Professional poker players Maria Ho and Tiffany Michelle are quickly becoming the talk of reality television fans and poker enthusiasts alike after just one episode of the new season of the CBS series “Amazing Race.” These two racers, who each made their claim to fame by being the last women remaining in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, are quickly gaining fans and critics after the two-hour premiere, during which they went from first to last place, impressing and irritating their competitors along the way.
Poker News Daily sought the opinions of those on both sides of the issue in order to gain more insight into why the Ho/Michelle team has such a polarizing effect on people. In addition to discussing some of the pros and cons of their appearance, we also picked up behind the scenes information that sheds more light on how the two young women are being portrayed.
The Skeptic
It didn’t take long for occasional poker journalist and online poker regular Jon Wein to decide that he did not enjoy the duo of poker ladies participating in the show. He tuned in to watch the show, but Wein claims he “had to turn it off after [Tiffany Michelle] and Maria Ho implied they were rich for the like eighteenth time.”
His biggest issue with the two women appearing on the show is that it deprives other, ostensibly more deserving, poker players from time in the limelight. “It literally makes me sick that Tiffany Michelle gets this much coverage and publicity for one Main Event run. She’s done nothing else,” he explained. “Ultimate Bet has all of these talented pros like Matt ‘mattg1983’ Graham and Adam ‘Roothlus’ Levy and then they have her… It’s a complete slap in the face to them.” Wein even took a playful jab at Michelle’s former Poker News employer Tony “Tony G” Guoga. “I literally curse Tony G’s name to this day because he put her in the Main Event,” he joked.
While Wein has a very clear opinion on Michelle, he has less to say about her partner. “I don’t know Maria and have never spoken to her. I only know what the media portrays her as,” he said.
Considering poker players do not get too many opportunities at mainstream media exposure, an appearance on a reality show can have a major influence on how the game is perceived by those who are not fans of it. Wein is skeptical that the team, Michelle in particular, will grow poker’s popularity. “Even if [Michelle] is the sickest ‘Amazing Race’ contestant ever, I just don’t understand how anyone can be like, ‘Wow, what a great ambassador for the game. What a humble person about their successes’…I think she is a poor example of what a poker player should be.” His opinion is based not only on the first episode of “Amazing Race”, but also last year’s Main Event coverage and his own personal experiences over the course of several summers in Las Vegas.
He may just be one viewer, but the presence of Michelle and Ho on the show has actually convinced the longtime “Amazing Race” fan to take some time off from tuning in, as Wein said he had no plans to watch future episodes this season.
The Supporter
Like Wein, longtime tournament reporter B.J. Nemeth knew Ho and Michelle long before their appearance on “Amazing Race.” In fact, it is only because of their presence on the show that he tuned in this season. “I have never watched ‘Amazing Race’ before this season and I am watching primarily because I am friends with Maria and Tiffany,” Nemeth explained. “I am also watching (to a lesser extent) because of my weekly appearances on PokerRoad’s ‘The Poker Beat,’ where I am sure we will discuss and analyze the show at some point, just as we did with Annie Duke on ‘Celebrity Apprentice.'” He is a fan so far and even suggested that he might tune into the show for future seasons.
The show has made a fan of Nemeth, but he thinks it will have little impact on bringing new fans to poker. He explained, comparing their appearance to Duke’s memorable run on “Celebrity Apprentice”:
“Amazing Race” is a unique game and the specific job skills that people bring with them will have little impact, whether they are a doctor, a lawyer, or a poker player. “If [Michelle and Ho] perform well or win, it won’t be because they are poker players. If they embarrass themselves and lose, it won’t be because they are poker players. And I don’t think mainstream fans will judge the poker industry by how they finish… The impact on poker is very different from Annie Duke‘s presence on ‘Celebrity Apprentice,’ where she was only on the show because she was a famous poker player, and it was brought up repeatedly from a strategy standpoint and in the boardroom with Donald Trump.”
Nemeth also conceded that any publicity was good publicity though and, unlike Wein, believed that the appearance of the young female poker players would more than likely help rather than hurt the poker cause. When it comes to Wein’s concerns that their behavior will come off as indicative of the poker industry as a whole, Nemeth disagreed. “Even though ‘Amazing Race’ fans identify Maria and Tiffany as the ‘poker players’ or the ‘poker girls,’ that’s just an identifier because it’s tough to learn names of 10 to 12 two-person teams,” he pointed out. “They refer to the other teams in similar ways – ‘the asshole lawyer,’ ‘the interracial couple,’ ‘the father-son team,’ and ‘the gay brothers.’ Reality TV fans are smart enough to know that personality traits are unique to individuals and not to entire professions or sexual preferences.”
The Scoop
Ho and Nemeth had a lengthy chat after the show’s Sunday premiere and Nemeth shared behind-the-scenes details of the first episode with Poker News Daily. “Maria and Tiffany have agreed that they won’t be answering their critics or talking about specific things until the show is complete. It’s not easy, because they’ve seen a lot of the criticism and want to respond, but they know it would be counterproductive at this point,” Nemeth explained. However, he did clear up a couple of early points of criticism on behalf of his friends.
He immediately addressed a major issue that both reality television fans and poker enthusiasts were quick to criticize the girls for – their rolling luggage. Historically, backpacks have proven to be the most popular way to travel on the show and avid fans suggest that rolling luggage slows players down too much during crucial periods of the race where they may have to run. Nemeth explained that their bags convert into backpacks and the clip showing Ho rolling it down the street was during a three mile walk from one location to the next.
Nemeth also filled us in on the controversial decision by the pair to conceal their occupation from their opponents. According to Nemeth, the producers encouraged them to keep their status as poker pros under wraps since previous contestants like former “Survivor” winners Rob Mariano and Amber Brkich were highly criticized by their fellow racers for already being rich and famous.
As for their false claim that they worked with a non-profit group? This is not entirely a lie. Both women have done a lot of charity work, so there was more truth to their statements than the show depicted. “The homeless charity that Tiffany mentioned on the show is a real charity that she has worked with and its director called her on Monday to support her,” said Nemeth. He also said that the girls received less flack from their competitors about their tiny fib than the show implied and that they are still in touch with over half of the teams from the season.
These are just two of several opinions on a show that still has a long way to go to reach the finish line. In every season of reality television, there will inevitably be heroes and villains. So far, Ho and Michelle are netting their fair share of criticism compared to the other participants, but picking up a few new fans as well, so it will take a little more airtime to get a better idea of how they will be remembered on “Amazing Race” and whether or not it will have any bearing on the world of poker.
