In this week's INSIDER:
:: Poker News: Call on the Stars!
:: Poker World: When the Stars Align, You Win!
:: Celebrity Poker Night with Josh Malina
:: Player Spotlight: SDiamondxx
:: Player of the Week: Michael Ian Black
:: Actor of the Week: Seth Meyers
:: Girl of the Week: Miss January
:: Tournament News: Lenny Venito Hosts the Hollywood Poker Celebrity Classic
:: Special Promotions: $15,000 in Freerolls Starts TONIGHT!
:: Words from Vince Van Patten, WPT Host & Commentator
:: The Hollywood Poker Quiz: Win Hollywood Poker Gear!
:: Write to Win a Tournament Ticket!
 Poker World: Stars Align
Gather around friends and bask in the glory of one Hollywood Poker player who recently walked away from a Celebrity Tournament with a particulary inspiring story - and it could pay to read it.
I started playing poker online a couple of years ago and after trying out a few of the other sites, I somehow stumbled onto Hollywood Poker. At first, my reason for trying it out was that real, well-known people were playing there and endorsing it and this gave it a certain legitimacy factor, making me more comfortable funding a real money account. After playing for a while, I decided to check out the Celebrity Tournaments. After all, while I am no Doyle Brunson, getting a chance at a $20 dollar bounty for knocking out some Celebrity wanna-be poker player should be nothing but gravy. I quickly learned a few things: First, many of those Celebrities I came up against were no push-overs, but instead had a very solid game and were there to win just like everybody else. Secondly, it was really fun playing with people who I have either heard of or seen on TV. Without exception, everyone I have meet and played with has been pleasant, engaging, and actually gone to great lengths to give it a real home-game feel.
So, just when I thought it couldn't get any better, Hollywood Poker comes out with the Progressive Celebrity Bounties; More money, more WSOP tickets - what a deal! Not always an easy thing to win either. Poker (especially a No Limit Texas Holdem tourney) is always going to be a combination of luck and skill. No one will make it through a field of 400+ players on either one alone, and in order to collect a bounty, you have to have a Celebrity at your table (duh), and have the right situation arise as well.
On Thursday night at the Michael Woods Celebrity Invitational, for me, the stars aligned! (Insert rim-shot here.) I was playing pretty well, catching a few timely cards, survived a few bad beats and put a few on myself when I found myself at a table with Matt Borlenghi. I hadn't seen much in a while, so went in with A,J’s
making nut flush to beat his pocket pair, if I remember right, for bounty number one. With some extra chips I tightened up a bit until late in the tourney when Tom McGowan, the last surviving Celebrity, joined our table. Time seemed to be crawling, sitting there with one bounty and my last chance at another sitting across the table from me. By this time, we were deep into the tourney (final two tables I think) and I had a dilemma.
Tom, obviously a good player or he wouldn't have been there, was just not getting any cards, and started getting low on chips. Do I pounce on him when he goes all-in and hope to get $500 lucky, or play tight and right to get deeper into tourney prize money? He finally caught a big pair, went all-in and my hand moved to call all on it's own with suited face cards.
Stupid, stupid hand! Fortunately, the poker gods were with me, I sucked out a flush, and got my second bounty for $500. It was then that I thought the impossible: I am going to win this thing. Could it happen? (Dramatic pause.) Yep, it did. First place, ($1250) Progressive Celebrity Bounties, ($500). Could it possibly get any better than that? A bounty earlier this month puts my April total at three and into the top 5 for the month, which, if I heard right gets to chop up $5k as the other part of the bounty promotion. I haven't been officially notified about that yet, but no matter what, there is no better place to play on-line, then here at Hollywood Poker.
See you all Thursday night.
~Zonker
 Player Spotlight: SDiamondxx
Want your chance in the Spotlight? Simply e-mail me at hollay@hollywoodpoker.com. If you’re chosen for the week’s Player Spotlight, you’ll win Hollywood Poker gear!
In this week's Player Spotlight meet SDiamondxx!
Good afternoon all!
I just played with James Woods at the Bicycle Club this past Friday. Not only was I impressed with his play, I was really impressed with his personality. James was just one of the guys. No ego problems and very, very easy to strike up a conversation with. James even was very kind enough to take a picture with me. James and his girlfriend (who is just as friendly) even looked at pictures of my family. I didn’t really get a chance to thank him because he was playing but I did log on to your site and play a freeroll on Sunday. I came in tenth out of 777 people. I went all in with pocket aces being the short stack and got called with pocket 10s. The flop came out with 2 more 10s giving the chip leader quads. AHHH! Same scenario for me in Friday’s tournament at the Bike. Went all in with pocket aces against a pair of jacks and lost to a set. Don’t you just love poker?
~SDiamondxx
Write to Win
Express your creativity by entering Hollywood Poker's popular Write to Win contest. If your entry is chosen as a finalist, you could win a tournament ticket to one of Hollywood Poker's Celebrity Tournaments.
All you have to do is write about anything poker related and send it to hollay@hollywoodpoker.com. I’ll post all articles that qualify in the ‘Center Stage’ section of the Lounge where your fellow players will vote for their favorite article. Aside from the prestige and praise you’ll receive for your rhetorical brilliance, if you win you’ll also score a Hollywood Poker tournament ticket. It gets even better: Every week, one random voter will win Hollywood Poker gear.
Last week's winning submission:
HAGS RULE
Hags rule the BarBQue
can ya taste the pork?
Cooked them til their tender
You can cut them with a fork
Hags Rule the BarBQue
The hogs dont stand a chance.
Da Duck is runing all around,
doing his "chicken" dance.
Hags rule the BarBQue
theyll do it next week too.
Hogs will hang there heads in shame
HAG ARE GONNA RULE THE GAME!
~Amandolyn
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