card player)
    David Anthony Williams is a professional poker player and popular Magic: The Gathering player.-Personal life:Williams was born in Arlington, Texas. He briefly attended Princeton University before switching to study economics at Southern Methodist University...

  • Penn Jillette
    Penn Jillette
    Penn Fraser Jillette is an American magician, comedian, illusionist, juggler, bassist and a best-selling author known for his work with fellow illusionist Teller in the team Penn & Teller, and advocacy of atheism, libertarian philosophy, free-market economics, and scientific skepticism.-Early...

  • Jennifer Tilly
    Jennifer Tilly
    Jennifer Tilly is an American actress and poker player. She is an Academy Award nominee, and a World Series of Poker Ladies' Event bracelet winner. She is the older sister of actress Meg Tilly.-Early life:...

     (as a celebrity despite having won a bracelet at the World Series of Poker
    World Series of Poker
    The World Series of Poker is a world-renowned series of poker tournaments held annually in Las Vegas and, since 2005, sponsored by Harrah's Entertainment...

    )


Episode 4:
  • Chris Ferguson
    Chris Ferguson
    Christopher Philip Ferguson is an American professional poker player. He has won five World Series of Poker events, including the 2000 WSOP Main Event, and the 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. On September 20, 2011, the U.S...

  • Jennifer Harman
    Jennifer Harman
    Jennifer C. Harman-Traniello is an American professional poker player.-Early life:Harman was born and raised in Reno, Nevada. She started playing poker in 1972 at the age of eight...

  • Phil Laak
    Phil Laak
    Philip "Phil" C. Laak is a professional poker player, now residing in Los Angeles, California. Laak holds a World Poker Tour title, a World Series of Poker bracelet and has appeared on numerous nationally-aired television shows.-Early life:...

      (episode winner)
  • Howard Lederer
    Howard Lederer
    Howard Henry Lederer is an American professional poker player and brother of poker professional Annie Duke, and author and poet Katy Lederer. On September 20, 2011, the U.S...

  • Cindy Margolis
    Cindy Margolis
    Cynthia Dawn "Cindy" Margolis is an American glamour spokesmodel and actress.-Personal life:Margolis was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Karyn O. and William C. Margolis...

  • Jeremy Sisto
    Jeremy Sisto
    Jeremy Merton Sisto is an American actor. Sisto has had recurring roles as Billy Chenowith on the HBO series Six Feet Under and Detective Cyrus Lupo on Law & Order on television and also starred in the films Jesus, Clueless and Thirteen.-Early life:Sisto was born in Grass Valley, California, the...



Episode 5:
  • Andy Bloch
    Andy Bloch
    Andrew Elliot Bloch is a professional poker player. He holds two electrical engineering degrees from MIT and a JD from Harvard Law School.-Poker:...

      (episode winner)
  • Gabe Kaplan
    Gabe Kaplan
    Gabriel W. "Gabe" Kaplan is an American comedian, actor, poker commentator, and professional poker player.He was born in Brooklyn, New York...

  • Erik Seidel
    Erik Seidel
    Erik Seidel is an American professional poker player from Las Vegas, Nevada who has won eight World Series of Poker bracelets and a World Poker Tour title.In 2010, he was inducted as a member of the Poker Hall of Fame.-Early life:...

  • Gavin Smith
  • Don Cheadle
    Don Cheadle
    Donald Frank "Don" Cheadle, Jr. is an American film actor and producer. Cheadle rose to prominence in the late 1990s and the early 2000s for his supporting roles in the Steven Soderbergh-directed films Out of Sight, Traffic, and Ocean's Eleven...

  • Shannon Elizabeth
    Shannon Elizabeth
    Shannon Elizabeth is an American actress and former fashion model. Elizabeth is well known for her roles in comedy films such as Scary Movie, American Pie, and Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back. She is also well known for her work in horror films such as Thirteen Ghosts, Cursed, and Night of the Demons...



Episode 6:
  • David Benyamine
    David Benyamine
    David Benyamine is a French professional poker player with a World Poker Tour title. Benyamine was a professional tennis player in his early career but had to retire because of shoulder pain. He was also a successful top ten billiards player in France. He learned poker at the age of 12 and plays...

  • Jamie Gold
    Jamie Gold
    Jamie M. Gold is an American television producer, a talent agent, and poker player, based in Malibu, California. He is known for winning the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event and currently divides his time between his activities as president of production for the entertainment company,...

  • Jeff Madsen
    Jeff Madsen
    Jeff Madsen is the third-youngest winner of a World Series of Poker event and the 2006 World Series of Poker Player of the Year....

  • Huck Seed
    Huck Seed
    Huckleberry Seed is an American professional poker player best known for winning the main event of the 1996 World Series of Poker.-Early Life:...

     (episode winner)
  • Jason Alexander
    Jason Alexander
    Jay Scott Greenspan , better known by his professional name of Jason Alexander, is an American actor, writer, comedian, television director, producer, and singer. He is best known for his role as George Costanza on the television series Seinfeld, appearing in the sitcom from 1989 to 1998...

  • Shana Hiatt
    Shana Hiatt
    Shana Hiatt is a model and presenter who has appeared in several magazines.-Background:A former Army brat raised primarily in Tabernacle Township, New Jersey, she is best known for hosting the first three seasons of World Poker Tour on The Travel Channel.-Poker:While Hiatt was a non-player prior...



Championship:
  • Huck Seed
    Huck Seed
    Huckleberry Seed is an American professional poker player best known for winning the main event of the 1996 World Series of Poker.-Early Life:...

  • Andy Bloch
    Andy Bloch
    Andrew Elliot Bloch is a professional poker player. He holds two electrical engineering degrees from MIT and a JD from Harvard Law School.-Poker:...

     (champion - $500,000)
  • Phil Laak
    Phil Laak
    Philip "Phil" C. Laak is a professional poker player, now residing in Los Angeles, California. Laak holds a World Poker Tour title, a World Series of Poker bracelet and has appeared on numerous nationally-aired television shows.-Early life:...

     (runner up - $150,000)
  • Allen Cunningham
    Allen Cunningham
    Allen Cunningham is an American professional poker player.Cunningham studied civil engineering at UCLA before dropping out of school to play poker professionally. At the age of 18, he began playing at in Indian casinos...

  • Nicholas Gonzalez
    Nicholas Gonzalez
    Nicholas Edward Gonzalez is an Mexican-American actor, best known for playing Alex Santiago in the TV series Resurrection Blvd..-Early life:...

  • Phil Ivey
    Phil Ivey
    Phillip Dennis "Phil" Ivey Jr. is an American professional poker player who has won eight World Series of Poker bracelets, one World Poker Tour title and appeared at nine World Poker Tour final tables...

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