“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.

Photo courtesy of Mitch Haaseth of NBC

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.