Annie Duke’s Celebrity Apprentice friendmate Brande Roderick is apparently sticking with the poker thing in some capacity. A series of $100 tourneys at Binion’s over the next few months include a chance to qualify for a Tournament of Champions … and the winner of that gets to spend the Super Bowl with the business-savvy Playboy bunny:
Here’s their preview video … gotta say, call me a homer, but I’m already a fan. Go purple!
I think you can see from this who is going to be the domineering personality … and I think you can tell they will probably go far. And you haters commenters can say all you want — LOL on their claims of $1 million in tournament winnings — but one of the things I like about reality TV is the risk the participants are willing to take. It’s not a new phenomenon … we know how it works, how the producers need to create storylines, and to do that they need characters. They need nice guys, meatheads, bitches, sluts, all that good stuff. And if you give them repeated indication of any distinct characteristic, they will edit away to make that seem like that’s all you’re about. And for the most part your true colors show.
Take Annie Duke on Celebrity Apprentice, for example. Extremely divisive character. Half the people thought she was a super-smart, savvy woman. The other half saw her as a total control-freakish bitch. Yep, no offense to Annie, but that pretty much lines up with all I have heard about her over the years within the poker world, and at least two of the above descriptors line up with my own personal observations and conclusions.
So while reality stars often claim they are misrepresented, frankly, in the spirit of Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink, some might contend that you actually do get to see the real person even better when all the superfluous “personality” is stripped away and left on the cutting room floor. With that in mind, I’m looking forward to getting to see and know “Maria and Tiffany” — whom I suspect will come off a little different but not too much so from the Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho we already know.
Click below for Nolan’s official report — all the data you could want, complete with quotes from celebrity players, information on who exactly played (and won), and info about the fundraising component. A few things that stand out to me:
Today’s episode should be mostly about Annie Duke and Celebrity Apprentice, and the upcoming WSOP:
I’m sure many people missed last night’s High Stakes Poker episode on GSN to watch Annie Duke get slowrolled by Donald Trump. The show featured the debut of the day 1 lineup with a few new faces so check it out below:
Annie Duke vs. Joan Rivers tonight … (getting underway live … we West Coasters have to wait a bit). I’m still not sure whether or not they’ve already done their task … my guess is they have, so tonight, “live”, is the final boardroom. Either way, @TexDolly is having fun coming up with some “Boo Joan!” doozies:
Joan Rivers got trapped on an escalator. The power went out,
12:45 PM May 8th from webJoan Rivers has a concussion. She was getting a drink and the toilet seat fell on her head.12:27 PM May 9th from web
Meanwhile, you can follow Annie (@RealAnnieDuke), and probably even better, her boyfriend (@JoeUgly), before-during-after tonight’s finale. Likewise for @JoanRivers___.
Others on-set or nearby:
@CelebApprentice (@MelRivers and @brandenroderick got the official tweeting gigs)
@Zappos
@tomgreenlive
@Andy_Bloch
@natalie_gulbis
@howardhlederer
Funny … I just went to GSN’s YouTube page to watch the last couple episodes of High Stakes Poker. Usually I’ve been watching them this season when Mathers posts them here on Pokerati … but hey, I understand he’s a busy guy! And this is the page he’s been getting them from anyway.
So anyhow, I was hoping to find Season 5, Episodes 8 and 9 of HSP … because I’ve been missing the show during its regular air time on GSN, opting instead to watch Celebrity Apprentice. However, not only are these episodes not up yet, but here’s the video that greeted me when I went to GSN’s YouTube page (previously dedicated to HSP) hoping to catch up on what I’ve been missing while following Annie Duke on NBC:
LOL.
UPDATE: Found High Stakes Poker, Season 5 Episode 8 here.
Congratulations to Annie Duke (and Joan Rivers) for making the final 2 of Celebrity Apprentice. I never woulda guessed in 2008 that these two ladies would be such a significant part of my 2009. I’m personally thrilled Annie has gotten this far, because now maybe we can force Huff to give the topic even more airtime on The Poker Beat. I’m hearing two lines of commentary amongst poker players — either shameless rooting for “one of our own” or tales from the bitter about her oppressive bitchiness on the felt, in the hallways, and just about anywhere else she’s done business.
Serious question though:
Is there anywhere you can bet on Celebrity Apprentice?
I mean I’m sure you can’t now, because you know, a few people already know the results. But could you have, at the beginning of the season, or before? I’m pretty sure Vegas casinos don’t offer non-sports entertainment betting lines … but online?
Ooh, I almost forgot to post these clips … we know Joan Rivers is willing to do what it takes to make something look better than it really is, and perhaps in an attempt to unoffend poker players and recharge her fan base, she and her daughter appeared on Ellen. The show started with a poker skit:
OK, hmm, interesting. At least this tells all those YouTube commenters that Melissa wasn’t acting in the original outburst.
Here’s their appearance/interview with Ellen (love the Lady Gaga intro — woot!), where Joan doesn’t exactly rescind her disgust for all things poker, but she does downgrade and de-Semitize her Annie hatred by calling her not Hitler, but The Bernie Madoff of Poker. She apparently doesn’t realize that title is already taken by Russ Hamilton — or maybe she does! — but whatever:
An LOL from @TexDolly:
Joan Rivers is so dumb she named her Zebra Spot
I think the finale is tonight The semi-finals are tonight … I can tell people are starting to watch it on the east coast. Doyle Brunson’s watching it, too, apparently, but I guess he’s got some special cable/satellite hook-up that doesn’t make him wait for the same time-zone delay that has me waiting.
(And yes, I’m waiting. Apparently Pokeratizens got it wrong when, pre-episode 1, we thought the only show it would beat ratings-wise was World Poker Tour reruns. Turns out to be one of the hot shows of the year worldwide, even among non-poker people — much because of the Annie Duke/Joan Rivers disrepute.)
That’s the word … according to a YouTube commenter, Annie got herself a two-for-one on this week’s episode of Celebrity Apprentice, knocking out not just Melissa, but also Joan Rivers … who wasn’t even on the losing team!
Donald Trump said on Regis & Kelly this morning that Joan did quit. Next week will be the final four. 2 weeks from now is the finale.
So that leaves:
Clint Black
Jesse James
Annie Duke
Brande Roderick
UPDATE: I should probably add a question mark to the hedline, because some “inside” info has come in to say Joan will indeed be back in the mix and that my predictions below are way off. We’ll have to see …
I almost missed Celebrity Apprentice last night until I got a text from a poker pro friend:
I’m watching the bitch on the apprentice
… to which I responded:
you mean the woman who would be impressive to you if she were a man?
I didn’t really like her response to the Hitler jokes last week, nor her gratuitous blowjob promotion. (Strong means weak.) But now I think I understand why she’s not just brushing off comedic comparisons to the historical model for evil tyrants. After all, whether you like her or not, she is poker’s biggest ambassador right now … and when Joan Rivers let her have it this week, it wasn’t just an assault on her, it was an attack on all the poker people she represents:
Hmm, interesting … though one might refute the blood-money comment by looking at Joan Rivers’ love for African diamonds vs. Annie’s work for Darfur, the question it really raises: So what poker player did Joan Rivers sleep with in Las Vegas in the ’70s? Because that’s what she’s really saying here, right? She thought she was falling for a sexy badboy — it was so much fun while he was winning! — but then he explained the concept of a bad beat, she fronted his next couple buy-in, and poof! … he suddenly disappeared. I think I recognize the storyline from 2+2.
For the a little more context around Joan Rivers’ anti-poker tirade — and to hear Annie get called, essentially, a “Nazi pit viper piece of shit whore scum” — check out the extended clip here.
(And be sure to check out the non-pokery YouTubers’ comments as a reminder of how many still see her/us.)
Dr. Pauly joins the mix today … and he and I will be talking about the all-important topic of Celebrity Apprentice. Gary and BJ will be talking about the less important 38 percent drop in field size for the WPT Championship:
If you ask me, Annie Duke and her new fans are blowing this Hitler comparison waaayy out of proportion. I mean we’re poker players for chrissake! Who else do you know can show up for a day at the office and talk about being “crippled” with total disregard for the Americans with Disabilities Act … who can talk about RAPING our friends and having a blast while doing it!? Seriously, it would hardly be a big deal in mixed poker company to say, “Dude, I totally got raped by Clonie, but she was kinda getting raped by Tomer Benvenitsi.” Pretty much the only thing we can’t say is “fuck” … and even that rule is hardly enforced.
As far as Annie vs. Joan Rivers is concerned, it’s really just a matter of table image. And really, if experienced poker players can’t appreciate the humor in a 70something Jewish lady embracing Der Furor over Annie Duke … who can?
Meanwhile, this website has put up a humorous comparison between Adolf and Annie:
“I give a good blow job”?
Hey, don’t shoot the messenger … I’m just quoting from Celebrity Apprentice and helping pimp promote her endeavors.
Joe Reitman was unavailable for comment to confirm or deny Annie Duke’s claims.
ALT HED: Annie Duke Raises Big Money for African Refugees, Orally Satisfies American Men
(Ed. Note: Mathers, can you fact-check this one?)
Mathers here, with the clip:
Doh … I missed it this week. Anyone wanna fill me in? Annie’s still alive, surely, right? Any pokery guest appearances?
I’ve gotta say, I really enjoyed watching the WSOP-Europe final table … it was the first time I saw these episodes on TV … and probably a smart move to air them in marathon format. It offered a refreshingly different look, and featured some truly great poker. Seeing John Juanda lay down his K-5 … well it was at least as exciting as Fulham’s 0-0 draw against Arsenal! Even though I haven’t seen the heads-up yet (west coast delay), I’ll agree with Kevmath’s assertion that his eventual heads-up battle should be a model for a remix of Demidov vs. Eastgate. Seriously, how ironic is that — we all know who the winner of the near-live November Nine was, yet we’d all get excited to see how-won-it in the event that was supposed to be all about who-won-it.
But, I’m almost ashamed to admit, I think I’m pretty much hooked on Celebrity Apprentice. Annie Duke is a total star of the show — Omarosa for sure (but will she rebound or spiral downward!?! Ooh, tune in next week to find out!). Fun cameo by Erik Seidel … and even Annie’s enemy teammates were impressed by her rallying of poker players willing to throw around thousands to buy cupcakes. I’m wondering who the “Tony” was that she called … and her duking it out with Playboy bunny Brande Roderick … oh yeah!
Donald Trump is talking poker, too, and Herschel Walker’s kinda a wimp!
No offense HSP and WPT.
UPDATE: After watching a WPT rerun, I’m now watching the first rerun of tonight’s HSP Season 5 premiere. The tivo (and I think GSN) thought this was going to be a Season 4 episode. I’m glad it’s not.
Though extremely unscientific and, depending on when you’re reading this, possibly incomplete, an early look at current poll results asking what engaged, TV-watching Pokeratizens are planning to Tivo suggests something … about poker viewership:
vote percentage/show
53 / High Stakes Poker
19 / WSOP Europe
15 / Other (non-poker)
10 / Celebrity Apprentice
3 / WPT
Will be interesting to see how the shows compare in the ratings … and perhaps even more telling, for shows just getting their season start will be what the ratings are for week 2.
This coming Sunday will be one of the busiest days for watching poker on TV in quite some time. Besides the WPT episode that may air in your area on FSN, High Stakes Poker begins season 5 on GSN at 9pm (preview available below). At the same time, NBC debuts Celebrity Apprentice with Annie Duke. At 10pm, ESPN2 airs the final table of the World Series of Poker Europe.
Annie Duke vs. Joan Rivers … whom do you like in that fight!?!
In conjunction with Jean-Robert Bellande’s (brief) appearance on Survivor, I’m getting the sense that poker pros may not mix well with people whose bullshit they can see through the non-poker masses.
All of the speculation has proven true; Annie Duke did participate in the second season of Donald Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice, according to E! Online and every other media outlet. The 16 participants were announced this week, and Duke’s name was on the list, as was the charity (Refugees International) that she played for.
The show will begin airing on NBC March 1st with the Donald and the cast, with their corresponding charities, that follows:
* Clint Black, country legend; International Rett Syndrome Foundation
* Andrew Dice Clay, comedian; Stand Up for Kids
* Annie Duke, World Series of Poker champ; Refugees International
* Tom Green, comedian and talk-show host; Butch Walts and Donald Skinner Urologic Cancer Research Foundation
* Natalie Gulbis, professional golfer; Boys and Girls Club
* Scott Hamilton, Olympic figure skater; The Cleveland Clinic Foundation
* Jesse James, TV host, restaurateur and clothing line founder; Long Beach Education Foundation
* Claudia Jordan, Deal or No Deal model; NAPSAC Foundation
* Khloe Kardashian, reality star and boutique owner; Brent Shapiro Foundation for Alcohol and Drug Awareness
* Brian McKnight, singer and Broadway star; Youthville USA
* Joan Rivers, Emmy-winning comedian and red carpet terror; God’s Love We Deliver
* Melissa Rivers, red carpet cohost and producer; Lili Claire Foundation
* Brande Roderick, actress and production company owner; California Police Youth Charities
* Dennis Rodman, former NBA star; Court Appointed Special Advocates of New Orleans
* Herschel Walker, former NFL star; Alternative Community Development Services (Project Turnaround)
* Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, singer, former TLC member; Sickle Cell Foundation of Georgia
As for Annie’s charity, Refugees International offers support and aid for displaced people around the world and works toward solutions for crises that cause that displacement.
