New Poker After Dark Episodes to Feature Couples

It’s been said that “All is fair in love and war,” and on this week’s new Poker After Dark, audiences shall see if a check-raise bluff from the one you love is fair game. Starting Tuesday at 2:05 a.m. on NBC, the first episode of Love at First Raise week will air starring three romantically involved poker couples fighting for the $120,000 winner-take-all first-place prize.

The following are the bios of the featured players, provided by the player database on CardPlayer.com:

Jennifer Harman

Don’t let Jennifer Harman’s sweet personality and small frame fool you; she is one of the most feared players in the game today. She was born in Reno, Nevada, where she grew up playing cards. She graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno.

Harman is the only woman to ever play in the highest-stakes cash game in the world. She was a member of the group of poker professionals who banded together in order to play banker Andy Beal heads up for millions of dollars.

In addition to being a successful cash-game player, she is a terror in tournaments. Harman owns two World Series of Poker bracelets. She won her first bracelet in 2000 in the deuce-to-seven draw event and another in the 2002 $5,000 limit hold’em tournament.

After taking some time away from poker to recover from a kidney transplant, Harman placed fourth in the World Poker Tour Five-Diamond World Poker Classic, fifth in the inaugural Professional Poker Tour event, and second in the WSOP Tournament Circuit championship event at the Rio. In 2008, she made the final table of the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star event, finishing third for $330,000.

Her charitable efforts are concentrated on giving back to animals, and she has been successful in raising more than $280,000 for the Nevada SPCA. Harman is a member of Team Full Tilt and is married to pro Marco Traniello.

Marco Traniello

During a vacation to the United States from Italy in 1999, Marco Traniello met the love of his life, professional poker player Jennifer Harman. Traniello, a highly regarded hairdresser, moved to Las Vegas and opened his own prestigious salon. Soon after moving, he began to pick up on Harman’s passion for the game of poker. He learned from the best in the business, as Daniel Negreanu and Erick Lindgren were frequent guests in their home. He watched and discussed poker with his wife and made his tournament debut in 2005. At that year’s World Series of Poker, he cashed seven times in hold’em events. At the 2007 WSOP, Traniello made his biggest tournament cash so far in the $10,000 buy-in World Championship pot-limit Omaha event. He took fifth for more than $156,000.

Jennifer Tilly

Actress turned poker pro Jennifer Tilly already has a World Series of Poker ladies-event bracelet and World Poker Tour Ladies Invitational title under her belt. She is the romantic interest of Phil Laak, and while her tournament wins have come in ladies-only events, she does not shy away from playing with the boys.

Tilly was born in 1958 in Harbor City, California. She has memorable performances in Liar Liar and many independent films. She received an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress in Woody Allen’s Bullets Over Broadway.

Phil Laak

Phil Laak likes to have fun at the poker table. He is identifiable by his signature gray hooded sweatshirt, given to him by Gus Hansen. Do not be surprised if Laak is lying on the ground doing push-ups or standing behind the dealer to be the first to see the cards.

He was born in 1972 in Dublin, Ireland. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with a degree in mechanical engineering and began playing poker in California.

Mostly a cash-game player, he also has numerous major tournament cashes, including a win in the 2004 World Poker Tour Invitational. He finished second in the 2005 $2,500 pot-limit hold’em World Series of Poker event. In 2006, he finished fifth in the Seneca World Poker Classic. He is dating fellow poker player and actress Jennifer Tilly.

David Benyamine

Born on July 5, 1972, David Benyamine is a French native who first had hopes of becoming a professional tennis player. He was among the top players at a very young age, but because of arthritis, he was forced to quit. With his tennis dreams dashed, he looked for another unconventional profession since he knew that a regular 9-to-5 job was not for him.

Benyamine became one of the top 10 pool players in France. His competitive drive and thirst for taking on new challenges drove him to start playing poker. Benyamine started playing low-stakes pot-limit games and eventually built up a decent bankroll. It became big enough to compete at the legendary Aviation Club, where many of France’s best players competed for big money. There he learned and improved his game a tremendous amount.

After a few ups and downs that come with being a true gambler at heart, Benyamine has solidified himself in the poker community by consistently beating the highest cash games around. He’s also had is fair share of success in major live tournaments and in love. Benyamine is currently involved with model turned poker player Erica Schoenberg.

Erica Schoenberg

Born on March 25, 1978, Erica Schoenberg has always been somewhat of a "babe." She formerly worked as a model, personal trainer, and professional volleyball player. She said that modeling was ultimately not for her, and began playing blackjack. She was trained by a member of the MIT Blackjack Team. Schoenberg became known as the "Blackjack Babe." Her poker accomplishments include a sixteenth-place finish at the 2006 World Poker Tour Five-Star World Poker Classic and a recent first-place finish in a preliminary no-limit hold'em event at the Mandalay Bay Championship. She has also appeared on the WPT Ladies Night. Schoenberg is dating high-stakes cash player David Benyamine.
 

This week’s theme will continue airing in the same timeslot through Saturday. On Sunday, a special “Director’s Cut” episode recaps the week’s action at 1 a.m. More Poker on TV listings can be found on CardPlayer.com.

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