Poker Players on Reality Shows


[SS] “There are reality poker shows, and there are reality shows with poker players on them”, Stan the Stat stated.

[RR] “Disproportionately represented by women”, Roderick the Rock noted, “not that I’m complaining.”

[LL] “I can’t really stand any of those shows, but I have to say, Annie Duke was robbed”, Leroy the Lion contributed.

[SS] “Now, of course, lots of people play poker, so this list only includes poker pros. I didn’t count amateurs like Adam Gersh on Unan1mous and Dan Barbour on I Survived a Japanese Game Show.

Poker Players on U.S. Reality Game Shows1

Show (Wikipedia link) Network Year (IMDB link) Poker Player Notes
MasterChef 72 Fox 2016 David Williams Spoiler (highlight to see): finished third out of 20
Survivor 32: Kaoh Rong3 CBS 2016 Anna Khait Spoiler (highlight to see): fifth person voted off out of 18
Big Brother 174 CBS 2015 Vanessa Rousso Spoiler (highlight to see): finished 3rd out of 17
Survivor 28: Cagayan CBS 2014 Garrett Adelstein Adelstein has $122,766 in career tournament earnings according to the Hendon Mob Poker Database but is more of a cash game player; Spoiler (highlight to see): Adelstein was the second contestant voted out
The Millionaire Matchmaker Bravo 2013 Daniel Negreanu Video of “Wounded Wally and the Mama’s Boy” (1/10/13); Spoiler (highlight to see): seemed happy with his choice of Lindsay Blalock, but the relationship was already history by the time the episode aired
Worst Cooks in America Bravo 2012 Tiffany Michelle Spoiler (highlight to see): finished 5th out of 16
The Millionaire Matchmaker Bravo 2010 Beth Shak Video of “House of Cards” (11/9/10) for $1.99; Spoiler (highlight to see): She picked the millionaire (1,200 pairs of shoes cost a lot, you know), but none of the three men Patty set her up with were “so great” and she met someone else shortly after the episode was filmed; Shak also appeared on Celebrity Nightmares Decoded.
The Amazing Race 15 CBS 2009 Maria Ho and Tiffany Michelle Spoiler (highlight to see): finished 6th out of 12 two-player teams
Celebrity Apprentice NBC 2009 Annie Duke Spoiler (highlight to see): finished 2nd out of 16 (to Joan Rivers)
2 Months, $2 Million G4TV 2009 Dani Stern, Jay Rosenkrantz, Brian Roberts, and Emil Patel The four players share a house in Las Vegas and try to make $2 million playing online poker in only two months; Video of the first of ten episodes; Spoiler (highlight to see): ended up making $676,700
Rob and Amber: Against the Odds FOX Reality Channel 2007 Rob Mariano Survivor and The Amazing Race contestant Rob Mariano tries to make it as a professional poker, with Daniel Negreanu as his tutor
Survivor 15: China CBS 2007 Jean Robert Bellande Spoiler (highlight to see): finished 9th out of 16

[RR] “How does Rob Mariano belong on the list?”

[SS] “Believe it or not, he won $50,000 in 2006 by placing sixth in the Calvin Ayre Wild Card Poker Tournament. For that, Boston Rob got into Hendon’s Database and earned a wild card onto this list.”

[SS] “Poker pros have also appeared on reality lifestyle shows. I may have seen some of these, but you’ll never get me to admit it:”

Poker Players on U.S. Reality Lifestyle Shows1

Show (Wikipedia link) Network Year (IMDB link) Poker Player Notes
Sin City Rules TLC 2012-13 Jennifer Harman Harman and four other somewhat important Vegas women (Lana Fuchs [daughter of a famous mobster], Amy Hanley [entrepreneur], Alicia Jacobs [reporter], and Lori Montoya [cosmetics line]); f.k.a. Vegas High Rollers; 5 episodes aired and 3 were posted to the web site
I Bet My Life Travel Channel 2012 Liv Boeree and Kevin MacPhee The Iron Maiden and ImaLuckSac play in a European Poker Tour $14,000 buy-in tournament in Monte Carlo, Monaco; trailer (pilot only); Spoiler (highlight to see): neither player made the money
NY Ink TLC 2012 Beth Shak Clip from the “Poker Hottie” episode
I Bet You MOJO HD 2007-08 Antonio Esfandiari and Phil Laak YouTube Playlist; 2 seasons with a total of 24 episodes; 3rd season filmed but never aired as iN Demand cancelled the entire network
My Life on the D List Bravo 2007 Mike Matusow In the “Loose Cannon” episode, the Mouth has a blind date with the show’s star, comedienne Kathy Griffin; 4-minute YouTube video

[LL] “I Bet You was quite funny at times; pairing Laak and Esfandiari was a good bet. But I think the people who produced some of these other shows need a reality check.”

[RR] “No surprise that the other shows all folded pretty quickly.”

Footnotes:

  1. The tables are sorted by recency. Tap on the header to sort by any column. You need to view the post by itself for this to work.
  2. September 15, 2016 Update: Added David Williams’s appearance on MasterChef 7.
  3. March 17, 2016 Update: Added Anna Khait’s appearance on Survivor 32: Kaoh Rong.
  4. September 24, 2015 Update: Added Vanessa Rousso’s appearance on Big Brother 17.

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