Celebrities would make good poker players, don’t you think? Like Poker players, they are dedicated and focused on their craft.
The best of the best celebrities make a ton of money as a result and so do the best professional poker players.
There are celebrities who play poker though. Some of them enjoy it as a hobby while other celebrities play poker competitively.
Equipped with massive bankrolls, these celebrity poker players challenge themselves to master the game, and it’s safe to say that a number of them have grown quite skilled at games like Texas Hold’em Poker.
The celebrity poker players mentioned here all enjoy the game, but don’t be fooled by their celebrity status.
They are skilled poker players aiming to brutally grab your stack and win high stakes cash games, even if they are gracious enough to sign an autograph for you while they do so.
Tobey Maguire
You may remember him from his iconic role as Spiderman, but Tobey Maguire has remained relevant in live and online poker games on some of the biggest US poker sites for more than 15 years.
He frequently plays alongside Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, both of whom are well-known at the poker tables.
Tobey has competed in poker tournaments such as the National Championship of Poker and the WPT Legends of Poker since he began playing in 2004.
His most famous victories were three distinct WSOP events from 2005 to 2007, as well as Phil Hellmuth’s No-Limit Texas Hold ‘Em in 2004. Tobey also does not shy away from high-stakes private games.
He has also participated at the World Series Of Poker multiple times. His total live tournament winnings are presently close to $250,000.
Jenifer Tilly
Jennifer Tilly, an Academy Award nominee, is a very accomplished poker player who has one WSOP bracelet to her name.
She won the WSOP Women No-Limit Hold-em Championship in 2005, taking home more than $150,000 in cash.
Over the years, she is believed to have won roughly over a million dollars in poker tournaments.
Tilly appeared in the 1989 comedy Let it Ride, a film about horse racing that allegedly sparked her interest in gambling.
A fun fact abut Jennifer tilly is that she was previously married to another poker player, The Simpsons creator Sam Simon, between 1984 and 1991.
Jason Alexander
Jason Alexander, who is well known for his role as George Costanza on Seinfeld, enjoys playing poker whenever he can, both live and online.
Alexander appears frequently on poker television shows and won Celebrity Poker Showdown in its eighth season, taking home $500,000 for his charity of choice.
Alexander is so well-known as a poker player that he has sparked interest from prominent online poker sites in sponsorship options.
Matt Damon
Matt Damon, who will forever be in the good graces of poker fans thanks to appearing in the movie ‘Rounders’, which is widely accepted as one of the best gambling movies of all time, combined his time starring in Hollywood blockbusters with regular appearances at The World Series of Poker.
A cash game participant of the infamous “Molly’s Game”, Matt plays most of his poker behind-the-scenes, away from the public gaze. His character’s story in Rounders inspired many players around the world to try to become professional poker players.
Ben Affleck
In contrast to most other celebrity poker players, Ben Affleck has had professional poker trainers teach him how to play. His first poker instructor was Amir Vahedy, and he is now being instructed by Annie Duke.
Ben Affleck won his first major event in 2004, winning the California State Poker Championships for approximately $356,400.
He is also a very close friend to Matt Damon who is also on this list. Affleck has a total of $365,400 in live poker tournament winnings
Gabe Kaplan
Gabe Kaplan faded from view when the final episode of Welcome Back Kotter aired. Nevertheless, it was later revealed that he had instead opted to immerse himself in poker gambling.
His involvement in the SBOP, a poker event with the same renown as the World Series Of Poker, was well-publicized.
He even made it to the final table of three distinct tournaments between 1980 and 1985, gaining him the status of elite player after winning the 1980 tournament.
He has also competed in multiple WSOP events since 1978, amassing a tournament winnings of about two million dollars as of 2019.
Ray Romano
Romano, the star of “Everybody Loves Raymond,” became the highest-paid television actor in the world in 2004 when the show grossed $3.9 billion.
Romano is a regular in the World Series of Poker, often entering the Main Event and aiming to improve on his previous year’s success.
He is well-known for his approachability and warm interaction with his fans.
Romano said in an interview that he plays a monthly home game with his pals in a turbo structure, therefore the slower structure of the WSOP Main Event is quite difficult for him.
Sam Simon
Sam Simon (Jenifer Tilly’s former husband as previously mentioned) is the creator of “The Simpsons.” He loves participating in his local cash games on a daily basis because money isn’t an issue for him.
Sam has many World Series of Poker cashes and has been playing live poker since the mid-1990s, long before the 2003 poker boom increased poker’s popularity.
You could almost call him retro. Sam enjoys many types of poker, including Omaha 8 or Better, which contributed to one of his World Series Of Poker cashes.
Simon has earned a total of $362,900 in live poker winnings.
Shannon Elizabeth
Shannon Elizabeth has been successful in all she has attempted. She was so talented at tennis that she pondered becoming professional before becoming a global phenomenon as ‘Nadia’ in the American Pie trilogy.
In 2006 Shannon confessed her passion for poker, calling the game as “her second career”.
She traveled to Las Vegas on a regular basis to play with the finest poker players and was a semi-finalist in the NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship in 2007.
This victory, along with her past tournament poker cashes, established her as a prominent poker player.
