Uno, the Beagle that won the prestigious Best in Show prize at February's Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, poses like the pro he is this week during the Macy's Flower Show in New York City. Word is that Uno already has begun demanding first class transport, his own private dressing room and high-end kibble. A spokesdog dismisses the rumors as "the jealous sniping of insecure Black Labs."
(Photo courtesy Getty Images.)Reimagining Fame and Fortune With the WPT
By Charley Daniels
This happened to me Saturday night: I'm at the cocktail reception for the World Poker Tour Celebrity Invitational, trying to get a glimpse of professional poker player Antonio Esfandiari, but Don Cheadle is blocking my view. So I'm actually thinking, "Outta my way, Cheadle," when it hits me how backwards it all is. But that's just one of the weird and great things about this particular WPT tournament, which pits celebrities against poker professionals in a No Limit Hold 'em tournament at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles. To WPT founder and CEO Steven Lipscomb, it's the best night in poker, and he pointed out the interesting dynamic of poker pros being starstruck by celebrities and celebrities being starstruck by poker pros, who -- thanks in large part to the efforts of Lipscomb and the WPT -- have become celebrities themselves.
Which is precisely why I found myself trying to look around Don Cheadle to get a glimpse of a guy who plays cards for a living.
Yes, I did participate in the tournament, which started with 420 people and played out over three days, culminating with the final six players being filmed for the next season of World Poker Tour, airing on GSN. No, I'm not a celebrity, and I wish I could say that's the reason I was eliminated late on the first day, completely unceremoniously, after a so-so run. My problem was one of focus. In order to play poker well, concentration is essential. But let's see you focus when every person who walks by is beautiful or famous or rowdy (free drinks!) or some combination of those things. This is a poker tournament where talk-show host Montel Williams was eliminated from play by former talk-show host Ricki Lake when she made three aces against his pair of jacks. That's compelling drama no matter what, exacerbated at a distance of several feet.
Another non-celebrity grappling with the distractions in the tournament was James Hibberd, THR's new broadcast reporter. He outlasted me by an hour or so, partly because he was able to use the fact that we were playing with celebrities to his advantage. In a hand against actor James Woods, Hibberd made a raise and was facing a hefty 3,000-chip reraise from Woods. So he did what any enterprising broadcast beat reporter would have done before making the decision to fold, call or reraise: He looked the actor right in the eye and asked, "Has CBS renewed 'Shark'?" Woods laughed and said that no, CBS had not yet renewed the show, and so he needed the money. That explanation was good enough for Hibberd, who folded his hand. Woods showed him a pair of kings to prove he wasn't bluffing.
With things like that going on all around, it's not easy to keep track of betting patterns and pot odds. But that's just the point, isn't it? The WPT Celebrity Invitational is like a poker game with your friends -- your friends in this case just happen to include Donnie Wahlberg, Jennifer Tilly and Meat Loaf. Though there is a very real $225,000 in prize money at stake, it's more about fun than winning. And shouldn't that be what the best night in poker is all about?
(Getty Images photos)
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