Celebrity Poker Showdown: Comic Relief for Katrina Relief

Celebrity Poker Showdown: Comic Relief for Katrina Relief by Roxanne McDonald

Celebrity Poker Showdown brings another entertaining card battle of the stars, but one of a more intense kind: tournament championship poker for Katrina relief.

Dave Foley, illustrious idiot savant in the closet comic introduces the players: Jason Alexander (George of Seinfeld), playing for United Way for the Greater New Orleans Area; Michael Ian Black (of Crank Yankers and Reno 911), playing for MAZON-A Jewish Response to Hunger; Ida Siconolfi (stay-at-home mom who won the Bravo.com online tournament), playing for The Children’s Health Fund; Keegan-Michael Key (Mad TV funnyman), playing for Habitat for Humanity; and Robin Tunney (The Craft and Prison Break), also playing for The Children’s Health Fund.

Within the first couple of hands, Robin Tunney takes a huge lead in chips, holding 71k to Ida’s 49k, Key’s 48.5k, Jason’s 42.5k, and MIB’s 39k. Worldwide Poker champ and expert co-host to Dave, Phil Hellmuth comments that the others better get used to Robin’s style, she is aggressive and bets, bets, bets. She stays chip leader, going up to 81,000, and continues to give the other fine players a cutthroat run for the championship money.

Michael Ian Black, unusually quiet when he has been at previous games cheeky, smirky, distracting, suddenly stalls while deciding what to bet. Someone expresses mock impatience and Michael snipes that his two pair might be worthy of taking the 42,000-dollar pot. Woops.

He actually told everyone what he had! Obviously, he intended to be comical but not disclosing, yet, he still wins the pot. Hmmm. Winning by reverse psychology, intimidation, and the pretense that he didn’t “know what [he] was doing”? Nope. As Foley says, he knew EXACTLY what he was doing.

Black is as aggressive as Tunney, if not more so, fool with odd hands as Jason Alexander starts in on his teasing of the dealer, Christine. In previous games, Alexander would stand and go to the dealer’s side, kissing the dealer’s head, hugging him or her, and feigning bribery by affection.

This is what makes Celebrity Poker Showdown so entertaining: the celebs have signature behaviors that they have integrated into the game, be they poker-faced bluffs, fake tells, or unique distracting methods. In tournament three, David Cross (of Arrested Development) comes to the table dressed in a robe, then in quirky t-shirts, then wearing a woman’s diamond bracelet. Others do the pretend flirting, while still others use the Jennifer Tilly relentlessly chatty approach or the Willie Garson incessant questioning and jiving strategy. The smirky humor is of course the best, bringing some stoicism-breaking levity to not only the table but to the viewers—who I am sure would go mad with boredom and just change channels were the show any different.

Anyway, it’s about time for

someone to join Dave Foley and Phil Hellmuth in the Loser’s Lounge: the unassuming Keegan-Michael Key leaves the table. He has a lovely self-effacing jocularity, while he also seriously discusses the failed strategy in that last hand. Dave of course camps it up with Keegan as they urge people to contribute to his charity and, on a roll, trump up the value of the upcoming commercials.

Ida Siconolfi is next to make the dignified walk from table to Loser’s Lounge, with Michael Ian Black following, the one who says, “I am no poker expert” but who is corrected by Phil who says he is the “number one player” on the show. So head-to-head, or in the heads-up round are Alexander and Tunney—two players to be reckoned with for their aggression, their poise, and their poker savvy.

And as many may have been rooting for, Jason Alexander wins the Celebrity Poker Showdown championship tournament—this time without as much head-rubbing, kissing, or as many Jewish jokes to cull the caving in of opponents! Yay, Jason!

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