Celebrity Poker Showdown

ALL NEW TOURNAMENT PREMIERES WEDNESDAY, MAY 31 AT 9:00 – 11:00 PM, ET/PT

NEW YORK -– May 1, 2006 -– Bravo's original series "Celebrity Poker Showdown" premieres its eighth season in a new city, with a new host, and a brand new crop of celebrities ready to go 'all in' for a game of high stakes Texas Hold 'Em. Nine-time World Series of Poker winner Phil Hellmuth joins host Dave Foley and provides colorful commentary and insight into the poker hands played by guest celebrities Christopher Meloni, Jason Alexander, Macy Gray, Jorge Garcia, Fred Savage, Jennifer Tilly and Michael Ian Black. They each compete for a one million dollar prize pool to be donated to Hurricane Katrina charities. New season premieres Wednesday, May 31st (9:00 – 11:00pm, ET/PT).

Bravo also throws a wild card into the deck with the addition of BravoTV.com's online poker tournament winner, Ida Siconolfi, to the table. A San Jose native and stay at home mom with two sons, Siconolfi won her seat on "Celebrity Poker Showdown" by beating out thousands of fierce competitors during BravoTV.com's popular online poker tournament. To date, the "Celebrity Poker Showdown" web page has set new records of over 80 million page views and over 120,000 registered players.

The celebrity line-up of players for the season eight tournament are:

Game 1 – Premieres Wednesday, May 31st at 9:00pm, ET/PT

Greg Behrendt, Andrea Martin, Kim Coles, Michael Ian Black and Jorge Garcia

Game 2 – Premieres Wednesday, June 7th at 9:00pm, ET/PT

Bryan Cranston, Jamie Bamber, Jason Alexander, Susie Essman and Kevin Sorbo

Game 3 – Premieres Wednesday, June 14th at 9:00pm, ET/PT

Fred Savage, Jennifer Tilly, Brett Butler, online tournament winner Ida Siconolfi and Doug E. Doug

Game 4 – Premieres Wednesday, June 21st at 9:00pm, ET/PT

Mario Cantone, Jenna Fischer, Rocco Dispirito, Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key

Game 5 – Premieres Wednesday, Jun 28th at 9:00pm, ET/PT

Christopher Meloni, Joy Behar, Andy Dick, Macy Gray and Robin Tunney

The Championship Game – Premieres Wednesday, July 5th at 9:00pm/et

Bravo will be partnering with Harrah's Entertainment to make Harrah's the new official casino of "Celebrity Poker Showdown." For the all-new season, "Celebrity Poker Showdown" will be filmed at Harrah's New Orleans. The land-based casino closed shortly before Hurricane Katrina made landfall near the city on August 29. The building sustained storm damage, and was used by first responders as a base of operations in the days following the storm. Repairs to the facility have been completed and the casino re-opened on February 17.