High Stakes Poker / Characters

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Announcers

Gabe Kaplan

The voice of High Stakes Poker for it's first six seasons and the announcer most associated with the show, Gape Kaplan used his significant poker knowledge to impart insights on the actions of the players, and used his significant comedic chops to entertain the audience. When teamed with AJ Benza, as he was for the first five seasons, Gabe was effectively the color commentator, analyzing plays and offering predictions. Flew solo in season six, manning the booth on his own with Kara Scott doing player interviews by the table.

Affectionate Nickname: Had plenty for some of the players on the show, some seemingly of his own creation and others taken from the poker community.
- Doyle Brunson was 'Nostrus Biggus Pappas', a rare nickname that seemed to be created, and used only, by High Stakes Poker.
- Tom Dwan was 'durrr', his username when he played online poker.
- Daniel Negreanu was 'Kid Poker', his nickname from his early days playing the game as a young man.
- Antonio Esfandiari was pursuing a career in stage magic before taking up poker, so naturally 'The Magician' only made sense.
- Bertrand Grospellier was almost always referred to by his online username, 'Elky'.
The Cameo: Appeared as a player once in season three. He wasn't around long, but made some money before heading back to the booth.
Cuckoolander Commentator: Was given a lot of latitude to have fun while announcing, and would make use of colorful metaphors and long-form jokes. Once broke out into a Count Dracula impression during a lull in the action.
National Stereotypes: Used these liberally as comedic fodder, as HSP attracted players from around the globe. Watch long enough, and Gabe will let you know that Eli Elezra is an Israeli, Sammy Farha is Lebanese, Daniel Negreanu and Brad Booth are Canadian, Patrik Antonius and Ilari Sahamies are Finnish, Gus Hansen is Danish...
Solo Sequence: Season six, after losing his sidekick AJ Benza, saw him handle the announcing duties all on his own. Kara Scott conducted table-side interviews to pick up some of the slack, but Kaplan worked alone in the booth.
The Teaser: Would do one at the start of every episode, standing in front of an obvious green screen to make it look like he was standing in the room that the players were about to play in. He would give a quick rundown of what had happened the previous episode and how it might affect the current episode, and often make a joke at AJ Benza's expense.

AJ Benza

The sidekick announcer to Gabe for the first five seasons. Basically a play-by-play announcer with occasional side comments about the action at hand, AJ's main job was to announce the cards and the decisions that players made. AJ didn't have quite the poker knowledge of Gabe, something Gabe frequently mocked and exaggerated for comedic effect. Left before season six, making his dispute with GSN network executives that caused the exodus very public in the process.

Butt-Monkey: Gabe was a respectable poker player well before securing the HSP announcing gig, and Benza had no such elite qualifications, so Kaplan would often make jokes around the fact that AJ didn't understand what was happening.
Screwed by the Network: And he didn't care who knew it. On leaving HSP before season six, he wrote a blogpost about his departure titled 'Flop Turn and a River of Shit' to illustrate his displeasure with network executives.

Kara Scott

Table-side interviewer introduced in season six to fill the gap left by AJ Benza. Kara didn't discuss or analyze the hands while they were being played, but would instead ask players before and after particularly notable hands what they might have been thinking and how they feel about the results.

Fanservice Extra: Can't just be a coincidence that a female professional poker player regarded as one of the most attractive women in poker lands this position.

Norm Macdonald

The announcer for season seven after Gabe's departure. While passionate and reasonably knowledgeable about poker, Norm's announcing style was so radically different from Gabe's that it felt like a different show.

Large-Ham Announcer: Unlike Gabe, who tended to announce in a smooth, flowing, consistent style with few breaks in his speech, Norm tended to wait for significant moments and then burst out a powerful, colorful descriptor, often coming with some sort of metaphor, putting more weight on the significance of what was happening.

Players who participated in seven seasons

Antonio 'The Magician' Esfandiari

Iranian stage magician turned professional poker player, Antonio was considered a young promising player during his HSP days, having won a World Poker Tour title and World Series of Poker bracelet in 2004. Despite his repeated appearances on the show, Antonio's actual results were stuck in neutral, with the final tally of televised hands showing a fairly trivial loss for Esfandiari.

Properly Paranoid: Antonio loved High Stakes Poker, evidenced by his constant appearances. He was also wary of the stakes, and actually played quite tight and conservatively on the show, keeping things simple and straightforward. Antonio had not yet made his millions at tournament poker at this point in time, and was not eager to put a lot of money into pots without premium holdings. This contrasted pretty vividly with his loose, aggressive tournament play.
Retroactive Recognition: Yes, Antonio was clearly a very good player during this time and everyone knew it. He played fairly well on the show, roughly breaking even on televised hands. But Antonio didn't reach peak form until 2012, during which he won The Big One For One Drop, a million dollar buyin event, and took home the biggest prize in poker history of over eighteen million dollars. After this monster score, Antonio became a regular in the High Roller and Super High Roller circuit, and actually owned the top spot on the list of biggest tournament poker earners ever for two years.

Barry 'The Robin Hood of Poker' Greenstein

American cash game specialist, Barry was probably the most consistent presence over the show's entire run, always active and aggressive whenever he played. A three-time WSOP bracelet winner and two-time WPT champion, Barry was also one of the most feared cash game players of his era, making him perfect for this show. Barry's time in the poker spotlight mostly ended when the era of televised high-stakes cash games ended in the early 2010s, making his massive presence here his last great footprint on the world of poker. A modest winner over the show's run, Greenstein was involved in several giant pots, coming out on the short end of most of them.

Ascended Meme: Faciliated one. Was offered a bet that would donate ten thousand dollars to Greenstein's charity if he would say the phrase 'lol donkaments' on the show and have it make the televised cut. ^note He did it, and actually got an additional forty-five grand donated to his charity by others who found the bet amusing.
End of an Age: Barry was a feared force at cash games in the 90s and 00s, and even though he considered tournaments recreational still possessed an impressive tournament resume. However, the game was evolving thanks largely to math geniuses essentially solving the complexities of the game, and by the time the 2010s rolled around, everything had changed. Barry didn't change, and was no longer considered a top player.
Good Old Ways: Declined to run out boards more than once on principle. Even when he was a massive underdog who would benefit from multiple board runouts, he wouldn't even consider it. Barry was willing to accept the extreme volatility of having the fate of hundreds of thousands of dollars come down to luck, which made him somewhat more scary to play a monster pot against, as you couldn't expect to get back half of your money in a close situation.

Daniel "Kid Poker" Negreanu

Canadian tournament superstar, Daniel wasn't quite a kid anymore during the HSP era. With four WSOP bracelets to his name and a pair of WPT titles, Daniel was actually going through a bit of a trans-formative period during the later 00s when the show was around. Already regarded as one of the best players in the world who was not far removed from one of the best years by any poker player ever (2004), Daniel got to watch the game change completely in the aftermath of the poker boom from the front row. Suddenly, what made you elite in the early 2000s was what made you an easy target in the late 2000s, and it was adapt or die. Daniel was adapting, but was a step or two behind for a bit. That step or two, combined with rotten luck, would explain Daniel's historically awful run on High Stakes Poker, as he was by far the show's biggest loser with over two million shipped to other players.

Butt-Monkey: When he has the nuts, everyone else is probably folding the moment he puts in a bet. When he has the winning hand, he'll likely lay it down to a good-sized bluff. When he bluffs, he's almost definitely getting called. When he gets coolered or drawn out on, he's almost always calling. Whatever could go wrong did go wrong for Daniel.
Happily Ever After: If Negreanu's HSP struggles can be partially linked to the fact that he was in the process of re-configuring his game to work against the incoming wave of new players who played so differently, then this sad tale ended happily. Daniel did re-boot his game, become one of the best (occasionally the outright best) tournament players in the world, and as of 2017 stands as the winningest tournament poker player of all-time.

Doyle "Godfather of Poker" Brunson

Quite simply The Man in the world of poker, Brunson was a pioneer of the game, getting involved in the underground movement back in the 1960s and never stopping. A staple of the World Series of Poker since it's 1970 inception, Doyle won ten bracelets (two of them Main Event bracelets) in the pre-HSP era, tying the then-record and still tied for second place. Also a one-time WPT king and a cash-game legend, Doyle was a logical pick to participate in High Stakes Poker. Doyle authored the landmark book Super/System, which would forever transform the way in which millions looked at the game and pave the way for the popularity of the game to increase in recent decades. The oldest participant on the show, at one point seventy-seven years old, Doyle was also one of the best players, making over half a million dollars on televised hands.

Actually Pretty Funny: So David Benyamine has six hundred thousand dollars which he borrowed from Patrik Antonius in a pot against billionaire Guy Laliberte, and Guy is a two-to-one favorite. David hates the situation, but is trying to take it like a man. Guy, not typically a player who makes deals due to his extreme wealth, realizes David is uncomfortable and offers to make a deal, but David tries to brush it off and say he's fine. Doyle brings some levity to the situation in his attempt to get David to make a deal due to the extreme gravity of the situation for him, and manages a line that even gets the sickly-looking Benyamine to laugh.
"It (the one point two million dollar pot) represents one day in his (Guy Laliberte's) life, and it represents your (David Benyamine's) life!"
Cool Old Guy: Was Doyle more than triple the age of some of the other players on the show? Sure. Was he a king in a bygone era of poker, being swept away by internet wizards and ultra-aggressive kids? Absolutely. Was his last major tournament title already in his rearview mirror when the show premiered? Yes. Was any of this going to keep Doyle from being one of the best players on the show, proving he still had plenty of game in him? Hell no.

Players who participated in six seasons

Eli Elezra

Israeli businessman and poker player, Eli Elezra was one of the most frequent players through the first six seasons of the show. Having won a WPT title in 2004 and a WSOP bracelet in 2008, Eli's approach to the high stakes cash game was to play loose, play aggressively, and have fun. Wealthy from business investments outside of poker, Eli could afford to mess around, and was highly active every time he had a seat at the table. He and Sammy Farha were the most frequent 'whales' at the table. Eli's high variance style was quite successful, as he ultimately walked away a significant winner. As a Full Tilt Poker professional, could no longer appear on the show in season seven after competitor Poker Stars became the sponsor. Eli would continue to have success at tournament poker after the end of HSP, winning two more WSOP bracelets in the 2010s.

Badass Israeli: Before taking up poker, Eli was a lieutenant in the Israeli Golani Brigade, a regular service infantry brigade of the Israel Defense Force. A leg injury forced him out of that line of work and got him into poker.
Money to Throw Away: Not quite as extreme as Sammy Farha, but Eli wasn't a big fan of folding and wanted to be involved as much as possible, even if it meant putting in large sums of money with less-than-great cards. A millionaire from his work as a businessman, Eli had the money to risk.

Phil "The Unabomber" Laak

Irish-American professional player, Laak made his money on wall street before being convinced by best friend Antonio Esfandiari to give poker a try. Laak had learned the game in his youth, and had some success on the WPT in the mid-2000s, winning a celebrity invitational event. Laak was always a welcome presence on the HSP table, being a competent player, a friendly personality, and likely the funniest of all the players to ever play on the show. Laak ended up being a small loser when everything was tallied at the end of the show, in the hole around fifty thousand dollars on televised hands. Laak would continue to have a presence in the poker world after the end of the show, including winning a WSOP bracelet in 2012.

Hidden Depths: Graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and is a member of Mensa. In some ways, his table antics are a way to distract from his ability to play at a high level.
Plucky Comic Relief: Yes, he can play. But more than that, Laak was simply fun to have around, talking a lot and adding plenty of humor to the game.
Properly Paranoid: Much like best friend Antonio Esfandiari, Laak was mostly tight and conservative on HSP, mostly content to only get involved with strong hands and stay away from trying to outplay the elite competition around him. Phil was also quite open about the fact that he considered himself far inferior a player to many of the other players at the table, and freely admitted that he could be bullied and exploited by the rest of the table.

Players who participated in four seasons

David Benyamine

French tennis pro turned poker pro, David thrived in the high-stakes cash game world, and showcased his considerable talents across seasons three, four, five and six. With some success in the WPT and WSOP in his ledger as well, David was the biggest winner of all players who appeared on HSP outside of Tom Dwan, up around nine hundred thousand dollars. Obligated to skip the final season as a Full Tilt pro, David's presence at the top of the poker world largely faded after HSP ended, though he continues to play in high stakes cash games.

Friendly Rivalry: With Daniel Negreanu on the show. The players didn't dislike each other, but ended up involved in many giant pots together. In truth, the 'rivalry' was so one-sided (with Benyamine coming out on top pretty much every time), it could be classified as more of a friendly feud.
The Gambling Addict: He was certainly not the only one on the show guilty of this trait, but had the misfortune of having this aspect spotlighted more than anyone else in the Guy Laliberte pot. It's probably unwise to play in a game as big and risky as HSP while you're having money problems, and the fact that he was buying in with money he was clearly not comfortable losing indicates he perhaps should have sat the session out. In his defense, he was willing to play the hand out, even accepting running it just once, and it was Guy who suggested the deal they eventually made.
Oh, Crap!: Imagine you're having some money problems. Say there's a high stakes televised cash game with a minimum buyin of half a million dollars going on and you want in. Suppose you borrow six hundred thousand from fellow poker player Patrik Antonius so you can play. Theorize you end up putting all of that six hundred thousand into a pot with a flush draw. And then, think about seeing your opponent in the hand, who is a billionaire, turn over his cards, showing top two pair, meaning that he's going to have to call and he will be a two-to-one favorite. Congratulations, you just imagined yourself as David Benyamine in a season four episode.

Jennifer Harman

One of the first successful female poker players, Jennifer Harman won two WSOP bracelets in the early 2000s (and remained the only woman to have two until 2012) and was the only woman to regularly play at the "Big Game" in the Bellagio. A limit poker expert, Jennifer could still play no limit, and was the only woman to appear in more than one season of HSP. A small winner across her appearances, Jennifer had to skip season seven due to her connection to Full Tilt Poker. She has mostly disappeared from the poker spotlight since the show ended, though she remains a presence at high-stakes limit cash games.

The Smurfette Principle: Mimi Tran showed up for one session in season one, and Vanessa Selbst played some in season seven. No other women players participated on HSP, making Jennifer the only regular.

Mike "The Mouth" Matusow

One of the biggest superstars in poker in the early-to-mid 2000s, Matusow made numerous appearances on High Stakes Poker. Known as a loudmouth trash talker and aggressive bluffer in tournament poker, Mike was actually somewhat quiet on the show, and was quite possibly the tightest player of any HSP regular. For Mike, tight was right, and Matusow was one of the biggest winners with a profit over half a million before his Full Tilt connection forced a season seven boycott. Having won three WSOP bracelets and credited with three deep WSOP Main Event runs from 1999-2008, Mike had some success in the post-HSP era as well, with a fourth bracelet and a Heads Up championship in 2013. Unfortunately, Mike's entire career was plagued with drug abuse, losing wagers on sports, mental health problems, and run-ins with the law, so the money he made never stuck around long. As of 2017, Matusow is near-broke, no longer respected by large portions of the poker community, and has fallen off so far as a poker player is now largely relegated to playing small tournaments with buyins of a few hundred dollars that he reportedly doesn't do very well in.

Dirty Coward: Many of HSP's players were passive and careful. Some could be classified as tight. But Matusow was so nitty in his later appearances on HSP, it sometimes felt like outright cowardice. In one session, with action folding to him in late position, Mike looked down at king queen suited and immediate folded, earning derision from Gabe Kaplan, who joked that you could be put to the electric chair in Texas for making such a nitty fold. In one famous season four hand, Phil Hellmuth got Matusow to fold pocket kings on a queen jack six eight six board with no possible flush by betting big on the river (Hellmuth had deuce seven and was going for the bounty). Often seemed to be caused by Mike not having a lot of money on him at any particular time.
The Rival: Mike and Shawn Sheikhan were heated enemies, with an intense rivalry developing between the two years before HSP. Mike was usually pretty reserved on the show, but the times he did get particularly loud and demonstrative tended to involve him and Shawn getting into a dispute.
Vitriolic Best Buds: Matusow and Phil Hellmuth were good friends, but Matusow had no short supply of needles towards Phil. Particularly in the aftermath of Phil's successful deuce seven bluff, with Mike clearly agitated over being fooled.

Patrik Antonius

Finnish high-stakes cash game expert, Patrik had worked as a successful male model and successful tennis professional before becoming one of the most feared cash game players in the world, both live and online. Although having some tournament accolades, primarily a European Poker Tour title in 2005, Antonius thrived at the nosebleed cash games, and rode wild swings towards being a significant winner before his connection to Full Tilt kept him away from season seven action. Antonius continued to play at the highest stakes after HSP ended, though his presence in the mainstream is muted by him not playing in many tournaments.

Nerves of Steel: Not only did Patrick look the part, always managing to maintain the same look whether he was value-betting the nuts or bluffing with air, but his playing style was aggressive and fearless.
- Sparked the biggest pot that ever played out^note on High Stakes Poker by putting half a million dollars into a pot with just a flopped pair of nines. Patrik knew his opponent in the hand, Sam Farha, very well, and trusted his read that Farha was either bluffing or semi-bluffing to make the massive raise. When Farha called instantly, Antonius assumed his read must have been wrong and didn't want to turn over his hand out of embarrassment, but it turned out his read was dead-on and Farha had decided to call with a flush draw anyway. Not only did he have the best hand (though the equity was about even), he won three of the four board runouts.
- Also was the aggressor in the biggest televised poker pot of all-time in which one of the players was completely bluffing the entire hand. Antonius played his nine seven of clubs very aggressively on all betting rounds, betting or raising each time action was on him, even though he never picked up any kind of made hand or draw. Was unsuccessful, as Sam Farha called him down after making two pair with kings and sixes to take a five hundred and seventy-two thousand dollar pot, but credit to Patrik for trying when most other players would have given up early.

Sammy Farha

Lebanese nosebleed cash game mainstay, Farha was an old-school veteran of the game, and was probably the most active player in the first four seasons of the show. Since becoming a full-time poker player in the early 1990s, Farha's true love was cash games that involved giant sums of money, and took to HSP like a duck to water. Extremely active and aggressive, Farha played a lot of hands and made a lot of creative plays, being the biggest action creator in the early years of the show. Ultimately, he was one of the larger losers, and after HSP ended became almost exclusively an Omaha player, as the Holdem landscape had changed so significantly in the aftermath of the internet era.

Bad Luck Charm: Highly superstitious. One of his big ones was showing his cards after an all-in but before the board is complete. He'll more-or-less tell his opponents what he has, but he won't flip his cards until after the runouts.
Money to Throw Away: Farha's net worth has been estimated at nine figures at some points of his life. When making the 2003 WSOP Main Event final table, said that even if he won the $2.5 million dollar first prize he would still be in the red for the week due to money he had lost in cash games. You think he cared about the few hundred thousand he lost on HSP? He probably didn't even feel it.

Todd Brunson

Son of Doyle Brunson, Todd made a lot of appearances on the show in the first four seasons. Almost entirely known for cash game play, Todd fit in well on the show, even if he couldn't match his father's success. A modest loser on the show, Todd mostly kept quiet and played tight.

Companion Cube
House Rules: Introduced the world to the concept of running it twice. In a season one hand, Todd held queen ten, good for top pair on a queen nine six flop. Sammy Farha goes all-in with nine six for bottom two pair, and Todd eventually calls. With Sammy a more than two-to-one favorite, Todd asks Sammy to run it twice, and Sammy agreed. It was a good early indicator to the audience how different this could be from a tournament, where such a deal could never take place.

Players who participated in three seasons

Brad "Yukon Brad" Booth

A Canadian high limit cash game player, Brad was considered one of the best cash game players in the world before and during the HSP era. Stated during season three that he had played poker every day for the last fourteen years, mostly very successfully, and had the respect of many of the other poker superstars despite having almost no tournament results. Successful on High Stakes Poker with a good profit by show's end, Booth's game went south quickly in the new era of poker, with him losing many of the millions he had won, as well as possibly being a victim of the Ultimate Bet cheating scandal that cost him another couple million.

Brass Balls: Okay, to be perfectly honest, it's probably a bad idea to play a hand like four deuce suited in a four-bet preflop pot, particularly against the hyper-elite Phil Ivey. It's also probably not recommended to raise all-in for three hundred thousand dollars (several times the size of the pot) after flopping a gutshot straight draw and backdoor flush draw. But it's definitely awesome and takes a LOT of courage. Oh, and it worked, Ivey eventually folding pocket kings.
Briefcase Full of Money: Bought in for 'a cool million' whenever he played on High Stakes Poker, giving him maximum room to maneuver when he played pots.
Infinity -1 Sword: Made a queen-high straight flush in one hand against Daniel Negreanu, ultimately winning a pot of nearly six figures. The hand ended up being the second biggest hand anyone on HSP ever made, with Daniel making a king-high straight flush in a later episode.

Daniel Alaei

Iranian-American pro, Daniel Alaei was a rising star in the poker world in the 2000s, making deep WSOP Main Event runs three times in the middle of the decade and winning a WSOP bracelet in 2006. Appearing frequently in the first three seasons, Alaei disappeared for the latter seasons after being mostly stuck in neutral in terms of profit. After his HSP stint, Alaei continued to star in tournament poker, winning four more WSOP bracelets and a WPT title.

Jack of All Trades: Did well enough in the cash game of High Stakes Poker, and has made multiple deep WSOP Main Event runs as well as strong cashes in other major events like the High Roller for One Drop. But four of his five bracelets have come in Omaha events, and the fifth came in Deuce-Seven Lowball, so he's down to play just about any variant.

Mike "Silent Mike" Baxter

A hedge fund manager, Baxter was technically a wealthy amateur. However, Mike's level of poker compentency was considerably higher than the typical amateur, and was credited as being highly capable of hanging with the professionals on High Stakes Poker. With plenty of creative moves and the ability to figure things out, Mike held up well on the show.

Smarter Than You Look: At first, seemed like the typical whale who got invited to the set so the professionals would have someone to feast on. However, ended up being much better than that, capable of not playing a hand for hours, then springing into action with a flurry of activity to take some big pots. He could hero-call bluffs, get value from his monster, and was far from dead money in the game.

Phil Galfond

An online poker wizard, Galfond is credited with having one of the sharpest poker minds ever, able to figure out complicated scenarios in a matter of seconds and find out exactly where he's at. One of the most profitable online cash game poker players of all-time, as well as owning his very own WSOP bracelet from 2008, Galfond brought his incredible poker brain to High Stakes Poker, but found no success. The second biggest loser on HSP, Phil lost around four hundred thousand dollars in his appearances. Nevertheless, after the show had ended, remained at the top of the online poker cash game world, and continues to crush the highest stakes for millions of dollars.

The Smart Guy: Most online poker extraordinaries had game strategies that were fundamentally aggressive, with lots of betting, raising, and bluffing. Galfond was certainly capable of all these things at times, but was actually fairly passive, preferring to play intelligently and figuring out where he stood by analyzing the logic of the hand.

Phil "The Poker Brat" Hellmuth Jr

An icon of the game, Phil Hellmuth won the World Series of Poker Main Event in 1989 at the age of 24, and went on to build one of the greatest poker tournament resumes of all-time. Has more WSOP bracelets (14), WSOP final tables (52), and WSOP cashes (108) than anyone else, making him almost certainly the most prolific WSOP player ever. Though not nearly as proficient in cash games, Hellmuth made a few visits to the HSP set, and roughly broke even on televised hands. Phil's distinctive 'Poker Brat' personality also surfaced a few times on the show, as he loudly complained about his losses and bristled at any implication that he wasn't one of the best players in the world. Continues to star at the WSOP today, having developed a talent for Razz and still piling up accolades.

Dismissing a Compliment: After pulling off an impressive deuce-seven bluff against Mike Matusow, amateur Brian Brandon tells him that "he finally has respect". Phil decides to focus on the backhanded element of the compliment, ranting about how he's been crushing the entire world in tournaments and cash games for twenty years (a significant exaggeration).
Embarrassing Nickname: Respected as a highly capable tournament player, Phil did not have such a sterling reputation at cash games. His nickname in cash games? 'Yum Yum'.
Small Name, Big Ego: Phil Hellmuth is far from a small name in the poker world, being the most decorated WSOP player of all-time and with one of the biggest brands in poker. But Phil would jump at any opportunity to beat his chest about how he was one of the best cash game players in the world as well, which nobody who knew of his track record would believe.
Sore Loser: Phil wouldn't be Phil without bemoaning bad luck (and opponents playing badly against him and getting lucky) every time he loses a hand.
- In a hand against amateur Brian Brandon, loses with pocket nines when Brian's seven-six offsuit makes trip sevens on the river. Chews Brian out for playing seven six (not unreasonably).
- After his successful deuce-seven move on Mike Matusow, tried a second one against Mike Baxter. Baxter flopped a pair of jacks and called him down. Hellmuth wasn't happy about getting caught, and continued to mutter for several minutes after the hand about how Mike's play was bad and he got lucky that Phil was bluffing.

Shawn "Sheiky" Sheikhan

Iranian professional cash game player, Shawn Sheikhan was most known for his abrasive personality and anger at the table when things weren't going well. Having made enemies with many other pros he had crossed paths with during his career, Shawn frequently got sparks to fly when he showed up to play. Ultimately down some money when the show wrapped, Shawn has been mostly quiet on the poker landscape since.

Jerkass: Keeps making enemies on the felt, and frequently does or says something that gets on everyone's nerves whenever he shows up.
The Rival: With Mike Matusow, who had a long-standing dislike of Shawn stretching back years before HSP. During one episode, reached across the table and broke Matusow's expensive pair of sunglasses during a dispute.

Players who participated in two seasons

Andrew Robl

Online high stakes cash game player, Andrew Robl showed up a few times in the later seasons of the show. Known as something of a tighter player, Robl didn't have much success on the show, leaving a significant loser.

My Nayme Is: Somehow, Andrew's last name contains only four letters despite being pronounced 'Robe-el".

Dario Minieri

Italian professional poker player, Dario was among the youngest competitors on HSP, playing when he was in his early twenties. Establishing himself in the world of poker mainly though online play, becoming one of the best players on Poker Stars and a Heads Up specialist, Minieri also brought in a 2008 WSOP bracelet by the time his turn on High Stakes Poker came up. Highly aggressive, Dario's run on the show was mostly unsuccessful, as he ended up in the hole several hundred thousand dollars.

Older Than They Look: Dario was twenty three years old when he played on High Stakes Poker. He looked like a teenager.

David "Viffer" Peat

American pro, Viffer had tons of money to throw around, and used it to play quite aggressively on High Stakes Poker. Mostly a high stakes cash game player, Viffer saw decent success over his two seasons on the show, making profit and playing very creatively.

Wild Card: Most known for being unpredictable and tricky in his play.

Erick "E-Dog" Lindgren

Highly successful tournament player with two WPT championships and a bracelet (adding a second in 2013), Erick Lindgren made a few appearances in the earlier seasons of the show, doing quite well for himself. Close friends with Daniel Negreanu, Erick's later career was marred by a gambling addiction that required professional help and debts never paid back to Full Tilt Poker after the company was taken down by scandal.

One-Scene Wonder: By far best known on the show for one hand against his good friend Daniel Negreanu, in which Negreanu flopped the nut straight, and Erick turned quads. Daniel had been getting smashed with bad luck already in the session, and became very angry when Erick raised all-in on the river, slamming the table and bemoaning his bad luck. Despite knowing his hand is no good, ends up calling, Erick taking a pot that was monsterous in size by the standards of that era of High Stakes Poker.

Fred Chamanara

Iranian restaurant owner who enjoyed high stakes, Fred made appearances in the first two seasons. Fred was outclassed in the game and he knew it, but enjoyed the challenge and found playing in the game against professionals fun.

Tragic Mistake: His sudden, expensive departure from season one. Already stuck some money, Fred looked at ace jack of spades in the big blind after a straddle and an under the gun raise from Johnny Chan. Unfortunately, Fred didn't realize that Johnny had raised already, and announced "raise, four thousand". Four thousand had been the raise Chan had made, which meant Fred was forced to raise four thousand more to eight thousand. Johnny re-raised big, Fred went all-in, and Johnny called with pocket aces. It's possible that the end result would have been the same, but had Fred just called the raise preflop, he would have missed the flop and likely folded, free to move on to the next hand.

Gus Hansen

Danish poker pro, Gus Hansen was known as the loosest, most aggressive player in the world at the time, playing any two cards and constantly making moves trying to outplay opponents. A one-time WSOP champ, three-time WPT winner, and the 2007 Aussie Millions Main Event trophy-holder, Gus had a long tournament resume. However, Hansen was also notorious for bad play in cash games, openly admitting to losing millions of dollars at Bobby's Room in the Bellagio from time to time, and he stands as one of the biggest online poker losers ever, with over twenty million dollars lost on Full Tilt Poker over the years. True to form, Gus was a losing HSP player, although he did come out on top in in the fifth biggest pot in the show's history.

Chick Magnet: One of People magazine's top fifty sexiest people in 2004, Gus had this reputation in the poker world.
Success Through Insanity: When he showed up on the set, the other players immediately acknowledged his reputation for doing a lot of crazy things on the felt, with Antonio immediately bemoaning the fact that Gus was sitting directly to his left and would thus have position on him in almost every hand.

Haralabos Voulgaris

Canadian professional gambler, Haralabos is regarded as the greatest sports bettor in the world. Voulgaris amassed a fortune through successful sports wagering, routinely making over a million dollars worth of wagers in a single day on NBA games, having picked up on game-management tendencies by certain coaches and wagering accordingly. Also a poker enthusiast, Voulgaris has a slew of results on tournament circuits and plays high stakes cash as well. A strong winner in his short stint on High Stakes Poker, Voulgaris has mostly stepped away from poker in recent years, as he feels the level of competency from the average player has gotten so high he can no longer beat the game dependably.

Professional Gambler: Most of the participants on the show qualified as this by being professional poker players. Haralabos, however, was literally a professional gambler in that he made his living betting on sports, and poker was more or less just a side hobby for him.
Properly Paranoid: Actually stopped playing online poker (and played less poker overall) when it reached the point where he thought the average player was so competent, he could no longer reliably turn a profit significant enough to be worth his time. As Voulgaris is an incredibly successful gambler on sports, something he has maintained over the years, there's not much point to continuing in poker if he feels he can't beat the game.

Jamie Gold

Television producer, talent agent, and professional player, Jamie Gold stands as one of the most controversial poker players of all-time. A relatively small-time player as of 2005, with a five-figure victory and a handful of other successes in minor tournaments, Jamie entered the 2006 WSOP Main Event. Playing against nearly nine thousand other players for a prize pool of over eighty-two and a half million dollars (both records to this day) and a grand prize of twelve million (a record since broken), Gold bluffed, bullied, and caught cards on his way to the monumental victory. One of Gold's keys to success was his seemingly neverending stream of table talk during hands, managing to confuse his opponents at every turn, often by just telling them the truth about what he had. After the tournament, the WSOP actually invented new rules to limit the kind of table talk that was permitted in future tournaments because of Gold's pushing of the boundaries. Gold also later admitted he was illegally colluding with a friend during the tournament, and at one point during the final table flashed one of his hole cards to an opponent in an attempt to confuse him, also a violation of tournament rules. Gold was never punished for either of these infractions. Armed with the historic prize, and having developed a relationship with former Main Event winners Johnny Chan and Chris Ferguson, Gold spent some time on the HSP set. One of the bigger losers over his appearances on the show, Gold has had practically no presence in the poker world since, with only a handful of minor cashes, and is believed to be near-broke.

Ain't Too Proud to Beg: When Gold realized Farha probably had aces when he had kings in a large pot, kept asking Farha to just check it down so Gold could save as much money as possible, as he wasn't willing to fold a hand as good as kings regardless of his read. Would ask for mercy in one moment, then in the next moment claim he could beat aces and was the one offering Sammy a break. Ultimately bailed him out of a hundred and eighty thousand dollar bet on the river that he seemed poised to call.
- Also in a pot against David Benyamine, flopping an open-ended straight draw against David's top pair of aces. David bet, Jamie check-raised, and then pleaded with David to not re-raise him all-in when David seemed to be contemplating the option. Benyamine ended up going all-in anyway, and Jamie called, splitting the pot.
Motor Mouth: Gold didn't know any other way to play, using every opportunity to talk to his opponents in the hopes of leading them to the decision that he wanted them to make. While tournaments in the post-Jamie Gold era had changed some of their rules to prevent such chatter, cash games were willing to let almost anything go, so Jamie was up to his old tricks on the show. Mostly didn't work as well as they did in the 2006 Main Event, although he did notably talk his way into saving one hundred and eighty grand in a pot against Sammy Farha.
Small Name, Big Ego: Jamie said multiple times his goal was to become 'the best bluffer' in the history of poker, believing that he had the capability of being the best due to his countless bluffs in the 2006 Main Event. Jamie's run as a top level bluffer seemed to start and end with that Main Event, however, and his best tournament result in the decade plus since has been a second place finish at a WSOP Circuit event.

Jason Mercier

A tournament superstar of the late 00s and 10s, Jason Mercier had just established himself as a budding star by winning an EPT title in 2008 and a WSOP bracelet in 2009. Not nearly as well versed in cash game play, Mercier nevertheless gave it his best across a couple late appearances. Jason didn't do very well, dropping a few hundred thousand in fairly quick order before the show ended. Since then, Jason has won four more WSOP bracelets, two North American Poker Tour titles, a seven major online poker tournament titles, becoming arguably the best tournament player in the world today.

Early-Bird Cameo: Oh hey, here's an interesting newcomer in season six, that kid who just pulled some big EPT and WSOP scores. Maybe he's pretty good. I mean, it's not like he's a few years away from becoming one of the most dominant forces in the world at tournament poker, live and online, or anything, but maybe he'll do alright.
Fearless Fool: Jason showed up on HSP for the first time in season six, and very quickly decided to run a massive, expensive bluff on Phil Ivey, who snapped it off. His buyin of a couple hundred thousand gone, Jason left quietly. Probably should have been a little more patient and not tried to charge right into the best player at the table. Unsurprisingly, Jason's move would almost certainly have worked in a poker tournament, which is his preferred format of poker.

Johnny "The Orient Express" Chan

Chinese pro, Johnny Chan is one of the most iconic poker players of all-time, having top-tier results at the World Series of Poker going back in the mid 80s and continuing on into the 90s and early 00s. The first person to ten WSOP bracelets, Chan won back-to-back Main Event titles in the 80s, his latter victory having been forever immortalized by being featured in [[Rounders]]. Chan generally played extremely tight in cash games, and his High Stakes Poker venture was no different. It worked out well for Chan, as he ended up profiting over six hundred thousand dollars across his appearances, the third biggest winner on the show. Nowadays, Chan continues to sporadically appear in the poker world, with the occasional strong Main Event run or session at a high stakes cash game.

Born Lucky: Chan got opponents to shove all-in on him in hands where he held pocket aces twice in the show. The first time, Chan called and was an eighty-eight percent favorite. The second time, Chan called and was a ninety-seven percent favorite. Chan is doing well enough without his opponents making massive mistakes that send six figure amounts to his bank account.
Signature Style: The players who know Johnny Chan and have played with him before in cash games seem to understand that he's incredibly tight and conservative, and play accordingly. Chan essentially never bluffs, so savvy opponents understand to run for the hills when he makes aggressive actions. The players who don't have experience with Johnny, however, are often the ones who fall victim to giving him massive pots.

Phil Ivey

Generally considered to be the best poker player in the world, and often thought of as a candidate for best poker player of all-time, Phil Ivey is basically the endboss of poker players. Splashing onto the scene with a bracelet in 2000, Ivey established himself as a superstar by winning three more in 2002, then submitted his resume to the pantheon by winning three more bracelets in the remainder of the decade, making the final ten of the Main Event twice, and securing a WPT title in 2008. Also a big-time cash game player, Ivey took his talents to High Stakes Poker and left a big winner, involving himself in some truly infamous pots and re-affirming his grip at the top of the poker world. Since the end of the age of the televised cash game, Ivey carved his way to ten total WSOP bracelets by 2014 (by then seemingly losing interest in pursuing more of them), won three Super High Roller tournaments in the Aussie Millions over four years, and continues to destroy the world in online and live nosebleed cash games.

The Gambling Addict: Can get away with it thanks to being the best poker player around and being worth tens of millions of dollars. Regardless, has an admitted weakness for games of chance where his considerable poker skills can't help him, investing countless thousands into playing games like baccarat and blackjack, seemingly for the rush. Actually, did find a way to beat baccarat using edge sorting, which he used to win several million dollars, although the casino has taken the case to court to argue that what Ivey did should be considered cheating.
Nerves of Steel: Ivey ran a bluff in one episode where he five-bet all-in preflop with five deuce offsuit. The nature of the bluff (having no blockers or any sort of compelling potential in his hand, having no information about his opponents' hands besides the fact that they liked them enough to raise, doing the play in a cash game) was particularly unusual, even compared to other famous, big bluffs, and Phil had it in him to pull the trigger. And it worked.
Not So Stoic: Tended to be The Stoic in tournaments, but the HSP cash game environment was more relaxed, letting us see a softer, more friendly side of Phil from time to time.

Ted Forrest

A mixed game specialist, Ted Forrest's poker career goes back to 1993, a year which saw him win three bracelets, after which he decided to turn his focus to cash games for over a decade. After succeeding in this realm, Forrest returned to tournaments and won two bracelets in 2004, as well as a WPT title and a National Heads Up Championship. Forrest rode the wave on HSP, ending up mostly in the middle after two seasons. Since the show's end, Forrest has won a sixth bracelet, proving capable of remaining relevant at the highest levels of poker.

Jack of All Trades: His first bracelet came in Razz. Second bracelet Omaha Hi/Lo. The next two were Seven Card Stud. Fifth was No Limit Holdem. And his final one came in Razz. Add in his Holdem WPT and Heads Up Championship victories, and Ted can be credited as one of the most well-rounded poker players in the world.
Side Bet: Sometimes referred to as "The Prop Bet King" due to a long career of successful prop bets. Successfully completed a prop bet in 2010 where he lost a large amount of weight in a couple months against Mike Matusow, who believed such weight loss to be impossible in such a short period of time. Matusow still owes Forrest almost all of the two million dollar wager, and is unlikely to ever make good on it at this point. Also once ran a marathon in extreme heat conditions as part of a prop bet, which permanently damaged his feet.
Signature Style: Most poker pros believe that preflop limping (just calling the big blind) is bad, and that plays should either raise or fold. Forrest is a rare successful professional who limps frequently, and defends it as a viable strategy.

Tom "durrr" Dwan

Online poker wizard from the mid 00s, Dwan used online poker to build himself up from a fifty dollar bankroll to several million in a couple of years, utilizing high-level thought processes that were largely unheard of at the time. With obscene million dollars swings from month-to-month online coupled with a series of strong tournament showings im Europe, North America, and Australia, Dwan decided to start taking his cash game savvy to the felt, and was a logical pick to end up on television. Dwan was, by far, the biggest winner on High Stakes Poker, profiting almost one point eight million dollars and becoming a household name in the poker world due to his massive success and creative play. Not able to play in season seven as a Full Tilt pro, Dwan disappeared from the poker spotlight when the age of the televised cash game ended. There are many tales about what Dwan is doing these days, and his current status is hotly debated in some poker forums, although it seems that he's still playing high stakes cash games in Macau and Manila.

The Ace: Was the superstar of the show. Won the biggest pot the show ever had, made the two biggest bluffs in the show's run, turned the most heads consistently with his aggressive and creative plays, won by far the most money...and wasn't a big time tournament player, so these high stakes cash games were the only place to see him in the flesh.
The Determinator: Didn't give up when he decided to try to make a move on someone. Would often get himself in situations that, when viewed externally, seemed impossible to escape, but then managed to find a way out using massive sums of money.
Embarrassing Nickname: Self-inflicted. His nickname of "durrr" was his online username on Full Tilt Poker, which he selected because he wanted a name that sounded stupid so when people lost to him they would get even angrier that they had lost to someone which such a stupid name.
Epileptic Trees: Dwan's status after the HSP era is a consistently fun topic of discussion in the poker community, with a large number of theories having been batted around. Although not personally blamed for the Full Tilt Poker scandal, Dwan was still closely associated with the brand as one of their lead sponsors, which may have motivated him to leave the country. Tom essentially disappeared from the poker spotlight in the early 2010s, after becoming one of the game's biggest superstars, leaving a lot of room for speculation. Some of the theories were that he was dead (in some cases murdered by the Triads for failing to pay his debts), that he was essentially enslaved by the Triads due to debts, that he had lost all his money in nosebleed games in Macau and Manila and was now getting backed by billionaires as he tried to get his game back, that he had quit poker, and that, perhaps, he was still playing at a high level and making good money in cash games, trying to live a quiet life after Black Friday had damaged his brand significantly. Suspicions of his game deteriorating and him possibly being broke were fueled by him refusing to complete a heads up challenge against Daniel Cates online, a challenge in which Cates was winning by a large margin. Settled some questions in 2017 by finishing second in a High Roller in Macau, at least confirming that he remains alive and playing, as well as being at least capable of performing well at high stakes.
Nerves of Steel: His three-barrel bluff of Phil Ivey with nine high was the signature hand of the entire show, and actually came just minutes after Ivey had just correctly read a massive bluff from Jason Mercier, so it must have taken some serious nerves to try it.

Characters / High Stakes Poker

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