Super High Roller Celebrity Shootout Set for June 27-28

Fans of Hollywood who enjoy seeing some of their favorite actors play poker, as well as poker fans who are thrilled when the top players in the game compete against each other, have something to look forward to as the Super High Roller Celebrity Shootout will get underway this weekend in Las Vegas.

Taking place on June 27 and 28 at the Aria Resort & Casino, the celebrities scheduled to play are Norm Macdonald, Hank Azaria, Kevin Pollack, Don Cheadle and Brad Garrett. The poker pros taking seats at the table will be Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Antonio Esfandiari, Doyle Brunson and Vanessa Selbst.

The event is sponsored by Poker Central, a TV channel devoted solely to poker programming that will hit the airwaves later this fall. Poker Central will broadcast round-the-clock poker action in the form of tournaments, player profiles, tips from the pros, and more. Already signed on as Poker Central ambassadors are Esfandiari, Negreanu and Hellmuth.

The 10 players will vie for a winner-take-all prize of $1 million in No Limit Hold'em. The poker professionals will compete at one table until only one is left standing, while the Hollwood stars will do the same at another table. Heads-up action between the remaining players from each table will commence in a best of three match to declare the champion.

“These Hollywood celebrities are about to face off in the hardest game of their life, for more than they’ve ever played for before, against some of the world’s best players,” Poker Central CEO Clint Stinchcomb said. “This exciting, high pressure poker will be riveting to watch.”

If you can't watch from the rail this weekend at the Aria - not to worry. NBCSN will broadcast the action three straight Wednesdays starting on July 29 and followed on August 5 and 12.

The celebrity players are known to just about everybody with a television set at home. Hank Azaria has won four Emmys and starred in such films as America's Sweethearts and Mystery Men, and provides the voices for a bunch of beloved characters on The Simpsons. Macdonald spent five seasons on Saturday Night Live and played host to High Stakes Poker telecasts four years ago.

Also a poker show host was Pollack in Celebrity Poker Showdown. Moviegoers know Pollack from starring in Grumpy Old Men and Grumpier Old Men, while WSOP poker players know him as a respected foe at the 2012 Main Event where he finished 134th to earn $52,718.

Cheadle starred in Boogie Nights and earned an Academy Award nomination for Hotel Rwanda, and used poker to make a difference by co-founding Ante Up for Africa. Garrett is a popular comedian and actor who has a trio of Emmys to his credit, but remains perpetually jealous of his on-screen brother in Everybody Loves Raymond.

The achievements of the poker pros competing in the Super High Roller Celebrity Shootout are well-known to poker fans. Most are not strangers to being in front of a camera, having appeared on television both on and off the poker tables at various times.

Hellmuth has been seen chomping into a burger for Carl's Jr. and was asked to appear on Celebrity Wife Swap, but his wife is apparently happy with Phil and said 'no.' Negreanu appeared on Millionaire Matchmaker, X-Men Origins: Wolverine and has a role in the upcoming Four Kings.

Esfandiari and buddy Phil Laak starred in Underground Poker, while Selbst was seen recently on the Steve Harvey Show. Brunson appeared in Lucky You and The Grand, as did some of the other poker pros who will be competing at the Super High Roller Celebrity Shootout.