As the popularity of poker grows around the world and the emergence and spread of online poker, the game itself as well as spinoffs from the game began to take on new dimensions. One of these is Celebrity Poker Showdown which is a game show about celebrities from film and television who play poker.
Broadcast on the cable network Bravo it had a limited run with eight tournaments during the five seasons. Each episode had duration of two hours and featured five celebrities competing in a no-limit Texas Hold’em tournament. The players could win a gold commemorative poker chip as well as up to $100,000 to be donated to their chosen charity. The winner of each qualifying won a commemorative poker chip before advancing to the championship game. For each tournament there were 25 celebrities and five qualifying game.
The show featured celebrities from every sector of the society. Many came from television shows, television reality shows, movie stars, comedians, and sports personalities. Some of these celebrities continued to play poker after they appeared on the show.
Actor and comedian Kevin Pollack hosted the first series of the game. Throughout the different episodes other hosts were Dave Foley, Phil Gordon and Phil Helmuth.
The first six tournaments had total prize money of $250,000 with the prize collected by the players who were placed ranging from $100,000 to $7,500. Each of the four players who were eliminated in the first five games received $5,000.
In the first FUll Tilt tournament televised in January 2004, Nicole Sullivan walked away with the first prize and $100,000. Other celebrities in this tournament include David Cross, Martin Sheen, Coolio, and Mimi Rogers.
In the other tournaments the champions were Maura Tierney, Seth Meyers, Mekhi Phifer, Brad Garrett, and Kathy Najimi.
The prize pool for the seventh tournament increased to $1,000,000 with placed prizes ranging from $500,000 to $25,000. Like the previous tournaments each of the four players eliminated in the first five games received $5,000. In the seventh tournament Steve Culp won the $1,000,000 prize money.
The eighth Celebrity Poker Online Showdown was a significant one for the people of New Orleans. The funds from all the winners were donated to charities benefitting victims of Hurricane Katrina. Jason Alexander was the winner of this final tournament. Among the celebrities who participated in this final show were Joy Behar, Macy Gray, Doug E. Doug, Jorge Garcia, Freddy Savage and Rocco DiSpirito.
Following the series some celebrities participated in other poker tournaments. Brad Garrett, Shannon Elizabeth, James Woods, and Nicholas Gonzalez entered in the WSOP’s $10,000 Texas Hold’em Main Event in 2005. Shannon Elizabeth advanced to the semifinals of the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship in 2007.