Las Vegas Weekly

October 22, 2008 · 5:06 PM

Flush with stars: Real Deal welcomes Hollywood vets, poker aces

By Robin Leach

Photo: Images of LV

Vinnie Favorito, onstage.

It was an all-star Hollywood turnout for the battle against the world’s 10 best poker players. Veteran TV producer Merv Adelson premiered his new Real Deal interactive entertainment poker show at The Venetian last night (Tuesday) and had the ultimate VIP cast from both worlds.

On hand for the red-carpet walk into Wayne Brady’s theater were former Miami Vice star Don Johnson, Robert Wagner with his wife, Jill St. John, comedians Bob Newhart and Tim Conway, singer Steve Lawrence and the new show’s host Vinnie Favorito. They were joined by the princes of poker, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Doyle Brunson, Todd Brunson, Phil Laak, Antonio Esfandiari, Gavin Smith, Scott Nguyen and WSOP chip leader Dennis Phillips plus poker princesses Jennifer Harman and actress Jennifer Tilly.

Venetian/Palazzo chairman Sheldon Adelson, his wife, Dr. Miriam Adelson; his CEO, Bill Weidner and wife, Lynn; and his president Rob Goldstein and his wife, Cheryl, all attended and watched the card action from the front row stageside. Singer Clint Holmes -–who headlines at the Suncoast this coming weekend -- and his wife, Kelly, were also at the show.

Ex-Mannix star Mike Connors, who went onto win the showdown, told me: “Years and years ago I played this game, but I wasn’t very good. I think when I lost $10 the first time I decided it wasn’t for me. Now look at this. I come back rusty as heck -– and win.” I couldn’t tell if Tim Conway was joking or not because he told me: “I just don’t play poker.” He did try to go “all in” on the first hand -– and lost!

My friends, Phil Laak and his serious girlfriend, Jennifer Tilly, told me that they thought comedy and poker would mix very well as a new entertainment format. Said Phil: “It’s like a home game of poker and just having a lot of fun. I like to be paid to play and have fun at the same time.

“Most of the people who observe us only see us highly concentrated and focused, but between the hands there’s a lot of joking around so it’s not all serious. It’s also social. We played Poker Showdown with roastmaster Jeffrey Ross and his jokes were better than our play! Jennifer added: “Poker needs comedy. We play for hundreds of thousands of dollars, so you need a little levity along the way. There’s a lot of needling between players -– so this is a good way to relax and have fun at the same time. However, to be really honest, when you’ve reached the $1-million mark you’re playing with then all comedy gets cut off. You can’t be goofy then.”

Harman, who has racked up tournament winnings of over $2 million, says she’s been playing since she was 16 years old. She commented: “The only time I’ve had fun up ’til now was when I jumped out the way safely at a poker table when one player jumped right over it and put a choke hold on another player who beat him for the pot. That’s only happened once in my 27 years of playing, thankfully, but its fun to look back at it.”

Negreanu told me: “Comedy and poker does mix. We are pretty colorful people who get pretty excited so it is fun. The one funny thing that floored me was when I got KO’d from a World Series of Poker game by a guy who said nothing the entire time we played because he was listening to headphones in his ear. Then he told me he’d been listening to my own book on audiotape to motivate him to beat me. Now that’s funny -- I’m beaten by my own game!”

I prodded Flamingo insult-comedy headliner Vinnie Favorito to reveal the real reason that he’d replaced fellow comic Paul Rodriguez, who had been originally set to host Real Deal. CLICK HERE for our Monday breaking news reports of his sudden exit. Said Vinnie: “It came down solely to scheduling conflicts. There was no way to build a solid continuity because he had so many other engagements and comedy tours for the first four months -– so everybody thought to get the show up and running properly with a fast pace he should fulfill his gigs and I should take over full-time.”

Adelson confirmed: “There was just too many schedule conflicts to have him here from the start on a full-time basis. Now that we’re up and running I can easily see this becoming its own TV show-- and we’re already working on that.”

Real Deal runs at The Venetian twice-daily before Wayne Brady’s show. Audience members get the opportunity to win a $1 million cash prize if they win a seat at the Final Table of 9 and turn a Royal Flush to beat a poker pro. A state-of-the-art, handheld computer device lets audiences play along and win prizes as each game progresses. There are always two “A-name” poker pros playing at the shows.

After the stage matchups last night (Tuesday), the stars went off to celebrate at Tao’s new LAVO restaurant and nightclub in the adjoining Palazzo. Wagner summed up for me: “We always have fun when we come to Vegas -– and its great to have played and partied at the same time.”

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