Pro-Am Equalizer Poker Tourney Starts Today

The Pro-Am Equalizer poker tournament, which will air on ABC starting Nov. 11, features six heats of six players with the winner of each heat advancing to the championship table where each will be guaranteed at least $25,000. The winner of the whole thing receives $500,000. Second place wins $150,000 and all the rest of the players to make it to the final win $25,000.

Each table is made of four professionals and two celebrities. To make things a little more fair, the equalizer is that the celebs start with 150,000 chips, 50,000 more than the professionals.

The professionals are Erick Lindgren, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, John Juanda, Johnny Chan, Mike Matusow, Shawn Sheikhan, Gus Hansen, Jamie Gold, Huck Seed, Jeff Madsen, David Benyamine, Gabe Kaplan, Gavin Smith, Andy Bloch, Erik Seidel, Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, Phil Laak, Jennifer Harman, Clonie Gowen, David Williams, Ted Forrest, and Allen Cunningham,

The amateur celebrities are Cheryl Hines, Jose Canseco, Nicholas Gonzalez, Yancey Arias, Shana Hiatt, Jason Alexander, Shannon Elizabeth, Don Cheadle, Cindy Margolis, Jeremy Sisto, Jennifer Tilly, and Penn Jillette.

Most of the amateurs know what they're doing, though. For example, in the first match, Hines laid down pocket sixes against Negreanu's AK. Some of them also have World Series of Poker experience and Tilly even owns a WSOP bracelet she won in the ladies event.

Each day, two matches will be played. The only player to advance to the final is the table's winner. The makeup of the tables, and the days that they will play, follow:

• Monday, 11 a.m.: Lindgren, Ivey, Negreanu, Juanda, Canseco, and Hines.
• Monday, 4 p.m.: Chan, Matusow, Sheikhan, Hansen, Gonzalez, and Arias.
• Tuesday, 11 a.m.: Gowen, Williams, Forrest, Cunningham, Tilly, and Jillette.
• Tuesday, 4 p.m.: Ferguson, Lederer, Laak, Harman, Margolis, and Sisto.
• Wednesday, 11 a.m.: Kaplan, Smith, Bloch, Seidel, Elizabeth, and Cheadle.
• Wednesday, 4 p.m.: Gold, Seed, Madsen, Benyamine, Hiatt, and Alexander.
• The final match takes place Thursday.

The show will air on ABC weekends starting Nov. 11, for a total of 14 hours of poker action. The broadcast schedule is as follows (all times are EST): Sat. Nov. 11, 2-3 p.m.; Sunday, Nov. 12, 1:30-3:30 p.m.; Sat. Nov. 18, 2-3 p.m.; Sunday, Nov. 19, 4-6 p.m.; Sunday, Nov. 26, 1:30-3:30 p.m.; Sunday, Dec. 3, 4-6 p.m.; Sunday, Dec. 17, 1-3 p.m.; and the final takes place Saturday, Dec. 23, 2-4 p.m.

FullTilt is the event's main sponsor.

CardPlayer.com will have a report after each match all week, so be sure to check back to see who will be playing for the half a million dollars on Thursday.

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