Gabe Kaplan

He is best known for his role as Gabriel "Gabe" Kotter in the 1970s sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter, but he has become more visible in recent years in relation to the popularity of poker, especially the "No-Limit Texas Hold-'Em" type, particularly as co-host and joint commentator, with A. Benza, on High Stakes Poker on GSN.


Acting career
As a boy, Kaplan had aspirations of being a Major League Baseball player.He began working as a bellman at a hotel in Lakewood, New Jersey. Touring comedians would sometimes perform at the hotel, and Kaplan began to work towards his own career as a stand-up comedian.
Kaplan's comedy was successful, and he toured the country with his act based on his childhood experiences in Brooklyn.He appeared five times on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson from May 1973 to December 1974. During this period he also recorded the comedy album Holes and Mello-Rolls, which included long routines about his high-school days, among other topics; the sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter, whose central characters he helped Eric Cohen and Alan Sacks create and whose core format he helped them to develop, was in part based on his comedy act.He made his first appearance at the World Series of Poker in 1978. In July 2004, he finished third in a World Poker Tour no-limit Texas hold 'em event, earning more than $250,000.He also finished second in the $5000 2005 World Series of Poker Limit Hold 'Em event, winning $222,515.
In 2007, Kaplan won on NBC's Poker After Dark in the episode "Queens and Kings" after defeating Kristy Gazes heads-up and outlasting Howard Lederer, Ali Nejad, Vanessa Rousso and Annie Duke.
In the 2007 World Series of Poker Kaplan finished in 9th place in the $50,000 World Championship H.O.R.S.E event winning $131,424; Freddy Deeb eventually won the event after defeating Bruno Fitoussi in heads-up play.
As of 2008, Kaplan's total live tournament winnings exceeded $1,300,000.
Kaplan won again on "Poker After Dark" during "Cowboys" week that first aired in February 2008 against Chris Ferguson, Andy Bloch, Chau Giang, Hoyt Corkins and Doyle Brunson.
Current activities
Kaplan had resumed performing stand-up comedy and was also working on adaptations of Welcome Back, Kotter. He still played poker frequently and became a commentator for poker events and televised poker shows, most recently the National Heads-Up Poker Championship in 2005 and 2006 on NBC, High Stakes Poker on GSN, and the Intercontinental Poker Championship.
In 2007 he appeared in Zak Penn's improvisational comedy The Grand as Seth Schwartzman, father of brother and sister poker players.
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