BRAVO'S DECK IS STACKED WITH CELEBRITIES AS THEY ANTE UP FOR THE EIGHTH SEASON OF BRAVO'S HIT SERIES 'CELEBRITY POKER SHOWDOWN' IN NEW ORLEANS

BRAVOTV.COM'S ONLINE POKER TOURNAMENT WINNER JOINS CELEBS INCLUDING JASON ALEXANDER, JENNIFER TILLY, CHRISTOPHER MELONI AND MACY GRAY TO COMPETE FOR A MILLION DOLLAR PRIZE DONATION TO THE HURRICANE KATRINA CHARITY OF THEIR CHOICE

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.

Filmed in front of a live audience, each episode of "Celebrity Poker Showdown" features five celebrities competing against each other for the chance to win thousands to donate to the charity of their choice. Each week, a new group of celebrities meet at the table to go head to head until only one remains. The winner from each week's game will advance to the championship sixth game. To date, "Celebrity Poker Showdown" has given away $2,450,000 to charities around the world. All celebrities will be playing for charities benefiting victims of Hurricane Katrina.

"Celebrity Poker Showdown" is hosted by comedian/actor Dave Foley joined by expert poker commentator Phil Hellmuth. With nine World Series of Poker victories and more than fifty tournament titles under his belt, Hellmuth's poker legacy is secure. His laundry list of achievements began in 1989 at the tender age of 24 with his first World Series of Poker Main Event title, the youngest person to ever accomplish the feat, a record that stills stands to this day.

"Celebrity Poker Showdown" is produced by Picture This Television in association with Bravo. Marcia Mul? and Bryan Scott are the executive producers. PartyPoker.net is the official sponsor of "Celebrity Poker Showdown."

Bravo is the cable network that plugs people into arts, entertainment and pop culture with original programming, acclaimed drama series, movies, comedy and music specials, and by showing a whole different side of celebrities. Currently available in more than 80 million homes, Bravo is known for breaking exciting new personalities, shaking up the way we look at style, media, fame and Hollywood, pulling back the curtain on the creative process and making influential and inventive original programming. Its critically acclaimed and award-winning original programming includes "Blow Out", "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List", "Inside the Actors Studio," "Celebrity Poker Showdown," as well as the 2004 Emmy winner for Outstanding Reality Program, "Queer Eye" and the Emmy-nominated hit competition series, "Project Runway."

Bravo is a program service of NBC Universal Cable Entertainment, a division of NBC Universal one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Bravo has been a NBC Cable Network since December 2002 and was the first television service dedicated to film and the performing arts when it launched in December 1980. For more information visit www.bravotv.com.