René joins GSN's World Series Of Blackjack

January 3, 2005 at 01:17 PM

GSN's WORLD SERIES OF BLACKJACK Returns With a Stellar Line Up of the World's Top 40 Players
Monday January 3, 8:02 am ET
Season Two Players Include Joe Maloof (Owner of the Sacramento Kings), Rene Angelil (Husband of Celine Dion), and MIT Mike (Last Year's Champion)

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jan. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Premiering on January 21 at 10 PM ET/PT, GSN's WORLD SERIES OF BLACKJACK is back for a second exciting season with 40 of the world's top blackjack players all vying for over $500,000 in cash prizes and the title of the world's top blackjack player. The series premiere's on Friday, January 21 at 10 PM ET/PT.
Shot at the legendary Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino Las Vegas, the invitation only tournament will have viewers on the edge of their seats until the final card is drawn. Returning players from season one back for a second chance are:

* Stanford Wong, the Godfather of Blackjack, has authored several books
on Blackjack, including "Basic Blackjack," and "Casino Tournament
Strategy." A professional gambler for over 40 years, Wong is also an
inductee into the Blackjack and Video Poker Halls of Fame and resides
in Southern California.

* Micky Rosa, who is credited with authoring the M.I.T. thesis on
blackjack, is featured in the NY Times best-selling book, "Bringing
Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas
For Millions." He now resides in Australia and works in investments.

* M.I.T. Mike, Last years champion, balances his blackjack play with
work in the non-profit sector in Washington, D.C., nurturing and
mentoring high school students. He also is featured in the NY Times
best-selling book, "Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six
MIT Students Who Took Vegas For Millions."

* Anthony Curtis, one of the world's most recognized gambling
authorities and Las Vegas resident, is the author of "Bargain
City-Booking, Betting, and Beating the New Las Vegas," and "The Art of
Gambling Through The Ages," as well as the publisher of the Las Vegas
Advisor.

* Regina Guzior, legally blind, is credited as one of the best female
blackjack players in the country -- she hails from Michigan.

* Michael Konik, a true Renaissance man, expert blackjack player, and
successful author of gaming books, "Telling Lies and Getting Paid" and
"The Man with $100,000 Breasts: And Other Gambling Stories." He also
is a jazz musician and a golf columnist for Delta Airline's in-flight
magazine.

* Ken Einiger, an aggressive blackjack player and former champion of the
Mandalay Bay Blackjack Tournament, recently placed third in the Hilton
Million Dollar Blackjack Tournament. Originally from New York, he
also lived in Fort Lauderdale before moving to Las Vegas.

* "Hollywood" Dave Stann, the undisputed Bad Boy of Blackjack, also an
actor, uses psychology to gain the advantage over other players. He
is a resident of Southern California and is the dealer on GSN's
CELEBRITY BLACKJACK.

* Jimmy Pine, a lifelong gambler known for his winning expression "pay
the little man," is also a professional singer who resides in Rhode
Island.

* Ken Smith, a software and website developer has won over 30 blackjack
tournaments to date and founded a popular blackjack tournament
website -- www.blackjackinfo.com. He resides in Mississippi.

Rounding out the remaining competitors are the following tournament players:

* Rene Angelil -- Born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, noted fan
of blackjack, Rene Angelil is most known as Grammy Award winning
Celine Dion's husband. Since 1985, Angelil has won many tournaments.

* Joe Maloof -- President of Maloof Companies, Maloof's favorite casino
game is blackjack. Maloof has been playing the game since the age of
16, and has won one million dollars in the highest stakes blackjack
tournament ever.

* Dr. Richard Taraska -- A Board Certified Emergency Medicine M.D., Dr.
Richard Taraska not only has a love of Ferrari's (he owns one), he is
an avid tournament blackjack player. Citing the fact that he has
attained a level of discipline while he plays blackjack, "If you play
blackjack correctly, the casino advantage is only slight -- you can't
win all of the time, but with enough discipline you can walk away
ahead more often than not."

* Nicki Vermeulen -- Nikki Vermeulen is in a casino everyday, as a
cocktail waitress. She has learned her game by watching other's play
and as such, she has sharpened her skills. Her biggest win thus far
in one game was $12,000.

* Chuck Gorson -- At almost seven feet tall, and having won over
$1 million in tournaments for the last 15 years, Gorson has earned a
six-figure income as a professional gambler. After capturing
$50,000 in a 1989 blackjack tournament at the Aladdin Casino, Gorson
sold his successful chain of talent and modeling agencies and never
looked back. Today, he's one of America's top gambling professionals,
with a string of tournament victories in every casino and every casino
game.

* Erica Schoenberg -- An accomplished match champion, model and
pro-beach tournament volleyball player, Schoenberg was bit with the
blackjack bug one year ago when she turned $25 into $2000 at the
tables. Schoenberg plays the game twice a month when she is not busy
teaching kickboxing and working as a personal trainer.

* Robert Blechman -- Having played in over 300 blackjack tournaments all
across the country and many foreign countries, Blechman has won well
over $1 million dollars. When he is not playing the game, Blechman
works as a paralegal and he is a California native.

* Joe Pane -- A retired Brooklyn police officer complete with the
accent, Joe Pane is one of the most accomplished blackjack tournament
players around. He has played in over 500 tournaments and has almost
a half a million dollars in wins to his credit. Pane is a writer for
www.blackjackinsider.com, and resides in Las Vegas.

* Jason Geraci -- Rhode Island native Jason Geraci plays blackjack with
his instinct over typical advantage play. His favorite part of
playing blackjack is "catching a run, and knowing enough to send it in
when the cards are flowing."

* Henry Tamburin -- Henry Tamburin is a blackjack enthusiast and noted
book author. He has since authored ten books including the popular
"Blackjack: Take the Money & Run," "Craps: Take the Money & Run." He
also hosts the popular web site for casino players at
www.smartgaming.com and publishes the monthly "Blackjack Insider
Newsletter" for blackjack players at all skill levels
(www.bjinsider.com).

* Viktor Nacht -- Viktor Nacht is an avid blackjack player, owner of RGE
Publishing, Ltd., and the webmaster of AdvantagePlayer.com, the
world's busiest blackjack website. It is Nacht's goal to "add sex
appeal to the somewhat mundane world of legitimate blackjack methods
and techniques, and educate average players about how they can get the
most from their play."

* Eric Kiel -- Eric Kiel is the defending champion of blackjack's
biggest event, the Las Vegas Hilton Blackjack tournament where he took
home $1 million dollars. Residing in Texas, Kiel is a successful
small business owner as an oilfield consultant and enjoys fast cars,
old cars and anything mechanical.

* Brian Zembic -- One of the notorious gamblers in the world who will
bet on anything, Brian Zembic's most famous wager required him to get
breast implants, which he still possesses. Known to his blackjack
peers as "Brian the Wiz," Zembic says his biggest accomplishment is
"having blackjack putting him through life without having to really
work."

* David Page -- Going by the nickname of "Legend," David Page is one of
the most accomplished tournament blackjack players, and considers
tournaments his passion. His unique style is to annoy other players
and take them out of their game. He is currently working on launching
an online gaming website that will allow tournament blackjack to be
played much in the same way tournament poker is played online.

* Kevin Blackwood -- Since teaching himself how to count cards from a
book, Kevin Blackwood started playing blackjack with just a few twenty
dollar bills and has since won over one million dollars at the tables
and is considered the best card counter in the world. Blackwood, the
author of the book "The Counter," enjoys the mental challenges, quick
decisions and memorization of the game.

* Lorna Fox -- Lorna Fox considers herself a professional blackjack
player and plays three to four times a week, and says her favorite
part of playing is "meeting different people all the time, and not
having to answer to a boss."

* Angie Moneytaker -- Angie Moneytaker got the blackjack buzz a few
years ago, when she entered the Hilton Million Dollar Blackjack
Tournament on a whim. It was when she qualified for the finals that
she became addicted to tournament play. She plays online weekly, and
hits the tables in Las Vegas a few times a year.

* Rick Jensen -- Rick Jensen is currently on a seven year winning streak
in tournament blackjack -- he has won one tournament each year for the
past seven. The competition, winning, and the friends he has made are
his favorite part of playing blackjack.

* Marshall Sylver -- Not only is Marshall Sylver a skilled blackjack
player, he is well known as one of the world's leading hypnotists.
Sylver enjoys the tension involved with blackjack, and says, "It's
just a game."

* Nancy Kubasek -- Nancy Kubasek is a seasoned tournament veteran, and
is known for wearing a blue wig for good luck. Kubasek has a history
of making a number of final tables every year in various tournaments
where the top prize is over $10,000.

* Tyrone Jackson -- Chicago native Tyrone Jackson enjoys beating casinos
at their own game. He says he has "pioneered the technique of using
shuffle tracking techniques in actual blackjack gameplay."

* Michelle Richards -- Michelle Richards was once one of the most feared
casino managers in the business, now she takes her game to the other
side of the table where she faces off against many of the same players
she has banned from playing the game.

* Russ Hamilton -- Having played blackjack professionally since 1990,
until he began being asked to leave the tables, Russ Hamilton
considers himself a professional gambler, having played for the past
30 years. In addition to his blackjack skills, Hamilton also plays
Poker and won $1 million dollars in the World Series of Poker in 1994.

* Leann Moell -- Leann Moell, or "Lean" as her friends like to call her
is the youngest player in the tournament at 21 years old. Moell
currently works as a table games supervisor at Barona Valley Ranch
Casino & Resort, and plays the tables in Vegas once a month.

* Rick Blaine -- Native New Yorker Rick Blaine has been playing the game
of blackjack since the early 1980's. He is currently a part-time
professional as a financial executive with a Fortune 500 company, and
he plays at least six times a year overseas.

* Katya Underhill -- Master of disguise Katya Underhill has been a
professional full time player since 2000, after a friend took her to
Las Vegas, and she says she hasn't looked back since. Her biggest
single win at the tables was $32,000, and says her favorite part about
playing blackjack is that any play can make money for the player.

* Rick Swogger -- Arlington, Texas native Rick Swogger says the
probabilities of blackjack are his favorite part of the game, and he
tries to play as often as he can, just about once a month or so. He
recently placed second place in the March qualifier Million Dollar
Blackjack 2 quarter finals.

* Kamila Lis -- Born and raised in Warsaw, Poland, Kamila Lis is a very
skilled blackjack player. She began learning the game as a dealer at
the Sands, CalNeva and Peppermill casinos in Reno, and then took that
information and made money playing the game in other casinos. She has
played in many international cities around the world including Warsaw,
Amsterdam, Sun City, Hong Kong and Macau.

* Jean Scott -- Better known in the blackjack world as "Queen of Comps,"
Jean Scott has been a winning player for the past 20 years. Most
recently, Scott took first place in the Rio Blackjack Tournament in
June, 2004. Scott also works outside the world of blackjack as a
writer on different gambling subjects, and before retiring, she was a
high school English teacher.

* Charlene Ono -- Although Charlene Ono's biggest prize money won in a
game of blackjack was $25,000, she says her biggest accomplishment in
blackjack thus far is having been invited to play in this tournament.
She plays the game monthly, and enjoys winning and meeting different
people from all over the world.

WORLD SERIES OF BLACKJACK is produced by Montana Productions for GSN. Paul Abeyta and Peter Kaikko serve as the series' executive producers.

The Golden Nugget Las Vegas is one of the premier hotel-casinos in Nevada and the largest in downtown Las Vegas, offering 1,805 deluxe guest rooms and 102 plush suites and penthouses. Winner of the AAA Four-Diamond Award for 27 consecutive years, the Golden Nugget is the most luxurious resort in downtown Las Vegas, and consistently receives critical acclaim for exceeding customer expectations. The property is a foundation member of the Fremont Street Experience, which was developed in 1996 to attract and entertain visitors to the area. A 38,000 square-foot casino space features more than 1,208 of the most popular slot and video poker machines, 68 table games including blackjack, roulette and craps, as well as keno and a complete race and sports book and a poker room. Amenities of the property include headline entertainment, five world-class restaurants, a complete spa and salon, 12 meeting and banquet rooms accommodating up to 400 people, and a year-round outdoor swimming pool with cabanas. Additional information and online reservations and travel packages are available at www.goldennugget.com.

GSN, the Network for Games, is the only U.S. television network dedicated to game-related programming and interactive game playing. The network features game shows, reality series, light sports, documentaries, video game programs and casino games. As the industry leader in interactivity, GSN features 84 hours per week of interactive programming, which allows viewers a chance to win prizes by playing along with GSN's televised games via gsn.com. Reaching 56 million Nielsen homes, GSN is distributed in the U.S. through all major cable systems and satellite providers. The network is jointly owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment and Liberty Media Corporation. For further media information, visit GSN's press website at corp.gsn.com.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: GSN

January 3, 2005 at 01:30 PM

so Rene is one of the World's Top 40 Players. :bleh:

January 3, 2005 at 07:05 PM

LMFAO That's hilarious!

January 3, 2005 at 07:22 PM

LMFAO!! This was going to happen sooner or later. We'll see a side of Rene that was never seen before. :lmao:

Do you guys think Celine will keep tuned to the show? This is going to be hilarious :laughing:

January 3, 2005 at 07:24 PM

anyone can cap this?

January 3, 2005 at 08:06 PM

LMFAO!! This was going to happen sooner or later. We'll see a side of Rene that was never seen before. Do you guys think Celine will keep tuned to the show? This is going to be hilarious
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I could jsut imagine Celine sitting there cheering Rene on.... :lmao:

January 3, 2005 at 08:38 PM

I really hope he wins!!!!!!

Please, someone cap this!!!!!!!!!!!

January 3, 2005 at 09:31 PM

I want to see that

January 22, 2005 at 07:36 AM

He lost!!! :cry:

But at least he went out in style!! :clap:

January 22, 2005 at 07:41 AM

Oh boy, I guess he needs to work on his game more. :mdr:

Did you see the show?

January 22, 2005 at 07:43 AM

Awwww... he lost, LOL, how close did he get to winning?

January 22, 2005 at 08:10 AM

Oh boy, I guess he needs to work on his game more. Did you see the show?
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, I saw it. They talked about Céline briefly a few times! :thumbsup2:

January 22, 2005 at 08:13 AM

Awwww... he lost, LOL, how close did he get to winning?
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I know, I was rooting for him! :clap: He didn't get close at all...! He was doing really well at first, but then he decided to go all in and show off--- and he lost it all!! He was the first to lose all his money. So technically you could say he was in last place. At the end René said he just has to go for it, or nothing! So he went out in style, lol. :laughing:

Edited January 22, 2005 at 08:14 AM by ashleylovesceline

January 22, 2005 at 08:17 AM

lmao! you see why he mortgaged his house! he's such a big gambler, all or nothing :rolleyes:

January 22, 2005 at 09:33 PM

lmao! you see why he mortgaged his house! he's such a big gambler, all or nothing
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

LOL! Exactly!! I'm glad he made out better when he mortgaged his house though, hehe!

January 22, 2005 at 09:50 PM

I saw it last night too. I was so bumbed that he didn't win or even last longer for that matter. He was funny though, like when he got up and circled the chair trying to turn over his luck.

Anyway it was cool just to see him.

January 22, 2005 at 10:15 PM

OK Now he can join Anonymous Gambler. :whistling1:

I hope he didn't lost too much money. If so Celine will have to do a couple of more years in Vegas. :sick:

January 22, 2005 at 10:25 PM

He lost it all....... :laughing:

January 23, 2005 at 12:21 AM

Oh, poor guy!

Everyday I spent in Vegas I went 2 or 3 times throught Ceasear' Casinos looking for him. But I never found him.

January 23, 2005 at 03:16 AM

OK Now he can join Anonymous Gambler.

I hope he didn't lost too much money. If so Celine will have to do a couple of more years in Vegas.
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't know if this is a good thing. They'll have to release the DVD earlier now :whistling1:

Oh, poor guy!
Everyday I spent in Vegas I went 2 or 3 times throught Ceasear' Casinos looking for him. But I never found him.
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Maybe he's in the restricted Blackjack tables :mdr: :lmao:

January 23, 2005 at 05:00 AM

We must do something. :cry:

Together we can make a difference. :kicking:

Send your donations to:

SAVE WILLY RENE

C.O. Restricted Black Jack Tables

Ceasar Salad Palace

Las Vegas NV

91101

or call 1-800-HELPRENEWIN

:msn-tongue:

January 23, 2005 at 09:12 AM

I saw it last night too. I was so bumbed that he didn't win or even last longer for that matter. He was funny though, like when he got up and circled the chair trying to turn over his luck.
Anyway it was cool just to see him.
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I know that was funny! He said it was something his mother used to do, hehe. :laughing:

January 23, 2005 at 09:14 AM

OK Now he can join Anonymous Gambler.

I hope he didn't lost too much money. If so Celine will have to do a couple of more years in Vegas.
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

He only lost 100,000... and when I say only... that's pocket change to him! :thumbsup2:

January 28, 2005 at 01:16 AM

Of course $100,000 is small money! He's filthy, stinking rich! HAHAHAHA :laughing: :lmao: Sorry, just kidding.

But it was just really cool to see him on.

Celine Smiles has screen caps of the show.

January 28, 2005 at 04:36 AM

I have not seen Rene concentratiing so hard :lmao:

He looks younger

January 28, 2005 at 04:40 AM

I want 100,000 to throw away.. :cry: LOL

Rene is hot!

Edited January 28, 2005 at 04:41 AM by CelineSmiles

January 28, 2005 at 06:08 AM

I want 100,000 to throw away.. LOL
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ditto...... :cry:

January 28, 2005 at 09:20 AM

I want 100,000 to throw away.. LOL
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ditto......
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ditto, Ditto. :ermm:

January 28, 2005 at 04:59 PM

I want 100,000 to throw away.. LOL

Rene is hot!
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i love the glasses , do you have a video?

January 29, 2005 at 07:58 PM

What was Rene's reaction when he lost? Anyone care to tell ? :innocent:

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René joins GSN's World Series Of Blackjack

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