Poker Aces In The Amazing Race

Annie Duke in 'The Apprentice' and Jean-Robert Bellande in 'Survivors'; who's next? Poker players-turned-television reality stars Jean-Robert Bellande ('The Survivors') and Annie Duke ('The Apprentice') may soon be joined in the celeb stratosphere by two women poker players, according to a report in Bluff Magazine this week. Apparently sources close to CBS have confirmed that the upcoming season of 'The Amazing Race' - a famous travel reality series that involves teams racing around the world - will include two professional female poker players playing as a team, although the identities are not disclosed. However, a poster at a well known fan message board thinks that one of the duo is Maria Ho, a supposition based on photos allegedly taken as filming on the next race in the series started recently. Bluff feels the other is likely to be Tiffany Michelle, basing its guess on the fact that Michelle did not enter this year's World Series of Poker main event and explained this on her blog by writing: “It'd have to be something pretty big to deter me from the WSOP Championship Event this year and trust me, it is! I can't disclose much right now but I'll be leaving to film a project for a month and it conflicts with the Main Event. This project and my part are very huge and it's an opportunity that is just too good to pass up. At the end of the day, acting and performing have always been my passion, in fact it's how I fell into poker to begin with and I never want to lose sight of that part of my life and career.” Bluff lends credibility to its prediction by revealing that pre-production filming for The Amazing Race began July 12 in Los Angeles with the actual race beginning July 15. And the normally active Michelle has not sent out a tweet since July 13, when she let the world know she was filming a project. “Couple days into filming & I'm having a blast, lovin' the cast & crew but remembering how long filming days can be. Love being back on set!,” she wrote.