- Thursday, April 18, 2024
By: Admin Super
Hollywood is often characterized by its glamorous red carpets, its sunny days, and A-list celebrities. As the home of the Oscars and the biggest movie production companies in the world, it’s a huge sector when it comes to money and creativity. As one of the most popular entertainment hotspots globally, Hollywood is home to a lot of famous celebrities known for their acting, singing, directing, and much more. A popular game in this part of the City of Angels is poker, a centuries-old card game that can both exploit bad players and richly reward the best players. In the past decade, we’ve seen a rise in celebrity poker players. Here are the biggest poker players in Hollywood (plus one outstanding Brit!).
You might recognize this name from the late 1990s Chucky movies or Monsters Inc., but Jennifer Tilly is much more than just an Academy-Award-nominated actress. She’s also renowned for her impressive poker skills. Just like her father, Harry Chan, she’s an accomplished poker player and gambler with a long list of winning strikes. In 2005, she beat over 600 participants in the Ladies’ No-Limit Texas Hold’em event, winning $158,625 and the World Series of Poker bracelet. After winning the World Series of Poker bracelet in Las Vegas, Tilly also won a World Poker Tour Ladies Invitation Tournament and was invited on several TV shows to display her poker skills. Since then, she has multiplied her winnings in various poker tournaments, and as of 2019, her poker winnings amounted to over $1 million.
Shannon Elizabeth rose to fame with her appearances in the American Pie movies in the late 1990s. Since then, she has participated in countless television and film productions, appearing in 35 movies and 21 television shows. However, Elizabeth is not only known for her acting, as she’s also a professional poker player. In 2006 she was named as one of the leading celebrity poker players in the world, after playing in the 2005 World Series of Poker and beating 83 people to win $55,000. She was also given that title because of her recurrent visits to Las Vegas Valley nearly every week to participate in poker games with the best players. As an actress, animal activist, model, and conservationist, Elizabeth also proved to be an acutely prepared poker player.
Former Spider-Man actor Tobey Maguire has been globally recognized for his talent as one of the biggest celebrities in Hollywood. His involvement in high-stakes private poker games became known in entrepreneur Molly Bloom’s book “Molly’s Game.” However, Maguire is also known for his participation in public poker tournaments, playing in the World Series of Poker Main Event Championship in 2005, 2006, and 2007.
As an actress, comedian, talk show host, podcaster, and director, Aisha Tyler has had an accomplished career in Hollywood, appearing in countless films, television shows, video games, music videos, and advertisements. However, a less well-known fact about Tyler is that she’s a talented poker player. She regularly plays on the World Poker Tour in the Hollywood Home games for the Futures Without Violence charity, showing her agile poker skills. Neither too risk-averse nor too risk-prone, Tyler has repeatedly demonstrated her valuable poker skills.
As possibly one of the most famous male actors in Hollywood today, Matt Damon is best known for his action and drama movies such as the Jason Bourne franchise, Saving Private Ryan, and the Ocean’s trilogy, among others. Damon is not only an Academy Award winner, but also a talented poker player, showing off his poker skills in several World Series of Poker tournaments and events. He also participated in the 2010 World Series of Poker main event, demonstrating his aptitude for the game.
As a comedian, director, and actor, Kevin Hart is one of the biggest celebrity poker players in Hollywood. Hart has been competing in major poker tournaments since 2010, even cashing in one event for $4,783. Hart has played in several World Series of Poker tournaments, and as of 2020, he has nearly $50,000 from live tournament cashes.
This globally recognized actor is most known for his movies A Few Good Men and The Usual Suspects, among other artistic ventures. Aside from comedy and acting, Kevin Pollak is also a poker enthusiast. Pollak is recognized as one of the biggest poker players in Hollywood, having won over $50,000 after placing 134th out of 6,598 entrants in the World Series of Poker in 2012.
Jean-Robert Bellande is an accomplished reality TV contestant and professional poker player. He first appeared in the World Series of Poker tournaments in 2005 and has total poker earnings of over $2 million.
Not only is Victoria Coren Mitchell well known as a famous writer, TV presenter, and host of the fiendishly difficult British quiz show Only Connect, she’s also a professional poker player. In fact, Coren Mitchell is one of the most famous female poker players in history, having been inducted into the Woman in Poker Hall of Fame in 2016, and winning over $2.4 million. Although she’s based in London, she spends a lot of time in the US due to her poker commitments.
This director is primarily known for his movies Alpha Dog and The Notebook. However, he’s also a talented poker player. Nick Cassavetes has repeatedly played in World Series of Poker tournaments and has won up to $77,000 dollars during a game.
