August 17 2012, Brett Collson

Today is Friday, which means you’ve made it to the weekend. But before you begin your plans, we’re here to bring you the day’s biggest poker stories. In this edition of the Nightly Turbo, we’ve covering Trishelle Cannatella’s new poker reality show, Doyle Brunson’s vacation in Montana, and more.

In Case You Missed It

How was the high-stakes action at the PokerStars tables this week? Read the Online Railbird Report to find out the week’s biggest winners and losers.

Many of poker’s best online players never get a chance to shine in the spotlight. We’re here to change that. In this edition of Online Chat, Jason “Prairie Hawk” Grad discusses poker, MMA, sports betting, and more.

Is your fantasy football draft coming up? We can help. In the latest edition of the Pigskin Diaries, Rich Ryan takes a look at the most undervalued and overvalued running backs.

Trishelle Living the Life

Former reality television stars Trishelle Cannatella and Amanda Kimmel will soon be featured in a new show that might pique the interest of poker fans. Living the Life will document Cannatella’s and Kimmel’s journey around the world to play in poker tournaments. The first shooting of the show will take place during this month’s European Poker Tour in Barcelona, Spain.

Cannatella, who had a brush with fame on the The Real World and The Surreal Life, made her foray into poker in 2005 when she was invited on the Celebrity Poker Showdown. In 2008, she made the final table of the World Poker Tour Celebrity Invitational, and has since made several appearances on the tournament circuit.

Kimmel is a former Miss USA contestant who competed on Survivor: China in 2007 and Survivor: Micronesia in 2008. She has limited experience on the poker felts, but she told the West Island Chronicle last month that she finds “a lot of similarities between playing poker and doing Survivor.”

EPT Barcelona will be featured in the pilot of the show, with additional footage expected to be shot in Los Angeles, Berlin, Monte Carlo and Australia. The two ladies have been in talks with some major networks to air the show next year.

Read more at Yahoo.com.

Doyle’s Downtime

After a long summer of grinding high-stakes cash games in Las Vegas, Doyle Brunson has been enjoying some R&R with his family in the scenic Montana. In his most recent blog, Brunson said he was glued to his television during the Olympic Games and discussed the amazing performances by Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps, among others.

But there’s been some excitement in the quiet countryside, too. Brunson told a story about his 16-year-old poodle chasing down a black bear that was raiding his apple tree. The bear escaped from the seven pound dog by running up a tree, with the dog “nipping at his heels.”

“I was screaming at Casper to stop but he doesn’t know the meaning of fear,” Brunson wrote. “That bear could have ended Casper’s life with one swipe of his paw but thank goodness Casper startled him into running away.”

Brunson says he’ll be playing in his son Todd’s tournament, the Montana Challenge, early next month, before returning to Las Vegas to play some “serious poker.”

Read Doyle’s blog at DoyleBrunson.com.

Remembering Justin Shronk

The Justin Shronk Memorial Scholarship Fund Charity Tournament will take place this weekend at the new Revel Resort and Casino in Atlantic City, N.J. Shronk, a beloved member of the poker community, passed away in 2009 at age 27. He was a major fixture in poker’s “new media” transformation, working with outlets like PokerRoad, Bluff, CardPlayer, and right here at PokerNews.com.

The charity tournament will be held on Saturday, Aug. 18 at 12:00 p.m. ET. It will be a $215 buy-in with $200 rebuys for the first three levels. Half the pool will go toward the Justin Shronk Memorial Scholarship Fund; the other half will go toward the prize pool.

The Justin Shronk Memorial Scholarship Fund was established in 2009 at the Temple University School of Communications and Theater to honor Justin’s life and passion for his career in communications. The scholarship provides support for students majoring in broadcasting, telecommunications, and mass media.

More information can be found at Poker-Players-Unite.org.

Maria Ho, Greg Raymer Endorse River Poker Series

Poker pros Maria Ho and Greg Raymer will return as official celebrity endorsers for WinStar World Casino’s 2012 River Poker Series from Aug. 30 through Sept. 3, 2012. The nine-event series boasts a guaranteed prize pool of $4 million, including a $2,100 Main Event with a $2.5 million guaranteed prize tag.

The Main Event has averaged around 1,400 participants over the past two years, according to Jay Wiles, WinStar World Casino’s poker room manager. In 2011, Bronson Tucker outlasted a field of 1,355 players to collect a massive prize of $640,400.

This will mark the second year Ho and Raymer participate in the series in Thackerville, Okla. Raymer signed on with Winstar in May 2010, and Ho joined him as a casino spokesperson in 2011.

“I am ecstatic to be back representing WinStar World Casino,” Ho told PokerNews earlier this year. “Jay Wiles and the entire team at WinStar go out of their way to create a personal experience and a genuine relationship with their players, and that’s just one of the reasons I’m so proud to represent them.”

Get full details on the River Poker Series at WinstarWorldCasino.com.

Aussie Millions Player Incentive

The 2013 Aussie Millions Poker Championship is still five months away, but Crown Melbourne has rolled out three incentive plans for those intending to play in the series’ richest events.

The series will run from Jan. 17 through Feb. 3, featuring 26 “Championship Ring” events with buy-ins starting from AUD$500. However, the festival will be highlighted by the AUD$25,000 Challenge, the AUD$100,000 Challenge, the AUD$250,000 High Roller, and the AUD$10,600 Main Event.

The following plans will be offered to the “high rollers” at this upcoming Aussie Million:

Offer 1: Players who register for both the AUD$10,600 Main Event and AUD$25,000 Challenge will receive five nights’ accommodation at Crown Metropol valued at around $1,500, or Aussie Million tournament credits to the equivalent value.

Offer 2: Players who register for both the AUD$10,600 Main Event and AUD$100,000 Challenge will receive 10 nights’ accommodation at Crown Metropol valued at around $3,000, or Aussie Million tournament credits to the equivalent value.

Offer 3: Players who register for both the AUD$10,600 Main Event and AUD$250,000 Super High Roller will receive 10 nights’ accommodation at Crown Towers valued at around $3,500, or Aussie Million tournament credits to the equivalent value.

For a full look at the schedule and more information on the incentive plans, visit AussieMillions.com.

Welcome to Barcelona!

PokerNews’ Kristy Arnett is enjoying her second trip to Barcelona for the European Poker Tour. On Friday, she joined Lynn Gilmartin for a tour around the city and offered some helpful tips along the way.

Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

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July 10 2012, Chad Holloway

When it comes to Kevin Pollak, you no doubt associate him with big-time Hollywood films rather than poker. Pollak has starred in dozens of films and televisions shows and has such iconic roles under his belt as Rool in Willow, Jacob Goldman in Grumpy Old Men, Todd Hockney in The Usual Suspects, and Phillip Green in Casino. With that said, he did break into the poker world a few years ago when he hosted the first season of Celebrity Poker Showdown.

After a lengthy hiatus from the game, Pollak has decided to venture back into poker and has traveled to the World Series of Poker for the first time to play in the $10,000 Main Event. Not only did he play Day 1a of the Main Event, but also he survived with a stack of 43,900. That means he will be back in action on Tuesday for Day 2a/b and seated at Table 372 where he’ll face some stiff competition in tablemates Kevin MacPhee and Todd Barlow.

Of course you can follow Pollak’s Main Event progress in our live blog, but in the meantime check out PokerNews‘ recent interview with Pollak where he talks a little poker:

We’ve seen you in the poker world in year’s past, but we’ve never seen you here at the WSOP. What brings you here for the Main Event?

First time at the Main Event here at the World Series of Poker, and I’m here representing HollywoodPoker.com where the fans have an opportunity to upload their best poker face at Hollywood Poker. We’re giving away prizes every day. I’m sort of the new ambassador for the site, gathering celebrities, taking photos of celebrities along with myself. I’ve taken a few already, I’ll be taking a bunch more during the Mai Event and upload them to the site.

I’m shooting video blogs everyday and trying to tweet out my experience at the tables, just trying to make it a fan experience as much as possible, which is one of the things we’re trying to do at Hollywood Poker. In fact, if people follow us on Twitter @HollywoodPoker, go to Facebook, you can win prizes that we’re giving away everyday.

How did you first learn to play poker?

I was young. My cousin was older, I was probably 10 or 11 years old, and I saw my cousin coming home from playing poker with his friend. He’d not only have their money but he’d have their possessions as well. I thought, ‘How do you do that?’ He taught me how to play, but it wasn’t really until I was here in Las Vegas shooting the movie Casino for the great Martin Scorsese that I was stuck at the Riviera for 20 weeks.

If you’ve ever anytime there, you know I’m not kidding when I say stuck. So I spent most of my time hanging out in the poker room when I wasn’t shooting. One of the pit bosses there saw me, sort of took me aside, and said, ‘You play a lot of poker, huh?’ I said yes and he said, ‘You play at cash games at home, right?’ I said yes again and he said, ‘Well that won’t work here. You’re playing against pros so you gotta learn a different game.”

I became a great student and fan of playing poker against grinders, pros, and the seventh-level of Spock chess that goes on at the table. That’s what I find fascinating now.

Have you had the chance to get to know any poker pros?

I see Annie Duke all the time, she’s been on my chat show, I do a live-streaming talk show on the Internet every Sunday afternoon. Annie’s been a guest. I hosted the first season of Celebrity Poker Showdown with Phil Gordon, still a friend. I’ve met a lot and played with a lot of pros, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Laak, and all the Phils.

If you had the opportunity to star in a poker-related movie, would that be something of interest to you?

I’ve read several scripts, so far they’ve all sucked, but I looked forward to a good one.

What would you rather have, the World Series of Poker Main Event bracelet or an Academy Award?

Main Event bracelet, unless of course you could figure out a way for me to wear the Oscar. See, that’s the thing, I can wear the bracelet. No, no, the WSOP Main Event bracelet would be far greater than an Oscar. I’ve already got a film career. [Laughs]

Speaking of your film career, of all the characters you’ve portrayed, who do you think would be the best poker player?

Probably Hockney from the Usual Suspects because he was a badass and wouldn’t take shit from anybody. He was a sociopath, so he’d probably do better playing poker as a sociopath.

*Lead picture courtesy of AV Club.

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