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In his third attempt at the World Series of Poker main event, Jason Alexander crept ever so close to making the money. But alas, the popular Seinfeld actor was sent to the rail just before Day 3 concluded.
A couple hours before he was eliminated, he sat down with Card Player to discuss his improbable run.
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Stephen A. Murphy: So how excited are you that you’re still alive this deep into the tournament?
Jason Alexander: In between being in a coma, I’m very excited. It goes coma, hour and a half of excitement, hour and a half coma…
SM: How long have you been playing poker?
JA: Well, since I was 15. But really trying to learn it, seven or eight years.
SM: You recently signed on as a “Friend of PokerStars.” How much do you think you’ve grown as a poker player in the last few years?
JA: Here’s the thing: I do not have the mathematical skills that a true poker player has. I’ll never have them. If I had to learn them, I would leave the game. Where I’ve grown is in a certain kind of maturity of what to play, what not to play, when to jump, when not to jump…
I think a lot of beginning poker players are either too eager or too aggressive or think they’re better actors than they are. I was guilty of all three. I think I’m getting beyond that, and I think it’s exactly that that has gotten me to this point.
SM: How much do you credit your main event run to skill or luck?
JA: I would say 60-40 on the luck side. I’ve gotten some pretty amazing hands, but at the same time I’m making some pretty great reads and I’m pretty sure I’ve bluffed some guys out of the winner. The skill part comes in having a read on people and playing position better than I used to. And the luck part — there were times I am going, I don’t have chips, let me get the hell out of Dodge, and I’m catching gut shots left and right.
SM: So you said you’ve been playing poker for a long time. Tell me a little bit more about that.
JA: Well, I think every actor does it. There’s so much down time when you’re in a rehearsal for a show or on a TV set. It was usually a $1-$2 seven card stud game. So you learn the basic game.
But I had never played hold’em until the celebrity poker game started on TV on Bravo. They asked if I wanted a lesson, and I was like, “A lesson?” I had no idea that there was some stuff you might want to know before you walk into the lion’s den.
SM: You’ve got a lot of fans out there, a lot of people rooting you on. Are you amused or annoyed when you hear so many Seinfeld references at the table?
JA: I’m never annoyed. You always have to read the intention of the guy who’s saying it. And the intention most of the time is: ‘Hey man, I like what you did.’ So you can’t get annoyed with that.
What gets thin after a while is “George.” You know, there’s a reason our names are on the front of the show. Mine even said “Jason Alexander as George,” so you really can’t miss it. But I don’t mind. It’s all in good spirit. And I would much prefer to have a lively, fun, rowdy, jokey table than people just brooding.
SM: So has this been the “Summer of Jason” then?
JA: I don’t know if this has been the “Summer of Jason,” but it certainly was “The July 3rd of Jason” (Alexander’s Day 1 of the main event, where he jumped out as one of the tournament’s chip leaders). You know, this is a personal best for me. I’ve never gotten this far. And I have enough chips here to do some damage.
Jason Alexander Celebrity Poker
I’m personally very pleased, but any pro — if they watch how I’m playing hand for hand — will go, ‘You’re an idiot.’ And that’s OK. I’m having a good time.
SM: What are your thoughts with the money bubble approaching?
JA: Without like spitting in the face of people, the $20,000 isn’t going to change my life. The idea of saying: ‘Yeah, I got into the money at the World Series’ — that would be very cool. I’m not going to start getting excited about dollar figures much further down the road, and believe me, I would get excited about it because I don’t play cash games for more than a couple of thousand. If I was going to put $10,000 on the table, I could just give it to charity.
So if I’m still here when it starts getting into the six-figures, that’s pretty great.
SM: Tell me about your latest project.
JA: The one that’s kind of imminent — and in fact it’s making me crazy because I should be in rehearsals right now — but for about two years, I’ve been doing a theatrical character of a bad motivational speaker named Donny Clay.
I usually do it for corporate stuff. They hire Donny Clay and these poor guys think they’re entering a one-hour motivational seminar, and I show up and it’s music and it’s comedy, and I usually cut up the guys in the organization. It’s great fun.
So we’ve been doing that for two years and somebody asked, ‘Could you do this in a theater with just a general audience?’ And I said, you know, it’s possible because everybody knows these guys. Dr. Phil’s a big star. So we have written a version of this for just plain folks and we’ll try it out at the end of this month.
SM: So Donny Clay is the anti-Dr. Phil?
JA: Well, no. I’m not the anti-Dr. Phil. We belong to the same society, Donny and Dr. Phil. We belong to the Society of Human Motivational Understanding and Knowledge, or as you probably know it, SHMUK. Dr. Phil just happens to be the No. 1 SHMUK.
SM: Thanks for your time, Jason. Best of luck in the rest of the tournament.
Jason Alexander, best known for playing George Costanza on Seinfeld, loves playing poker. During a break from the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event, Melissa Castello asks him some outrageous rapid-fire questions. Who would Jason Alexander fight in poker? What is Jason Alexander's favorite curse word? Does he wash his hands after going to the bathroom? Melissa does not hold back!
Jason Alexander Poker Tournament
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