High Stakes Poker on GSN is known for having the richest cash game ever televised, and on Monday's episode, the show will feature another record-breaking table as the players will sit down with a minimum of $500,000.
The show will air on Monday, Nov. 5, at 9 p.m. ET with encore showings at 7 p.m. ET on Saturdays and 2 a.m. ET on Thursdays. Card Player TV was behind the scenes during the filming of the show. To view that video, click here.
The following is the list of players who will compete for the more than $5 million at stake, along with their bios provided by CardPlayer.com's player database:
Doyle Brunson: Some call him the "Granddaddy of Poker," others the "Godfather," and "Ten-Deuce" represents the hand that won him back-to-back World Series of Poker championships. Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson revolutionized the game of poker and set the standard for excellence by which other players would be measured.
Born Aug. 10, 1933, Brunson grew up in Longworth, Texas. Young Brunson had natural athletic and academic gifts. The Minneapolis Lakers drafted Brunson, but after severely breaking his leg, his athletic career ended.
During the 1950s, he played small-limit poker, but graduated quickly to the higher stakes games and traveled throughout Texas playing in the biggest games with the likes of Sailor Roberts, Amarillo "Slim" Preston, and Johnny Moss.
Brunson's first book, titled How I Made Over $1,000,000 Playing Poker, became Super/System. It transformed the game and gave ordinary players an insight into the way professionals played and won. His second book, According to Doyle, was published in 1976, but was later re-titled Poker Wisdom of a Champion.
Brunson has made 25 tournament final tables, holds one World Poker Tour title, and is tied with Johnny Chan for the second-most WSOP bracelets, with 10.
Sammy Farha: Known as a superstitious player who has some gamble in him, Sammy Farha is an easily identifiable mainstay at the poker tables. He plays with his signature unlit cigarette in his mouth, and always looks classy with his shiny jewelry and designer clothes. He was born in 1959 in Beirut.
As a teenager, he left for the United States during the civil war in Lebanon. He was a game specialist early on, and excelled in pool, Pac-Man, and pinball. He made money in all three of these games, once playing a single game of Pac-Man for $5,000. After graduating from the University of Kansas with a degree in business administration, he moved to Houston, Texas, where he discovered poker.
After making his first trip to Las Vegas, he decided to invest his money, quit his job, and pursue poker. Farha has two World Series of Poker bracelets; one is in pot-limit Omaha and the other in Omaha eight-or-better. He has more than $2 million in tournament winnings.
David Benyamine: Born on July 5, 1972, David Benyamine is a French native who first had hopes of becoming a professional tennis player. He was among the top players at a very young age, but because of arthritis, he was forced to quit. With his tennis dreams dashed, he looked for another unconventional profession, since he knew that a regular 9-to-5 job was not for him.
Benyamine became one of the top 10 pool players in France. His competitive drive and thirst for taking on new challenges drove him to start playing poker. Benyamine started playing low-stakes pot-limit games and eventually built up a decent bankroll. It became big enough to compete at the legendary Aviation Club, where many of France's best players competed for big money. There, he learned and improved his game a tremendous amount.
After a few of the ups and downs that come with being a true gambler at heart, Benyamine has solidified himself in the poker community by consistently beating the highest cash games around.
Barry Greenstein: Barry Greenstein is nicknamed the "Robin Hood of Poker" because he donates his tournament winnings to charity. Over the years, he has provided more than $5.5 million in support of his favorite causes. These cashes include 12 on the World Poker Tour, two of which being title wins. At the World Series of Poker, he has cashed 32 times, which includes two bracelet-wins.
Born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1955, Greenstein has been playing cards since the age of 12. He began by playing gin rummy and hearts, and eventually poker. He managed to win enough to pay for college by playing cards with local businessmen. He graduated, and then spent a decade earning a graduate degree in mathematics. Finding that poker was much more lucrative than a job in his profession, he decided to dedicate himself to the game. He now competes in the highest cash games and richest tournaments in the world. Greenstein represents PokerStars as a member of its team. In addition to being a successful player and philanthropist, he has also written a book, Ace on the River. He gives anyone who knocks him out of a tournament a signed copy.
Antonio Esfandiari: Antonio Esfandiari, born on Dec. 8, 1978, in Tehan, Iran, has become a crowd favorite. Also known as "The Magician," Esfandiari made the transition from professional illusionist since the age of 19 to poker professional. He won the 2004 World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic, receiving nearly $1.4 million. At the age of 25, he became the youngest person ever to win a televised WPT event, as well as the youngest poker player to win a million-dollar prize. He also won a World Series of Poker bracelet in the 2004 $2,000 pot-limit hold'em event. He finished third in the 2005 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship, winning $125,000.
Jamie Gold: Jamie Gold is the 2007 World Series of Poker champion. He outlasted 8,772 other players and won the biggest purse in tournament poker history – $12 million. The former television producer and talent agent showcased his own talent by often moving his opponents off of the best hand. He was mentored by Johnny Chan, whom he met at the Hustler Casino in California. In addition to mentoring, the two worked together on a television show. Gold currently heads the production division of Buzznation.
Daniel Negreanu: Daniel Negreanu has often been called the unofficial ambassador of poker. His charm mixed with his highly instinctive play make him a huge fan favorite. He is one of the highest-grossing tournament players of all-time, with winnings of more than $9.5 million.
As a teen in Canada, Negreanu aspired to be a professional pool player, but had a change of heart when he discovered poker. He has won three World Series of Poker bracelets. His first bracelet came in a 1998 $2,000 pot-limit hold'em event, making him the youngest player to win a bracelet at the time. The other two came in the 2004 $2,000 S.H.O.E. event and the $2,000 limit hold'em event. Negreanu also has two World Poker Tour titles. Both of those wins also came in 2004, in the Five-Diamond World Poker Classic and the Borgata Poker Open. He finished second in the Tournament of Champions at the 2006 WSOP and at the 2007 World Poker Open. In 2004, Negreanu was named the Card Player Player of the Year and the WSOP Toyota Player of the Year. He recently finished second at the 2007 World Poker Open main event.
Patrik Antonius: Patrik Antonius is a former model gone poker pro. This Finnish player started getting noticed on the poker circuit in 2005. He started the year with two near-final-table appearances on the World Poker Tour. In September of that year, he finished third in Barcelona in a European Poker Tour event. The next month, he won an EPT event in Baden Bei Wien. He topped off his year with a second-place finish in the WPT Five-Diamond World Poker Classic. Antonius finished in the money five times at the 2006 World Series of Poker, including ninth place in the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event. In 2007, he finished third in the $10,000 world championship pot-limit Omaha event. In all, Antonius' tournament winnings exceed $2 million.
Guy Laliberte: Born on Sept. 2, 1959, in Quebec, Canada, Guy Laliberte knew that he wanted to pursue a career in the performing arts at the young age of 16. The college dropout eventually created a billion-dollar business. He is the founder and CEO of Cirque Du Soleil.
The success of his shows provides him the money to pursue other interests, such as poker. When he has time, Laliberte competes in a few of the richest games and tournaments in the world. His biggest success came in the World Poker Tour Five-Star World Poker Classic. He finished in fourth place, for nearly $700,000. Coincidentally, the event took place at Bellagio, in Las Vegas, where the show "O" by Cirque Du Soleil is performed.
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