Seinfeld Versus Malcolm in the Middle

While shooting CPS (Celebrity Poker Showdown) in New Orleans - on Bravo on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. - I found out that some celebrities can really play no-limit hold'em at a high level. In week one, Jason Alexander (George Costanza on Seinfeld) and Bryan Cranston (Malcolm in the Middle) really brought some game to their five-player heat while playing with Susie Essman (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Jamie Bamber (Battle Star Gallactica), and Kevin Sorbo (Hercules).

Alexander and Cranston dominated. On air, I picked Cranston to win (Dave Foley, my co-host, picked Alexander), although I acknowledged that Alexander was a terrific player, as well. I had given Alexander lessons myself, along with my books and DVDs, on the television show Extra a few years back, and had picked him to finish high.

Sorbo went out first, followed by Bamber, who was pretty unlucky early on when his pocket kings were beaten by Essman's A-Q, especially when the first four cards were A-6-4-A, making it hard for him to imagine that Essman had one of the last two aces.

Bamber took a very ugly bad beat later, when he was all in with A-6 against Essman's K-Q, and the flop came down A-6-4 (the same flop against the same opponent!), and then a jack came, which meant that Essman could win with a 10. Of course, Bamber was still a 10-to-1 favorite to win the pot, but lo and behold, the last card was the miracle 10. Bamber, who was wearing Alexander's sunglasses, jerked so violently after the 10 came up that the sunglasses went flying off his head! (Nonetheless, that was a calmer reaction than I would have had!)

Another interesting hand came up when, on the button and with the blinds at $200-$400, Cranston raised to $1,200 to go with K-5 offsuit, and Alexander called with 7-4 offsuit. In the booth, I announced that I didn't like Alexander's call. I mean, why call with 7-4? It's an easy fold for Alexander, unless he suspected that Cranston was weak, in which case he should have gone ahead and muscled up, and reraised $2,000 more to try to win the pot right then and there. Why call a raise to take a flop with 7-4? I don't mind Cranston's raise here, since he had been raising quite a number of pots and winning them uncontested, which added to his chip lead.

After a flop of 9-4-2, Alexander bet out $500 with his pair of fours, which was OK with me, except that if you're going to bet that little, understand that your opponent may think you're weak. Cranston, without hesitation, went ahead and raised $1,500 more. I love the fact that he raised on a stone-cold bluff, and especially that he made his raise so quickly (he made it look as if he were strong).

This put Alexander in a tough spot, and I don't think his fold was a bad one. But, I would have liked his fold even more if he had taken time to study Cranston for a while, and given himself a chance to make a good read. I believe he folded too quickly. A call here would have been OK, but as it turned out, a raise would have been the perfect play. Ideally, Alexander should have studied Cranston a minute, read weakness, and reraised it $3,000 or $4,000, or more.

Essman was the next to exit, with the blinds at $1,000-$2,000, when Cranston raised to $4,000 to go with A 10, and Essman made it $6,000 to go with the K 8. I would have preferred to see them both make bigger raises before the flop. Cranston should have made it $6,000 to go, and Essman, if she raised at all, should have moved all in for $15,000. A flop of A-K-5 sealed Essman's fate, and left Cranston heads up with Alexander for the title.

A few hands later, Alexander, with $10,000 in chips and the blinds at $3,000-$5,000, moved all in from the button with the 9 7, and Cranston, with $40,000 in chips, called with Q-7. With the blinds this high, both players were forced to play their hands before the flop. Cranston was a 2-to-1 favorite, but the flop came down 9 6 2, which was great for Alexander, because he had hit his 9 and flopped a flush draw. After two low cards came off, Alexander won that hand. And after winning the next two hands, as well, he won his heat and was the first of five players to advance to the final. (I couldn't believe that Foley had finally picked a winner, and on our first show together!) By the way, first place in CPS this time around is $500,000, out of a total prize pool of $1 million, and all of that will be going to New Orleans-based charities.

On our second show, Jorge Garcia (Lost), Greg Behrendt (He's Just Not That Into You), Michael Ian Black (director of the upcoming movie The Pleasure of Your Company), Kim Coles (Living Single), and Andrea Martin (in soon-to-be-released movies Young Triffies Been Made Away With and Black Christmas) battled it out to reach the CPS final. The results of that contest, and any interesting hands that came up, will appear in my next column.