On Wednesday, May 5th at 8:00am ET, UB.com pro and Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke will mentor former political advisor George Stephanopoulos on the ABC franchise “Good Morning America.”
The episode will air as part of sweeps week, during which “Good Morning America” personalities will cross items off their bucket lists. Stephanopoulos will first learn poker from Duke, a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner and reigning champion of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Then, the former advisor to Bill Clinton will take to the felts against several of the game’s best. The action was filmed at Harrah’s Atlantic City in recent days and the table features the WSOP logo.
Duke was elated to be called upon to teach Stephanopoulos poker. The winner of the 2004 WSOP Tournament of Champions told Poker News Daily, “I was very excited to get to teach poker. With some of the attacks on poker that have happened, it’s nice that George is politically savvy. When he was asked what he wanted to cross off his bucket list, he answered poker.” Duke gave Stephanopoulos a private 30-minute lesson and noted that she was a good fit for the morning series’ target audience: “A lot of the reason they chose me was because ‘Good Morning America’ has a pretty strong female demographic. I tried to make it relatable to the audience.”
What facets of poker did Duke stress to her new protégé? She revealed, “People don’t understand how important position is. It’s a huge disadvantage to go first and poker players need to understand that.” Duke also stressed the importance of raising and told Stephanopoulos that bluffing has become overrated: “What I say to people is that there is a moment in a poker player’s life when they figure out they can win with the worst hand. That’s a big moment, but then they think that’s all poker is. They think they’re not playing poker unless they’re doing that.”
Stephanopoulos will then test his poker skills in a unique made-for-television home game featuring Duke, 2009 WSOP Main Event November Nine member Steven Begleiter, Jason “Jaspuduf” Lee, and 11-time WSOP bracelet winner and UB.com front man Phil Hellmuth. Talk about stiff competition for a newcomer! NBC poker host Ali Nejad, who can be seen on telecasts of “Poker After Dark” and the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, provided commentary for the “Good Morning America” sit and go. The entire piece is expected to air for five to ten minutes.
Although Duke conceded that Stephanopoulos might not have played poker seriously during his lifetime, “He played a lot before and watches it on television. Poker and politics go hand in hand. The game has a long presidential history for sure. It’s great when people bring our game into the mainstream world in that kind of forum.” Stephanopoulos left the Clinton administration in 1996.
Stephanopoulos’ segment is one of many “Living the Dream” features that will air next week on “Good Morning America.” Other vignettes will include Robin Roberts flying alongside retired U.S. Airways captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, Juju Chang learning baseball from the New York Yankees, and Sam Champion navigating the ocean waters with the grandson of famed explorer Jacques Cousteau. In addition, Bill Weir will jump out of airplanes and hot air balloons.
Duke traveled from Los Angeles to Atlantic City to film the “Good Morning America” segment. Then, she returned home to be with her children before making another cross-country trip to teach as part of the WSOP Academy on May 3rd in Atlantic City.
Catch “Good Morning America” on Wednesday to see Duke teach Stephanopoulos the game of poker. In the meantime, check out a video preview of the segment.