The Poker Hulk: Edward Norton

As far as we know Ed Norton doesn't do much in the way of poker playing in real life but he did play one of the best poker characters in history in the poker movie Rounders.

“He’s more of my victim. I love to take as much money off of him as possible, and I hear Tobey is so good — almost pro-level — so that’s a little intimidating,” Edward Norton said. Norton, who learned how to be a card shark for Rounders, is slated to play in a charity tournament in Cannes last May this year with Jamie Gold- a Charity Celebrity Poker Tournament to benefit both the Wilhelm & Karl Maybach Foundation and the Sunflower Children Foundation.

In the movie Rounders, with Matt Damon, Edward Norton as Lester Murphy, who truly is the opposite character as Damon's McDermott. He plays his poker on the edge, using any advantage he can come up with, including mechanics that help him to cheat and set up other poker players. This life isn't a good one for a poker player to take on, and his background is nothing to write home about either.

About Edward Norton: Edward Norton's feature film debut was in 1996's Primal Fear, for which he received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination. His second nomination came two years later for his performance in American History X, this time in the Best Actor category.

Although Edward Norton didn't take home either trophy, we have to wonder if -- even at this early point in his profession -- his mantle would have been able to handle them.

Merely 2 years into his film career, Edward Norton had already worked in a total of five features -- the aforementioned two, in addition to Everyone Says I Love You, Rounders in1998, and The People vs. Larry Flynt -- and the slew of accolades these jobs earned him range from a Golden Globe and a Golden Satellite to a National Board of Review Award.

Judging from his most recent roles, Edward Norton's market value is only rising higher: he starred in 2002's Red Dragon, the prequel to The Silence of the Lambs, and took center stage again in 25th Hour in 2005. Then he worked on hits like The Italian Job in 2003, The Illusionist in 2006 and The Incredible Hulk in 2008.

Edwrad Norton also recently created Class 5 Films in partnership with his brother Jim Norton and Brad Pitt, writer Stuart Blumberg and producer Bill Migliore. Class 5’s feature division will produce films through a first-look deal with Universal Pictures and the documentary division will produce nature and science films.

Class 5’s first documentary production is a film for the Outdoor Life Network, The Great Rivers Expedition, about a historic white-water adventure that took place in China last winter. Class 5 is also collaborating with the Sea Studios Foundation on their multi-million-dollar series about earth system sciences for National Geographic, Strange Days on the Planet Earth, which Norton hosts and narrates.

Tara Rice: Hot Poker Babe

Born in 1982, Tara Rice measures 36-24-34, which instantly qualifies her as a Poker Hottie. With her blonde hair, blue-green eyes and 5’9” frame, this model/actress is sure to turn heads wherever she goes. Fortunately for professional players, Tara Rice can often be found reporting on or playing poker at all the major events.

Tara Rice started her modeling career when she was just out of high school. A hopeful model, Tara entered the 2000 Miss Teen California purely for the experience. As it happened, she ended up winning the competition.

Still, celebrities aren’t always born overnight, and Tara eventually took a job as a kindergarten teacher to make ends meet. But when Hollywood came calling, she quit her day job and jumped right into the world of acting and modeling.

As soon as her tournament appearances began, hot poker girl Tara Rice became a hot topic on poker forums all across the Internet and online casino. She finished 35th in the Legends of Poker Ladies’ No-Limit Hold’em Tournament at The Bike in 2005, and she continues to take part in cash and smaller tournaments. Fans can also play directly against Rice at the Bombshell Poker website.

When she’s not playing cards or acting, Rice makes her home in Valencia, California. She’s been pursuing a liberal studies degree from the University of Cal State Northridge, and she admits to taking a yoga class at least once a week to stay flexible.

Playing poker is more like a hobby for Tara and she also loves spending time horse riding, dancing and snowboarding. Tara’s favorite poker game is No-limit Texas Hold’em.

Tara Rice's Photos

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Poker Watchmen: Malin Akerman

It seems that poker is one of the most well-liked past time in Hollywood and even celebrities go gaga in this poker bug. Like Malin Akerman, the hottest celebrity that loves the game of poker. In her last celebrity poker tournament, Malin Akerman with other celebrities, businessman and poker players descended on the famous Hotel Du Cap in Cannes, France, for the Wilhelm and Karl Maybach Foundation Gaming night, sponsored by Everest Poker.

Hosted by the poker champ Jamie Gold and Edward Norton, donated $1,500 to sit down in an exclusive poker room. Outside the poker room some high profile guests graced the red carpet as the sun set over the beautiful Cape of Antibes. Watchmen super-woman Malin Akerman joined and played with other celebrities and poker players to support Sunflower Children Foundation.

In the Interview of Malin Akerman with Vince Vaughn about their couples retreat and their poker hobbies:

Were there things that guys went off and did together and then things that the girls went off and did together?

Vince Vaughn: Fishing and sewing. That's just an old expression. You go to a barbecue or something and the guys are always huddling and talking about sports or whatever, and you say, 'Oh, you're breaking off into fishing and sewing.

Malin Akerman: A lot of the girls sat by the people and had maybe a pina-colada or two at the end of the day, sat at the restaurant. Kristen Bell is quite crafty. She's like a little Martha Stewart and so she'd literally call me in my room and say, 'Do want to come up for pudding?' I'd be like, 'You have pudding?' She had everything. She had Scrabble. So it was a lot of board games and a lot of that kind of stuff. I don't know what you guys did, what the boys did.

Vince Vaughn: I spent a lot of time with my fiance We had a lot of fun which was good and then my sister was there and my nephew was there.

Malin Akerman: We had that poker day.

Vince Vaughn: We had a poker day which was really fun.

Malin Akerman: It rained and so we could do nothing that day but poker.

Vince Vaughn: The jet skis were really, going and doing that. We went and swam with the sharks which was crazy. That was great to do. I never thought I'd do that. I was always afraid of that, anything in the ocean because I grew up around lakes. So we did that and that was good.

About Malin Akerman: Bright and captivating Malin Akerman began modeling and doing television commercials at the early age of five. At 17 she won the Ford Supermodel of Canada search, and interest from international agents led Malin to spend her summers in Europe modeling until she finished high school.

She pursued a successful modeling career for several years, only to need an eventual break from it which brought her back home to Toronto to York University; an experience which quickly inspired her to get back into acting.



A guest star role in a Steven Spielberg television show would come next. Along with the realization that acting was her true passion. Several guest and supporting roles would ensue, and in 2001 she was flown to L.A to screen test for a Disney movie.

Malin Akerman has earned a slew of TV and film credits to her name, some of which include the hugely popular The Skulls in 2000, Witchblade, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle in 2004, Heavy Petting in 2007, 27 Dresses in 2008, and Watchmen in 2009.

Celebrity Poker: Jennifer Love Hewitt

Hollywood celebrities across the globe have always loved the game of poker. As the current interest in poker surged, many famous names confessed their love of poker or discovered its thrills for the first time. On one hand, the classic glamour and current trendiness of poker goes hand-in-hand with headline-making and image-creating celebrity lives. From the Roaring 20’s to the Texas Hold’em game in Casino Royale, our culture has been drenched with the cards and chips. On the other hand, celebrities enjoy the anonymity of becoming just regular guys or gals while at the table.





Jennifer Love Hewitt showed up and play poker to support The Children’s Institute’s “Poker For A Cause” celebrity poker tournament on Saturday night last October 2009. Held at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, California with other celebrities taking their seats at the poker table and dropping some cash for a good cause.



More than 20 celebrities supported and joined the notable celebrity poker tournament including Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jamie Kennedy, Kevin Nealon, Joely Fisher, Mekhi Phifer, Cheri Oteri, Mimi Rogers, Alison Sweeney, Jennie Garth , Nicolas Gonzales, Cheryl Hines, Ricki Lake Kevin Rahm.




About Jennifer Love Hewitt: Jennifer Love Hewitt started earning her living as a child entertainer. She was every teenage boy's fantasy girl while on Party of Five, and now she has branched out into the world of TV dramas, rock and film.

Her popularity among teen audiences was solidified when she picked up the People's Choice Award for Favorite Female Television Performer in a New Series in 2000, for Time of Your Life (a Party of Five spin-off). Unfortunately, the show didn't last a second season.




Despite that, Jennifer Love Hewitt's fame continued to rise as she starred in films like Heartbreakers (2001) and Garfield (2004). But her biggest acting break came in the form of TV's Ghost Whisperer, which cast Jennifer Love Hewitt in the leading role, making her a welcome weekly staple in men's homes around the country.

While working on the show from 1989 to 1991, Hewitt also appeared in commercials for products such as Mattel and L.A. Gear. She put her dancing talents to use as an L.A. Gear dancer, and strutted her stuff at trade shows in Japan and Paris.

In 1991, Jennifer Love Hewitt flexed in a Barbie dance workout video, and exercised her voice by singing the songs included on the video. One year later, Love Songs, Hewitt's first album, was released in Japan and not in the U.S.

In 2005, Jennifer Love Hewitt was cast as Melinda Gordon in TV's Ghost Whisperer, and her star continued to climb as in 2007 Jennifer Love Hewitt was ranked on FHM's Sexiest Women in the World list for the 11th time. Also of note in 2007, Jennifer Love Hewitt became engaged to her long-time boyfriend Ross McCall while on vacation in Hawaii. In 2008, she was cast in the animated film Delgo, and signed on to star in She Had Brains, a Body, If Only and the Ability to Make Men Love Her.

Jennifer "Jennicide" Leigh - Gorgeous Poker Hottie

Jennifer "Jennicide" Leigh is one of the most respected, and most popular female poker players around, and she just happens to be young, blond and gorgeous, Jennifer Leigh seems to have it all that's why she is a dream woman for geeks inside and outside the poker world.

Born August 10th 1983, in Wilmington, Delaware, Jennifer is a former law student turned professional poker player. She attended the University of Delaware studying philosophy and political science and started playing poker completely by chance. Jennifer Leigh has often admitted that she was a total nerd when she was growing up. At a fairly young age Jennifer got into video game, in particular Role Playing games (RPGs) and basically lived her life on the computer. Jennifer has said it was her long experience with computer based RPGs that mad her siege into the elusive world of professional poker an easy transition, in fact it was through her RPGs and their massive online community that she was introduced to poker. Jennifer began chatting to other players and one of the fellow gamers she met online turned out to be the younger brother of a poker pro - Robert Boyd, brother of Dutch Boyd and so it was Robert Boyd who introduced Jennifer Leigh to the game of poker.

Jennifer Leigh began playing online poker at PokerStars.com in January 2004. Later that same year she ended up ranked 47 on the PokerStars tournament board, making her the highest ranked female and most successful online woman poker player. This was a huge accomplishment for Jennifer who had at the time been playing poker for less than a year. Since then Jennifer has moved up to jet setting around the world to play games as well as putting up thousands of dollars a hand on occasions, as well as appearing on Poker Royale and other nationally televised poker events in Las Vegas. She has had five 1st place finishes on PokerStars and over twenty final table appearances. Jennifer is currently focused on playing live tournaments all over the world and pays her own way into tournament games funded by her continuous success at her $100/200 online games.

Jennifer Leigh's Photos

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Celebrity Poker: Natalie Portman

Tons of celebrities are having a big break not jus7t in a big screen but in poker table. Among the most popular poker celebrities today play poker to enjoy as well as experience something new to try. Despite their celebrity status, some of these players have even developed a deeper love and devotion to the game of poker.




As I googled Natalie Portman, I found out that she is even a poker plyer. Sha had a poker movie called, My Blueberry Nights. Here's Portman's blog about her poker scene in the movie:

As a poker player, poker author and movie lover, I almost always find myself cringing as I watch dramatic renditions of poker games on the screen. It’s not just the hands themselves that defy credibility, invariably pitting royal flushes against four aces, it’s the language — the classic “I call your fifty and raise you a hunnerd” string bet — and the clumsy way the players handle the chips and cards. Until Rounders, I had never seen a movie in which poker actually resembled the game I know.

So I was thrilled when, a couple of years ago, I was asked to be the poker consultant on My Blueberry Nights, the first American movie by the acclaimed Chinese director Wong Kar-wai. One of the movie’s plotlines features Natalie Portman as a seasoned poker pro, and Mr. Wong, whose films have a romantic, moody beauty, characterized by multilayered visuals and gorgeous sweeping camera work, was curiously adamant that the poker be authentic. He needed someone to help make sure Ms. Natalie Portman looked and sounded like the real thing.

When I arrived for our interview, Mr. Wong stood up to greet me. He was extremely tall with dark sunglasses and a coolly affable, almost courtly manner. He insisted right off that I address him more familiarly as Kar-wai, and though his English was only fair, I was able to understand him when he said, “People must believe Natalie is a professional poker player.”



I assured him I could make that happen. If there was one thing I knew, it was what professionals looked like, how they thought, how they talked and how they carried themselves. Aside from having written two books about poker, I had played for many years as a semipro in the underground New York poker scene and had also frequently attended the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas (with a number of cashes in bracelet events to show for my efforts).

While I tried to arrange a time with Natalie (scheduling with a movie star can be tricky), Kar-wai decided he wanted me to take him on a tour of the New York underground poker clubs so he could get a feel for the world. So, on a Thursday night we met downtown, and I took him and production designer William Chang first to an Italian-American social club and then to a club in the East 30s. We stayed in the social club for all of five minutes, as it apparently did not impress either man much, what with its bad fluorescent lighting and bare white walls. At the club in the East 30s, we were frisked by a large black gentleman standing guard outside the interior doorway before being allowed to enter. I quickly bought into one of the $2-$5 no-limit games so that Kar-wai and William could stand behind me and watch and get a sense of the poker. But after three hands, Kar-wai whispered into my ear, “We’re leaving. We’ve seen enough.”



The door opened and there stood Natalie in blue jeans, a T-shirt and sneakers, petite and fresh-faced and otherworldly beautiful. I could feel sweat flowering under my arms. She flashed a shy smile, gave me an unexpected peck on the cheek and beckoned me in. Her living room was sparsely furnished and had a spectacular view of the Hudson River. Around the corner, by the kitchen nook, a woman about my age was sitting on a stool.


It turned out that Natalie had no real foundation in poker. So we sat at the regulation green felt poker table the prop department had delivered to her apartment, and I started with the basics — the object of the game, hand values and so on. She was a quick study. Once she got a handle on the rudiments, we played a few hands. I wanted her to have a working understanding of the game even though I knew that, ultimately, her grasp of how to play would be less important than her body language and physical movements. Toward that end, Kar-wai and I both felt it would be useful if she watched video of some of the professional game’s top women players. I had brought along a DVD of the World Poker Tour Ladies Night, featuring Annie Duke, Isabelle Mercier, Kathy Liebert and Jennifer Harman among others.




“Notice the way Jennifer Harman lifts up her cards,” I pointed out as we watched the DVD together. “The way she counts out her chips. You see how nothing is rushed. It’s all part of a process. Perhaps Jennifer’s thinking about how to extract the maximum amount out of this hand. Or perhaps she’s thinking about how much she needs to bet here to get her opponent to fold.”

Natalie Portman nodded politely but her eyes began to glaze over. I could see I was trying to do too much, too quickly. For the purposes of a movie, as I said, all she really needed was to look like a pro; she didn’t need to think like one. “Why don’t you just watch this a couple of times without me when you have a chance,” I said, “and maybe pick one of the players to model yourself after.”


Source: Natalie Portman.com

About Natalie Portman: Today Natalie Portman is one of the hottest actresses in Hollywood and she keeps getting film roles that are popular at the box office and allow her to flex her powerful acting muscles. Early film roles in films like Heat, Beautiful Girls, William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet and Mars Attacks! made her gain popularity and would eventually to one of the biggest roles a young actress can ask for, Queen Amidala in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace.

Natalie Portman's 2008 projects include The Other Boleyn Girl. She also ranked No. 15 on AskMen.com's annual Top 99 women of 2008. With so many blockbusters under her belt, not to mention her stunning presence, why wouldn't she have made our list of leading ladies to look out!

Leo Margets: Spanish Poker Girl

Leonor “Leo” Margets, a native of Spain, straight out of Barcelona, has won this years title of the last woman standing in the WSOP Main Event, she beat over 99% of the field and finished in 27th place earning her $352,832 in the process, her biggest win to date.

She’s only been playing poker for 3 years and this was her first Major tournament. With her stack of 3,410,000 chips in front of her, Margets joins the ranks of Barbara Enright, Susie Isaacs, Marsha Waggoner and Annie Duke.

The petite beauty from Spain outlasted former Main Event winners Phil Hellmuth, Scotty Nguyen, Greg Raymer and reigning champion Peter Eastgate. For her commendable achievement Margets was awarded a special trophy from the Entities at WickedChopsPoker.com. The trophy is a gold cup with the names of all the last ladies standing since 1986 when Wendeen Eolis came in 25th.

Originally coming to Las Vegas just to play preliminary events, Margets went home and was then able to convince her sponsor 888.com to bring her back to Vegas to play the Main Event. A decision that 888 would not go on to regret.

The Media spin has been huge for her since her incredible effort and 888.com has reaped the rewards.

A bubbly personality with the looks to boot. Let’s hope we see more of Leo Margets again in the future poker tournament.

Leo Marget's Photos

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