Living the Dream: George Stephanopoulos Plays Poker with Game's Best
"GMA" anchor plays with poker pros in Atlantic City.
May 5, 2010— -- George Stephanopoulos is the anchor of "Good Morning America " and ABC News' chief political correspondent.
But that's not all. In addition to his many accomplishments, Stephanopoulos is a Rhodes Scholar who's interviewed presidents and world leaders. But he wanted to face yet another challenge: playing poker with the game's masters.
And at a recent game at Harrah's Resort in glitzy Atlantic City, N.J., George got to do just that. As part of "Good Morning America's" Living the Dream series, he did just that, going head to head with some of the best in the business in the first-ever "GMA" poker showdown.
It was a long way from his high school poker table in Cleveland.
This line-up featured poker greats: Phil Hellmuth Jr., the 11-time world champion of poker, Annie Duke, world champion and poker instructor, and pros Steven Begleiter and Jason Lee.
Poker commentator Ali Nejad was the host.
They played a pro's game: Texas Hold'em, in which each player is dealt two cards, face down. The dealer then deals five cards face up -- common cards that each player can use to make their best poker hand.
Before their game, Duke, an instructor at the World Series of Poker Academy, gave Stephanopoulos a few pointers.
"By being aggressive and by being the person betting -- as opposed to the person just passive - you're forcing other people to make decisions," Duke told him.
He accepted the advice, but asked: "I can't beat you guys, right?"
She conceded that he could, but said it wasn't likely.
One hour into the match, the anchor was doing well. Even though they weren't playing for real money, he was holding his own.
Mindful of Duke's advice to be more aggressive, Stephanopoulos pushed all his chips in. The gutsy move paid off.After 40 more minutes, he'd outlasted two pros, but still faced world champions Duke and Hellmuth.
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