Actor, comedian and PokerStars ambassador Kevin Hart is producing comedic educational videos about strategy for the online poker room - but that’s not the reason he’s in the news recently.
Hart has been working with Stars for almost a year now. The collaboration mainly consisted of the comic playing live PokerStars tournaments and putting out promotional videos like the ones where he and Olympic gold medalist sprinter Usain Bolt compete in silly challenges against each other. Here, for example, the two can be seen trying to stay in a tub of ice-cold water longer than the other - although “trying” may be too generous of a word to use in Hart’s case this time...
Now, PokerStars is starting to produce more poker-specific content with Hart on their strategy website, Pokerstarsschool.com. The Stars poker school features in-depth videos about many aspects of the game by creators like poker coach Pete Clarke, - who seems to be the most prolific contributor to the site - John Bowman and Márk “TropiFish” Pintér, as well as a long Q&A with Daniel Negreanu about game theory optimal play.
The Kevin Hart videos are certainly a divergence from the very technical material usually posted. So far three videos have been published there starring the American comedy star, the latest coming out on January 29th.
These types of videos probably appeal to recreational players who only look to play the game for fun, not for profit - a player base that PokerStars has been deliberately targeting by having international celebrities like Hart, or formerly Cristiano Ronaldo and actor Aaron Paul in their promotional material; or with new lower-edge games like Spin & Go Max and Beat the Clock.
These comic videos, where Hart “Eddie Murphy-style” portrays a tableful of characters are much more likely to be watched and enjoyed by someone who’s about to put their first $100 on Stars than a 20-minute video about c-betting on the flop. That being said, the Hart videos have received significantly fewer views on PokerStars’ YouTube channel than footage from live PokerStars events usually do.
However, Kevin Hart has recently received a great amount of media attention for something that has nothing to do with cards: during the celebration of the fresh Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, he appeared on the NFL network visibly intoxicated and even let an “F-bomb” out live on air which resulted in him being ejected from the set.
He can also be seen in another video at the Super Bowl, trying to join the celebrating Eagles players but getting denied by a security guard.