Mike Matusow and Annie Duke Headline New Poker After DarkNew Episodes Will Feature Six Talkative Players |
|
Mike Matusow will try to win just his second Poker After Dark title in 15 attempts this week when he takes on five other boisterous players in a series NBC is dubbing “He Said She Said.”
“It’s another battle of the sexes this week on Poker After Dark as three men well-known for their gift of gab in Jean-Robert Bellande, David Grey, and Mike Matusow take on three ladies also known to be chatty at the table in Erica Schoenberg, Karina Jett, and Annie Duke explained Dennis Oehring, on behalf of the show.
Television viewers have been seeing a lot of Matusow recently. The Mouth has been one of the big winners over the last couple weeks on High Stakes Poker on GSN.
He’ll have his work cut out for him this week though if he wants to take down the winner-take-all $120,000. Duke, fresh off her NBC Heads-up title, will be looking to take down the tourney for her first win in four attempts.
Episodes will premiere at 2:05 a.m. on weekday nights, with a special 1:00 a.m. director’s cut airing after Saturday Night Live.
Here are brief profiles of this week’s competitors, courtesy of NBC:
Schoenberg, Erica
• Nicknamed “Poker Babe” and one of the game’s more attractive female players
• Studied how to win at blackjack with members of the infamous MIT blackjack team, and derived much of her income from blackjack until turning to poker full-time in 2005
• Career live tournament winnings in excess of $769,000
• Her parents met while gambling at the Santa Anita racetrack in Arcadia, CA
• Former model, personal trainer, kickboxing instructor, and professional volleyball player
Bellande, Jean-Robert
• Born in New York City to Creole parents in 1971, but grew up in Taiwan before moving to Los Angeles at the age of 17
• Holds a degree in marketing from Azusa Pacific University and is a former L.A. nightclub owner now living in Las Vegas
• Career live tournament winnings in excess of $1.05 million
• Considered one of poker’s bad boys due to his propensity to engage in trash talking at the table
• Was a contestant on the 15th season of CBS’ hit show Survivor: China, and is working on a TV pilot called Broke and Living Like a Millionaire, focusing on life as a poker player on the road with an ailing bankroll
Grey, David
• Known primarily as a solid high-stakes cash game player
• Holder of two WSOP bracelets, one in $2500 7-card stud in 1999 and the other in $5000 no-limit 2-7 draw lowball in 2005
• Lifetime live tournament winnings in excess of $1.51 million
• Professional gambler for many years, and possesses a unique sense of humor
• Long-time player in the “Big Game” at the Bellagio
Jett, Karina
• Is a professional poker player who was born into a military family in Saigon, Vietnam but now lives in Las Vegas
• Studied political science in college, but returned to Las Vegas to help her mother run the family businesses, a jewelry store and a Chinese restaurant
• Primarily a cash game player, but does have lifetime tournament winnings in excess of $152,000
• Learned how to play poker from her mother, who was a very good 7 card stud player
• Married to professional poker player Chip Jett, who she met while playing poker in Mississippi, and the two were married at the infamous Little White Chapel in Las Vegas
Matusow, Mike
• Known as “The Mouth” for trash talking at the tables, and one of poker’s most recognizable players
• Winner of three WSOP bracelets, his latest in the prestigious 2008 $5000 no-limit 2-7 draw event w/rebuys
• Lifetime live tournament winnings in excess of $7.29 million, and ranks 23rd on the all-time money list
• Won a $100,000 prop bet with Ted Forrest at the beginning of the 2008 WSOP by losing more than 50 pounds since the 2007 WSOP, weighing in at a svelte 179
• Released his autobiography entitled Check-Raising the Devil in May 2009, a candid and revealing look at his life and the battles he’s faced with demons over the years
Duke, Annie
• Nickname is the “Duchess of Poker,” and one of the most recognized women in the game
• Winner of one WSOP bracelet, that coming in a 2004 $2,000 Omaha hi/lo event, and also won the 2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship
• Career live tournament winnings in excess of $4.24 million
• Ranks 2nd on the women’s all-time money list, trailing only Kathy Liebert
• Appeared on NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice 2, and though eventually “fired” by Donald Trump she did the poker community proud by finishing 2nd to Joan Rivers
Copyright © 2001-2024
CardPlayer.com. All rights reserved.
