What's a "dealer button"?  What's "all-in"?  What the heck is this weird poker game they're playing?  Well, I'll do my best to give the rookies out there a run-down while maintaining the flow of the hands for the veterans.

25 celebrities from all walks of fame have descended on the Palms casino in Vegas to play in a unique No-Limit Texas Hold-Em poker tournament for charity.  It's CELEBRITY POKER SHOWDOWN, the serious cash-money tournament that plays like Beverly Hills home games!  There will be five games of five celebs each, with the winner of each game advancing to the Final Table and a piece of the $250,000 prize pool for his/her charity.

Let's meet the five upstanding entertainers ready to put their poker prowess on the line this week:

CELEBRITY	BIO
Ben Affleck playing for A-T Children's Project	Really, if you don't know who Ben Affleck is, you've been missing out.  He's an actor, a director and an Academy Award winning co-writer of "Good Will Hunting".  Will he pick up a killer "Paycheck" this time for his charity?
Don Cheadle playing for Canyon Charter School	Aside from "Traffic" and "The Rat Pack", Cheadle plays the African-British explosives expert in one of my favorite films, the 2001 remake of "Ocean's 11".  Will it be a "blinder" performance, or will he be "in Barney"?
Willie Garson playing for the Children's Hospital of Denver	Garson's best known as the romantically-challenged Stanford Blatch on HBO's Sex and the City, but was also recently in the remake of "Freaky Friday".  Will this be a Terrific Tuesday for him?
Emily Procter playing for the Cure Autism Now Foundation	After two seasons on West Wing, Procter went to greener pastures and sunnier weather, becoming Calleigh Duquesne on CSI: Miami.  Can she investigate the others well enough to come out victorious?
David Schwimmer playing for The Rape Foundation	If you don't know who David Schwimmer is, then you're no friend of Friends, the show he's been playing Ross Geller on for the last ten years.  Will "Ross" be Boss of the table, or will this be "The One With An Early Exit By Schwimmer"?

Each celebrity will start with $10,000 worth of chips and the game will continue until one celebrity has all $50K in his/her possession, thus making him/her eligible for the Final Table later in the year.

The game is No Limit Texas Hold 'Em, often called the "Cadillac of Poker".  A dealer button will be passed around the table after each hand to show the dealer where to start handing out cards (to the right of the button).  The two players to the right of the button post blinds, forced bets to insure there's money in each hand.  Each player is dealt two cards face down, then will either call the highest bet, raise the bet or fold their cards and remove themselves from the hand.  After the best are in, three cars are dealt face-up on the table.  These three cards, called the flop, are community cards which can be used by anybody.  After another round of betting (and/or folding), a fourth card is turned up, called the turn.  More bets (and/or folds) are made, then the fifth and final community card, the river, is turned up.  After more bets/folds, the best five-card poker hand wins the pot.  The game is called no limit because, at any time, any celebrity can go all-in and bet all their chips.  But, if they LOSE the hand they go all-in with, they're eliminated from the tournament

At the announcers' position beside the Losers' Lounge are your hosts Kevin Pollack and poker expert (and WPT regular) Phil Gordon.  They'll be calling the action emanating from the main room.

All right, enough of this.  Let's SHUFFLE UP AND DEAL!

Initial blinds are $100 (SB) and $200 (BB).  The Dealer Button (D) starts on Don.

Blinds are now $200 (SB) and $400 (BB).  Blinds get higher and higher during the tournament.

So David joins Kevin in the Losers' Lounge.  Kevin was laughing when Willie went all-in, but David seems not to be overly-effected by being eliminated.  Still, The Rape Foundation DOES get $5,000 for David's participation.  David can now watch and make fun of the other players in the comfort of the Lounge.

But let's not dwell on the past.  Let's get back to the action:

Blinds are now $300 (SB) and $600 (BB).

Blinds have gone up to $400 (SB) and $800 (BB).

Emily joins David and Kevin in the Losers' Lounge.  She admits to making a few mistakes, but is a little happy that she wasn't the FIRST one out.  She knew she didn't have good cards and that she was never in position to bet.  She sits next to David to heckle the other three.  Cure Autism Now gets five "large" for her effort.

Don, the third one to be KOed by Willie, joins up with David, Emily and Kevin in the Lounge.  Emily calls Willie "Prince of Darkness."  Don had a great time and Canyon Charter School get 5Gs for the effort.  Now it's down to heads-up action between the writer/producer and the cable TV actor!

 Blinds are now up to $1,000 (SB) and $2,000 (BB).

Kevin: "OK, mano y mano...Ben..."Evil" Willie...LET'S GET IT ON!" ("Mano y mano" is Spanish for "hand and hand".  It SHOULD be "Cabeza a cabeza", or "head to head")

And, so, while Ben's A-T Children's' Project gets $5,000, Willie Garson, who knocked out all four celebs one-by-one, receives the illustrious silver chip that signifies a Final Table participant.  His final words: "I couldn't believe that I got down so low that I just threw all caution to the wind!"  Kevin informs Willie, "You not only RODE Lady Luck...but, tonight, you slapped her behind!"