Playing Poker Against A Pro

Being a celebrity isnt quite like people might assume it is. Just because theyre famous, that doesnt mean us poker pros are awestruck at the table. Its usually the other way around, in fact. Its a weird situation, but the celebrities are generally more in awe of us than we are of them. I definitely dont find myself thinking about who they are or how important they are or how many movies theyve been in. When were in our world, at the poker table, were the celebrities.

Strategically, playing against celebrities is no different than playing against any other non-pros. Its all about how much experience they have, and its our duty to figure out as quickly as we can what kind of players they are. No question, you have to play differently against people that dont know what theyre doing. Because they dont really know what theyre doing, we cant really see into their thought process. When Im playing against a pro, I can generally tell what hes thinking and where his thought process is, and so I can determine what kind of hand he has and what kind of move hes making. But when the opponents dont really think things through, then you cant really read their thought process.

When I played recently in GSNs Poker Royale: Celebrities vs. Poker Pros, it was extra challenging because there was a point system in place that led to some strategy that we werent used to. The pros werent a team we were actually playing against each other, knowing that the top three pros advance to the last issue, we promised a sexy pictorial of GSNs Suzanne Freeman this issue. One little catch: Freeman is no longer with GSN. So, instead, next issue, were going to have an even sexier pictorial of Freemans replacement, Lisa Dergen, for you. {Cross your fingers that Dergen remains a part of Poker Royale for at least another month.

Final table, and the top three celebrities also advance. And the truth is, I ended up making one of the worst mistakes Ive ever made. When it was getting toward the end of the preliminary rounds, we were given the point totals, and I did the math and determined what I needed to do to advance. Basically, it came down to Paul Darden, Cyndy Violette, and me, and the only way I wouldnt advance was if Paul got first place and I got third. If Cyndy got knocked out before me, then I was in. So there was some interesting strategy where Paul had to keep Cyndy alive and try to bust me first. Cyndy was very short-stacked, so aU I really had to do was be patient and not go all-in, and wait for her to bust. And instead I did a really stupid thing and put all my chips in. It was ridiculous. I had K-J, Paul had pocket 4s, and he knocked me out and advanced.

As far as the celebrities we were playing with, three of them were pretty good. Morris Chestnut knew what he was doing. Mimi Rogers is really good, shes very familiar with the game and has been to a lot of poker tournaments. And Jennifer Tillys really good. Her boyfriend, Phil Laak, has got her doing some really impressive things. But the others- Lance Bass, Tracy Bingham- it was horrible. Sometimes they didnt even understand the rules, and it was slowing the game down and people were getting frustrated. It was a mess.

But it was also a lot of fun. Even though I made a bonehead mistake, it was definitely a good time and a good experience. Scott Fischman is generally recognized as one of pokers top young guns, having won two bracelets at the 2004 World Series of Poker.