Businessmen and Celebrities at the WSOP: Who They Are and What They Do (1)

Every year, World Series of Poker is populated by numerous top notch professionals and most of poker fans know who they are and what they are after. But there is always a group of players who flock to Vegas, especially for the Main Event, who belong to completely different category. They are businessmen and celebrities for whom poker is beloved pastime and often they are not in it for the money, but simply for their love of the game and excitement it provides them with. We take a look at some of these personalities and their stories.

Ray Romano

We start with Ray for obvious reason, but if you need further explanation: Everybody Loves Raymond. Best known for his role in this hugely popular sitcom, Ray has also come to be one of the more recognizable faces in the Main Event bunch, as he’s been coming back for the past seven years.

Although Ray received two Emmy Awards for his performance in “Everybody Loves Raymond”, his Main Event performance has been lacking so far. His deepest finish was making Day 3 last year, but he couldn’t make it into the money.

For 56-year old father of four, his yearly trip to World Series of Poker is not so much about winning as it is about competing. In his most recent interview for Pokertube, he compared it to getting a puppy, it’s such a wonderful experience, but you know ultimately it’s going to end in tragedy. This is the only serious poker he plays the whole year, as apart from the Main Event, he only plays in small-time home games.

Romano is well aware that the pros are pros for a reason and that in the long run, he doesn’t really stand a chance, but in the short run, anything can happen. And although he’s been coming to Vegas for a while now, this year is special for Ray, as he was joined by his son Matt, who is playing his very first Main Event.

Ray made it through to Day 2 so he has a shot at breaking his last year’s record, although he will need to find a double up quickly. But even if it doesn’t happen for him this year, we will certainly be seeing him next year. Ray admits that getting knocked out hurts for couple of days, this tournament being such a big deal for him, but then he shakes it off and things are fine once again.

His determination and good spirits are probably one of the reasons why he was asked by WSOP staff to announce the start of the play for the Day 1B this year. As for his acting career, his last big project was a drama-comedy show Men of a Certain Age.

James Woods

Three-time Emmy Award winner and two-time Academy Award nominee, James Woods hardly needs an introduction. Born in 1947, Woods acting career really took off after he was nominated for the Golden Globe for his role in The Onion Field in 1979. The Academy Award nominations came in 1986 in the category of Best Actor for his role in Oliver Stone’s film Salvador and later in 1996 for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the drama Ghosts of Mississippi.

Overall, James Woods has appeared in more than 130 films and television series. He’s also lent his voice to numerous animated show and feature films, including Disney’s Hercules, an episode of Simpsons where he appeared as himself, as well as the popular show Family Guy.

He’s also known as an avid poker player, participating in numerous cash games and tournaments. His best live score to date is close to$40,000, coming from the 24th place finish in the WPT LA Poker Classics event.

Coming from the card-playing background and furthering his interest for card games during his time spent at MIT, Woods picked up Texas Hold’em as it was the game that actually involved skill factor to a great degree and he found it challenging.

Although he is not a professional player, Woods likes to think that he plays a decent game and many people at the tables are unaware of this, as they mostly recognize him for his Hollywood fame. As he explained in the Pokertube interview with Rikard, Woods doesn't really play for the money but for allure of the victory and bracelets. For someone who is not a pro player though, he certainly does a lot of analyzing and thinking trying to improve his game.

And speaking of Hollywood, he was involved in the creation and launch of Hollywoodpoker.com together with WPT announcer Vincent van Patten, where they strived to offer players a chance to play at the tables with Hollywood celebrities. The room closed its door back in 2012 without much explanation, but players did not lose any money due to the closure.

Kevin Pollak

Born in San Francisco in 1957, Kevin Elliot Pollak has attained his fame as an actor, impressionist and game show host. His most important film roles include Ricochet (1991), A Few Good Man (1992), The Usual Suspects (1995), End of Days (1999) and The Whole Nine Yards (2000).

As a comedian, Pollak is best known for his celebrity impressions. His repertoire includes many well known names like Robert De Niro, Jack Nicholson, Christopher Walken and Keanu Reeves amongst others and he is not shy to entertain his fellow players at the tables during the tournament.

Pollak loves playing poker but tournaments are not really his cup of tea and that’s the reason why he is rarely seen on the circuit apart from the Main Event for which, by his own admission, he usually finds a sponsor. The lack of tournament action, however, is made up for by the cash game he organizes on a weekly basis, gathering some of the most famous Hollywood celebrities.

Pollak also recognizes that he is outclassed in tournaments by professional players with deeper understanding for the game, but that did not prevent him from going very deep in 2012 Main Event, where he finished in 134th place, earning just shy of $53,000 and eliminating one of his poker heroes, Daniel Negreanu, along the way. He was eventually eliminated holding pocket Queens and losing to the exact same pair of his opponent. Talking to Pokertube's own Rikard, Pollak remembered his 2012 run and talked about his latest professional efforts.

It was uncertain if Pollak was going to show for this year’s Main Event, but he was able to find the sponsor just in time, and he is still going as the Day 2 enters the dinner break, looking to improve on his 2012 result.