Celebrity Poker: Kim Kardashian

Celebrities poker players are hot and so does Kim Kardashian! Her sexyness barely begins to describe Kim Kardashian’s mouthwatering appeal. After all, this voluptuous beauty has been blessed with more tantalizing curves than a backcountry road. Kim Kardashian has gained fame by association.

The daughter of O.J. Simpson’s trial lawyer, Robert Kardashian, she first made a name for herself as one of Paris Hilton's premiere party pals. Internet surfers may recognize her as the reluctant leading lady in Kim Kardashian Superstar, her leaked-out, homemade sex tape. She and her famous family have also been the stars of their own TV series, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, which debuted in October 2007.

Last year, The Playboy Mansion and the Kardashians' sisters host the “Aces & Angels Celebrity Poker Tournament” to benefit Aces and Angels, an organization which raises money for families of Southern California firefighters who were either injured or killed in the line of duty.

Kim Kardsahian host the event alongside sisters Khloe and Kourtney, and their mother Kris, as dozens of Playboy bunnies, playmates, top models, Hollywood A-list performers, celebrity poker players and poker pros took part the highly anticipated event being held at the Playboy Mansion.

The event, which is being emceed by 11-time poker bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, has already received RSVP’s from: Nicole Richie, Jayde Nicole (2008 Playmate of the Year), Sara Jean Underwood (2007 Playmate of the Year), the Ikki Twins (featured in Playboy and MTV’s Double Shot at Love), celebrity poker player Shanon Elizabeth, recording artist Ryan Cabrera, Jerri Manthey (of Survivor and Playboy fame), retired baseball player Jose Canseco, and poker pro Jamie Gold, poker icon Annie Duke, Greg Raymer, Nenad Medic, Isabelle Mercier, Marcel Luske, Gavin Smith, David Williams and Steve Dannenmann.

About Kim Kardashian: Kim Kardshian is an American stylist, actress, celebutante/socialite, model, apparel retailer and television personality. She is perhaps best known for her social life, stolen sex tape, and her role on the E! reality show Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

Kim Kardashian is the star of her family's reality show, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, which premiered in October 2007. The babe also bared all in the December 2007 issue of Playboy. So, if you missed the illicit sex tape, you can't miss seeing this voluptuous vixen sprawled out in the magazine.

In 2000, Kardashian married music producer Damon Thomas; their relationship ended in divorce in 2004. Currently she is dating NFL player Reggie Bush. Kim Kardashian was little known outside gossip circles until the pornographic home video she had made with then-boyfriend, R&B singer Ray J, was leaked. Vivid Entertainment was the distribution company against which Kardashian had pursued legal action for the ownership of the tape. Kardashian later dropped the suit and settled with Vivid Entertainment for US$ 5 million.

On May 2, 2008, Kim Kardashian released a workout DVD, Workout with Kim Kardashian, and a set of workout cards with the help of trainer Kathy Kaehler. In July 2008, Kim Kardashian announced on her personal blog that she is working on her own perfume line to be released in 2009.

In addition to her burgeoning “film” career, Kim iKardashian s also a part-owner of Dash, a Calabasas, California, clothing store, which she operates with her sisters Kourtney and Khloe. “We all have very different styles, so it’s a collaboration of all of our tastes put together!” Kim Kardshian explains.

Celebrity Poker: Eric Bana

Eric Bana says he is a hotshot celebrity poker player. He was once feaured in a poker movie as professional poker player Huck Cheever in "Lucky You" helped him pick up some useful tips. Eric Bana told the USA Today newspaper: "I got pretty good at poker. You can tell when someone is bluffing by how they place the bets more than any mannerisms or tics. It's whether they are confident or not when they're placing them. That's how you can really tell." This poker movie stars Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore and Robert Duvall. Not well received, the movie shows the life of a son and father Las Vegas poker pros who compete in the WSOP main event.

The 38-year-old "Munich" star can relate to his character's competitive streak. Eric Bana said: "I can get pretty competitive when I'm in the moment, yes. But this is a father-son love story. I like the scene where he lets his father win. It goes against the mythology where the father lets the son win."

Eric Bana on spending time with poker pros

“It lifted our game because it’s impossible for it not to rub off. For instance, a scene that might only be a minute onscreen could take us days to shoot, so that’s hours and hours sitting around with these guys, and all you’re doing between takes is talking poker. It definitely elevated my ability to sell my character as someone who knows his way around a poker table.”

Eric Bana meet and played with several poker pros like Jack Binion, Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Hoyt Corkins, Eli Elezra, Antonio Esfandiari, Sam Farha, Maureen Feduniak, Chris Ferguson, Ted Forrest, Phil Hellmuth, Chau Giang, Barry Greenstein, Jennifer Harman, Dan Harrington, John Hennigan, Karina Jett, John Juanda, Jason Lester, Erick Lindgren, Minh Ly, Mike Matusow, Daniel Negreanu, David Oppenheim, Max Pescatori, Matt Savage, Erik Seidel, Huck Seed, Mimi Tran, Cyndy Violette, Marsha Waggoner and Robert Williamson III are all involved in the movie.

About Eric Bana: Eric Bana's career has two distinct periods: his time working in Australia and his latest stint working in Hollywood. While at home Down Under, Eric was known as a comedian, performing stand-up as of 1990, and expanding to sketch comedy work in 1992. The Australian TV series Full Frontal and Eric showed off Bana's skill and then he scored his own program, The Eric Bana Show Live, which only lasted eight episodes.

Eric Bana's feature film debut came in The Castle in 1997, an Australian film where he was relegated to a small supporting role. It was in 2000's Chopper that Eric morphed from a steady comedy actor to a great dramatic thespian. Portraying the notorious Australian killer Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read, Bana gained 30 pounds, shaved his head and transformed himself mentally for the film by interviewing cult figure Read.

Opinions on Eric's efforts in Chopper were universal: he was great. This one appearance led to his Hollywood debut in Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down. Bana then took on The Nugget, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, before putting in months of work in Hulk, where he played main character Dr. Bruce Banner.

Though the high-profile Hulk was considered a bomb by audiences and critics, Brd Pitt still remembered Bana's performance in Chopper and recommended the Aussie for the role of Hector in the 2004 blockbuster Troy. With this latest big-budget film under his belt, Bana is locking up performances in Lucky You, set for release in 2005 and co-starring Drew Barrymore and the next Steven Spielberg project, based on the 1972 Munich Olympics Israeli hostage crisis.

His latest movie was Startrek and Time Traveler's Wife – a Chicago librarian suffers from a rare genetic disorder that sends him hurtling through time whenever he is under extreme duress; despite the fact that he vanishes at inordinately frequent and lengthy intervals, he attempts to build a stable future with the beautiful young heiress he loves. Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams star in this dramatic fantasy, which is directed by Robert Schwentke and based on the best-selling book by author Audrey Niffenegger.