Gabe Kaplan – Celebrity Poker Player
We all remember the famous TV show from the 1970s known as ‘Welcome Back Kotter’. However, Gabe Kaplan, the artist from the show, is also one of the best poker players in the world.
Gabe Kaplan is known to have a varied lifestyle and was particularly known for his poker skills. Over the recent years, he hasn’t been active enough with poker but his list of poker accomplishments was at its best in the 1980s. He was also heard of making a comeback. His first appearance at the World Poker Series was in the year 1978. He came third at the World Poker Tour’s No Limit Texas Hold’em event and won about $250,000 in the game. He was also awarded the second place in the World Series of Poker Limit Hold’em game.
His earnings from all the poker tournaments combine add up to $680000. He also works as an expert poker commentator and has appeared on shows such as International Poker Championship, National Heads-Up Poker Championship and High Stakes Poker.
At the same time as he was working on his hit TV series, he was also actively involved with poker from the years 1975 to 1979. He became addicted to the poker tournaments and was seen appearing on most of them. His accomplished poker skills got him rave reviews from the people within the industry. Gabe won the NBC Poker tournament defeating heads-up champions such as Kristy Gazes and facing other professional players such as Vanessa Rousso, Annie Duke and Howard Lederer. At the moment, the poker enthusiasts can find Gabe Kaplan commentating on the poker tournaments on ESPN, NBC and the Game Show Network. He is still involved with the stand-up plays as well as being actively engaged in the financial industry.
As of the year 2007, his total earnings from the poker tournaments happen to exceed $1,100,000 and with the recent reports of his comeback, we are sure to see Gabe Kaplan winning a lot of tournaments in the years to come.