'Good Morning America' Hits Atlantic City

CASINOS > CASINOS FEATURES

George Stephanopoulos plays poker at Harrah's Resort

By Mike Pritchard

Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted May. 5, 2010

It was supposed to fulfill George Stephanopoulos’ dream when the Good Morning America anchor squared off against some famed poker pros in his own private World Series of Poker table at Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City. Instead, it was just another win and trophy for Helmuth, poker’s bad boy.

Still, Stephanopoulos gave a pretty good showing of himself, outlasting pros Jason Lee and Steve Begleiter before losing to Helmuth in what can only be described as a really lucky draw for Helmuth.

The segment was part of GMA’s “Living the Dream,” which allowed each of the show’s anchors the chance to fulfill a lifelong dream. Stephanopoulos picked poker, saying he had dreamed of playing in a big time game since he had a regular game in high school in Cleveland. The spot was filmed April 29 at Harrah's Resort.

First up, Stephanopoulis received poker tips from pro Annie Duke, who makes regular stops at Harrah’s Resort to promote the World Seris of Poker (she’ll next be in town May 21 and 22 to help promote a WSOP satellite event at Harrah’s). Duke advised Stephanopoulos to play aggressively.

“By being aggressive and by being the person betting — as opposed to the person that’s just passive — you're forcing other people to make decisions,” Duke told him.

Stephanopoulos accepted the advice, but asked: “I can't beat you guys, right?”

Duke said he definitely could on any given hand, but over the long haul, she’d probably “crush him.”

Duke and Helmuth played the final hand heads-up for bragging rights (no real money was involved) and a GMA trophy. Helmuth, again, won.

The spot also was also a nice shout out for Atlantic City and Harrah’s Resort.

Here’s the clip: