Not just poker famous: the celebs in the PSPC field

Celebs from the world of reality TV, NHL hockey and the Breaking Bad universe have landed in the Bahamas for the PSPC

January 31, 2023

PSPC

by PokerStars Staff

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4 Minute Read

Everyone knew that poker royalty would be out in force for the PokerStars Players Championship (PSPC). But there are a few people in today’s field who are more than just poker famous. These folk have made their names in other fields before accepting an invitation from PokerStars to play in this enormous event.

David Costabile

David Costabile has an association with PokerStars going back a few years, and he was a very popular winner of the 2020 “All Hands” tournament played online during the pandemic.

If you cast your mind back to those difficult lockdown days, another celebrity friend of PokerStars, Hank Azaria, arranged a charity tournament to which he invited many of his Hollywood friends.

David Costabile: Looking for Billions

One of them was Costabile, the actor know for roles in Billions, Breaking Bad and Flight of the Conchords, among others. He managed to prevail from a final table also featuring fellow actor Casey Affleck, sportsmen Douglas Costa and Mike Tindall, and Team Pros Jennifer Shahade and Chris Moneymaker.

Everyone at the final won at least $10,000 for a charity of their choice, with Costabile earning $100,000 for the World Central Kitchen.

PokerStars gave Costabile a Platinum Pass to this event in the Bahamas, which he accepted with apparent glee. He spent the first few levels of his tournament on the feature table, and battles on in the late hours of Day 1.

Tomáš Kaberle

Tomáš Kaberle is a former defenceman for a number of NHL teams, including the Toronto Maple Leafs, Carolina Hurricanes, Montreal Canadiens and the Boston Bruins, with whom he won the Stanley Cup. He is a four-time NHL All-Star.

Of Czech origin, Kaberle won a bronze medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics — and he’s still a legend in the central European country.

He came up through the ranks of the club now known as the Kladno Knights, a hotbed of Czech hockey talent, which also produced Jaromir Jagr. (“He’s like a Messi for us,” said Jan Kores, a full-time Czech hockey obsessive, who is also the EPT Media Coordinator in his spare time.) Jagr now owns the club.

Tomáš Kaberle

Kaberle went by the nickname “kabelka”, which means handbag — but is one of the Czech Republic’s finest hockey exports.

He now runs at least one restaurant in Toronto from where, during the pandemic, he took over the role of delivery-boy. Toronto residents looked on stunned as a Stanley Cup winner showed up on their doorsteps carrying takeout.

Unfortunately Kaberle’s PSPC didn’t last too long. He was knocked out on Day 1.

Boston Rob

Robert Carlo Mariano is also in today’s field, but maybe you don’t know him by that name. He is more popularly known as “Boston Rob” and is an American TV personality, who rose to fame as a member of the Survivor cast.

The Bahamas holds pretty special memories for Mariano as he married his reality co-star Amber Brkich at the Atlantis Resort, just down the road on Paradise Island.

Robert “Boston Rob” Mariano

Obviously the PCA used to be down there too, but one hopes and assumes he’s OK over here in Baha Mar. With one level still left to play on Day 1, he still had chips.

ARDEN CHO

Arden Cho is an American actress, singer and model known for portraying Ingrid Yun in the 2022 Netflix television series Partner Track and Kira Yukimura in the 2011 MTV television series Teen Wolf.

Cho was born in Amarillo, Texas to Korean-American parents and was raised in San Antonio and Plano, Texas.

Arden Cho

With an acting resume like that, it’s even more impressive that Cho gets the chance to play poker. But she does, and has more than $150K in live tournament earnings too.

Unfortunately, Cho’s PSPC Main Event didn’t go so well, but she’s sticking around to play some more tournaments on the schedule with a hope of improving her stats even further.