The Friel Deal

BY MATTHEW ARMSTRONG

THE NEWS OF THE DEPARTURE OF SHANA HIATT as the host of the World Poker Tour deeply saddened many loyal viewers. Luckily, Prozac is on its way in the form of the energetic, driven, and, yes, beautiful new host Courtney Friel.

Previously a broadcast news journalist and entertainment television host, Friel has already taped almost an entire season, with the first episodes airing in March, and has been having the time of her life traveling the world, thriving in the fast-paced environment of live television production.

“I’ve reported on everything from crime and government to fashion and red-carpet celebrity interviews. This is definitely the coolest job I’ve had,” she told ALL IN. “I feel like I’ve joined the club. I would so much rather report on poker than Jessica Simpson’s marriage or celebrity news. The people are more real and I love hanging out with them.”

Growing up in Philadelphia, Friel knew from an early age that she wanted to be in front of, and behind, the camera. She moved to the Left Coast to attend San Diego State University, where she studied political science and broadcast journalism, as well as taking credited courses in surfing and sailing. After a few years working in L.A. as a broadcast journalist covering entertainment news, Friel realized she needed to get more experience as a hard-hitting reporter in order to jumpstart her career. Rather than waiting patiently to be assigned to more prominent news stories, or hoping to be, along with 90 percent of L.A., “discovered,” Friel left the glitz and sunshine of Los Angeles, not to mention her then-boyfriend and now-husband (sorry, fellas), for a television news job in Jackson, Tennessee.

“I grew up wanting to do broadcast news,” recalled Friel. “I moved to the middle of Tennessee and did everything from camera, editing, audio, producer, anchor, reporter, rolled the teleprompter, everything, all for about $5 an hour.”

Having sharpened her on-camera interviewing skills, she moved back to California to work as a news journalist for a television station in Palm Springs. Concurrently, she got an agent and began hosting entertainment news programs, including stints at America’s Most Wanted, E! News Live, and Trackers on the Oxygen network, and hosting the gaming show EBtv Gaming.

Then, about a year ago, she got a call to audition for the role of new host of the World Poker Tour. She admits that the two-month-long audition process was unnerving.

“At that point I didn’t know much about the poker lingo, so I was getting it all wrong and wasn’t sure what I was talking about,” she said. “But as a news reporter, if there’s a bill in the Senate you have to do a story on, you need to learn everything about that bill and be able to explain it very concisely to the audience. So with poker, I knew I could learn it.”

What caused her more anxiety than not being familiar with the game was that the long application process was drawing closer and closer to her wedding day.

“It was two weeks before my wedding and I needed them to make a decision. I didn’t want to be in L.A. with no job and no honeymoon. But then they hired me, and the first day of shooting was the day after my wedding. We cut the party short, but yeah, I was a little hung over.”

In order to get up to speed on the intricacies of the game, Friel was sent to the WPT Boot Camp, a two-day intensive crash course on poker taught by Mike Sexton, Linda Johnson, Mark Seif, and Ron Rose, among others, where she learned all about odds, terminology, and strategy and played tournaments with the other poker aficionados attending the camp. Here Friel proved she was a quick learner, or at very least, that she has good fortune.

“I won my first tournament there and I was the only one who had never played in a tournament before,” noted Friel, brimming with pride. “I think it was beginner’s luck. But I won a WPT official chip set. You’d think they would have just given me a set seeing as I am now the host, but it’s better this way because I won it.”

Could that be a sign that she has what it takes to play tournament poker for real money? While she does now play in some home games and with the crew from the Travel Channel when on the road, she is realistic about her poker abilities. “Players can read me like a book. I’m a terrible liar. I get aces and I get all excited and flushed. It’s bad—really bad,” she laughed.

Having completed Boot Camp and taped almost a full season of the WPT, Friel has become comfortable with the game, the crew, and the shooting pace, which can be at times hectic and thrilling.

“Last night, there were so many amazing suckouts,” she said the day after taping the final table of the L.A. Poker Classic. “There were plays where a guy had a two-percent chance of winning and he made his hand. And that kept happening over and over again. They all started out with nearly even stacks and they just kept passing the chips back and forth. It was over four hours before the first person busted. The crew has a betting pool ($2 per person) before each show about how long it will go before someone wins. I bet six hours; it went eight, so I lost. But at that point we were all tired and wanted it to speed up a bit. Plus, I just had to stop doing interviews because I knew the show was so long that none of my stuff was going to be used. At that point we all just wanted it to end.”

As the airing of her first show drew closer, Friel was almost giddy with anticipation.
“I’ve been shooting since May and the shows haven’t aired yet, so I’m excited to see which hands they chose to include, which ones were left out, and how it was all put together.”
So are we, Courtney. So are we.