Layla Kayleigh Outtakes from WPT Season VI (Might Offend the Easily Offended)

Remember Shana Hiatt's goofy outtakes from when she was on the World Poker Tour? Sticking her tongue out, crossing her eyes or doing the do-see-do after she flubbed a line.

So darn cute. So hot.

Well, with new hostess Layla Kayleigh making her WPT television debut on GSN in just two weeks (March 24 @ 9pm), a couple of videos have been posted on YouTube showing a selection of bloopers from the British hottie's Season VI tapings.

The one below is our favorite because it has Layla Kayleigh joking around about having a Bindi dot on her forehead and talking with an Indian accent (about 46 seconds in).

Kind of reminds us when another British hottie Danielle Lloyd mimicked Bollywood-er Shilpa Shetty on Celebrity Big Brother. People just loved that stuff.

Click here for another video of Layla outtakes plus Shana Hiatt's bloopers reel.

Related posts:

Layla Kayleigh and JC Tran breasts spectacular at the WPT Invitational
Layla Kayleigh video interview with Denise Pernula
Layla Kayleigh is a video blogger
Layla Kayleigh picked as WPT hostess

NBC Heads-Up News: Leeann Tweeden Replaces Shana Hiatt Who is Pregnant

NBC confirmed in a press release today that model/TV personality Leeann Tweeden (at right) will be the new sideline reporter for this year's National Heads-Up Poker Championship, scheduled for February 28 - March 2 at Caesars Palace. WCP fave Shana Hiatt, who is pregnant, has handled the reporting duties the past three years last year.

NBC Heads-Up will be the second televised poker tournament Tweeden has hosted, with her first being the Poker Dome Challenge.

Heading to the tables for the 4th annual National Heads-Up Poker Championship are defending champions Paul Wasicka (2007), Ted Forrest (2006) and Phil Hellmuth (2005). Others include Chad Brown, Johnny Chan, Jamie Gold, Joe Hachem, Gus Hansen, Phil Laak, Howard Lederer, Daniel Negreanu, Greg Raymer, Gavin Smith and 2007 WSOP Champion Jerry Yang, among many others.

Celebrities include Jason Alexander, Don "F-ing" Cheadle, Orel Hershiser, Jennifer Tilly and Shannon Elizabeth.

For a complete list of players, click here.

The tournament will be aired on NBC over seven consecutive Sundays in April and May, beginning on April 13. Brackets will be set during the tournament’s draw party held at PURE Nightclub Thursday, Feb. 28th.

A Shana Hiatt fixing below . . .

Shana Hiatt is Still Sexy Cute
Shana Hiat in Stuff
WPT Screws Shana Hiatt From Going to NBC's Heads-Up Poker Championship
Why Hiatt Left WPT and Other Things Steve Lipscomb Doesn't Want You to Know

Jerry Yang, God to Play 2008 NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship

NBC has announced its initial line-up for the (no longer?) Shana Hiatt-hosted 2008 National Heads-Up Poker Championship, and while most of the field is the same old same old (Doyle, Ivey, Chan, Jesus, Greenstein, Hellmuth, Shannon Elizabeth), a few new players on the scene are set to compete including Mirage Poker Showdown winner Jonathan Little, high stakes cash player Brian Townsend and God-on-his-side 2007 WSOP Main Event Champion Jerry Yang (seen at right), who besides his Chris McCandless-esque journey into the wilds of that cold ice mass north of America, we haven't seen much of since July.

Antonio Esfandiari, who hasn't done much on the poker circuit since Bush's first term, is also among the players set to play, for some reason. Or maybe he's just going to do table side magic or something.

The nationally televised single elimination tournament, which was won last year by Paul Wasicka, is set to take place February 29 - March 2 at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas just as the LA Poker Classic wraps at the Commerce. The show will air on NBC in April and May.

For more on the NBC Heads-Up Championship go to the official site here.

For what 2006 WSOP Main Event champ Jamie Gold had to say about Wicked Chops Poker at last year's NBC Heads-Up championship go here.

For why you should go read a book, go here.

Shana Hiatt is Still Sexy Cute

A couple of us entities stopped by a taping of "Poker After Dark" on Tuesday at the South Point Casino and can confirm that Shana Hiatt is still adorably sexy and dangerously cute, which we think is a hard combo to pull off but people always tell us we make it look easy. As does Shana, both in person and in photos like this.

In related news, professional thong wearer Karina Jelinek, who of course is Argentinian, just made us forget about Shana Hiatt for a second.

Sabina Gadecki Gets Friel'd, Not Coming Back for Season VI of the World Poker Tour

All right. We speculated wrongly.

In a post last week, we stated that someone was going to get whacked from Season VI of the World Poker Tour. It caused quite a stir around the Fontana Poker Room, with most of the players and media types we spoke with thinking Mike Sexton would be the one to go, as he simply doesn't need the WPT. He's set financially. Or maybe he wants to play more poker and high stakes golf matches. Who knows. 

We, on the other hand, assumed it was Vince Van Patten who wouldn't be coming back, sex appeal and really good hair be damned!

But over the course of the week we have heard from multiple, well-placed sources that it is actually the show's shamefully cute hostess, Sabina Gadecki, who after one season is departing just like her predecessor Courtney Friel did after hosting Season IV of the tour (Friel is now roving it as a part-time reporter for the Fox News Channel).

Gadecki's departure comes as a surprise to many who thought the aspiring actress/model and former Miss Polonii Świata and Miss Polonia World 2002 might just be able to fill the shoes (leopard print dresses, bikinis, etc.) of everyone's favorite poker hostess, Shana Hiatt (seen at left from her spectacularly splendid Stuff Magazine spread).

Shana charmed us the first three seasons of the WPT, abruptly left due to some behind-closed-doors conflicts, then sued the WPT after they tried to Peacock-block her. Now she hosts NBC's poker line-up, including its late night ratings winner "Poker After Dark."

So Darn Cute

If you missed Stuff spread starlet Shana Hiatt on the "Today Show" this morning, which we did because we're not stay-at-home moms, old fogies or unemployed do-nothings, you can view the entire interview on the NBC site here. The "Poker After Dark" host is such a cutie in the interview, like watching a video of a precious little kitty cat all nestled up next to a sweet puppy dog, if that was also somehow sexy, which it is, but just not as sexy as watching Shana.

Shana Hiatt In Stuff Magazine Spread

As we predicted, Shana Hiatt, the impossibly cute, ridiculously sexy host of NBC's "Poker After Dark" and the 2007 National Heads-Up Poker Championship, has stripped down to her next-to-nothings for the March 2007 issue of Stuff Magazine. The proud owner of a WCP girlie tank looks insanely hot in the photos, which has her donning black sheer and silk "underthings," for the lack of a less sexier word for panties.

You can view all of Shana's new Stuff photos here. This one is our fave. Neh, this one is. Wait, we like that one above.

Not enough Shana Hiatt for you?

You can catch her tomorrow on the "Today Show," which if you're reading this now it's likely tomorrow already so it's today. For those into dates and times, she'll be on the show Thursday, February 15, some time between 9:30 - 10:00 a.m. ET.

Update: Hiatt is not set to appear in Maxim, as was speculated. It would have been her first spread in the popular men's magazine, although she was named one of Maxim's Hot 100 in 2005. She also appeared in Stuff in 2003 (check out that spread here), was a Playboy cover girl in 1995 and did a 5-page spread in FHM Magazine in 2004.

The Toke: Poker Movies are Original, Long Live the Gutshot, Playboy Poker Not for You, WPT Dishes New Game + Staying Up for Shana

:: Poker movies are so original. Pierce Brosnan (loved ya in the Matador) will team with casino owner Phil Maloof to star in a film adaptation of the novel "The Big Biazarro," which is about a veteran poker player who mentors a stubborn yet talented protege, which sounds just like the upcoming poker movie Deal, which stars Burt Reynolds as a veteran poker player who mentors a stubborn yet talented protege who he ends up meeting at a WPT final table, which sounds a lot like Lucky You, a film about a veteran poker player and his stubborn yet talented son who he ends up meeting at the final table of the WSOP. And they all sound like The Color of Money. So if you're wondering why your screenplay about a poker player who ___ (fill in with totally unique poker oriented film plot) hasn't piqued the interest of Hollywood producers, it's because it wasnt original like those above. - Starpulse.com

:: Long live the Gutshot! Gutshot owner Derek Kelly, who was convicted recently for violating the UK's 1968 Gaming Act, has announced he will appeal the verdict against him and that the Gutshot will remain open. - PokerNews.com

:: Playboy launches online gambling site for everyone but kids and Americans. Playboy, whose Playmate of the Month is Jayde Nicole (seen in photo with clothes on, unlike here - NSFW), has just launched a new online poker and casino gaming site that offers players the chance to party with Hef as well as a few bunny pics here and there (pretty weak actually) but doesn't permit people under 18 to play, of course, or any American players, because we're children. Playboygaming.com/

:: WPT dishes new TV poker game that only works when it's sunny outside. The World Poker Tour Interactive TV Edition is now available to anyone with Dish Network's DishGAMES subscription service. The game allows players, when there's not a single cloud in the sky and nothing else is good on tv, the chance to challenge virtual poker pros like David Williams, Antonio Esfandiari, Michael Mizrachi, and Evelyn Ng. - CardPlayer.com

:: Insomniacs staying up for "Poker After Dark." "Poker After Dark," NBC’s late night poker show hosted by WCP fave Shana Hiatt, reportedly has out-rated Craig Ferguson in the 18 - 34 demo and was only a tenth of a point behind ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel show last week even though "Poker After Dark" airs two hours later than Kimmel and 90 minutes later than Ferguson. If anyone out there actually watches Craig Ferguson, please contact us for a study we're doing on people who watch shows we think nobody watches. The good news is that "Poker After Dark"'s rating success should mean that a Maxim or Stuff spread for Hiatt is in the near future, and if it's not, please hire us. - BodogBeat.com

Shana Hiatt and Sabina Gadecki Must Have the Same Stylist

We're no fashionistas here at Wicked Chops Poker, seriously we don't have a clue about the "world of fashion" and its peculiar manner of describing clothing, but one of us did notice that the leopard print dress seems to be the le style du jour for poker TV show hostesses these days (and apparently young British girls as well, but that's another story). First, over at the "Poker After Dark" website you have a series of photos with Shana Hiatt donning an alluringly classic, leopard print, knee-length dress featuring a sweetheart neckline with a slight A-line shape and what looks like empire seaming, and then over at Sabina Gadecki's MySpace page we noticed the new WPT hostess wearing a stunningly sexy, leopard print, tea-length dress with a very fitted shape that accentuates a sweetheart neckline with seductive lace. We mean, yeh, both broads are in leopard dresses and look smoking hot, man. So who do we think looks hotter in leopard? Well, what's the meaning of life would be an easier question to answer than that but if we had to choose we'd pick the girl who hosts a poker show and whose name starts with an "S." Yes, a cop out but screw you for asking such tough questions. After the jump, two other leopard dress photos of Sabina as well as the above photo of Sabina, but larger. And better. Because it's larger. Also be sure to check out Sabina Gadecki's new official website, www.sabinagadeckionline.com, which is loaded with photos, a blog, downloads and video clips of her doing the WPT thing.

Shana Hiatt's Return to TV Just Days Away

Shana Hiatt, who just a few months ago the World Poker Tour tried to Peacock-block™ from returning to television, will debut her new NBC show, "Poker After Dark", starring Shana Hiatt, in just 13 days (if you're counting), which in calendar terms is January 2, 2007.

The hour-long show, starring Shana Hiatt, who by the way certainly should be considered a viable candidate for the OWCPG of 2007, along with the likes of our favorite lip-stickin' hottie/druggie, Miss USA Tara Conner, will air at 2:05 a.m. ET/PT nightly, Monday – Saturday, and will star Shana Hiatt. Set in various casinos in Las Vegas, and starring Shana Hiatt, "Poker After Dark" will feature Shana Hiatt as the host and pretty much every named pro battling it out weekly for a winner-takes-all $120,000 pot and post-tournament interview with Shana Hiatt.

While the details of the show and who's playing has been reported over the past few months, an official press release from NBC was dropped today that confirmed details of the show and included a quote from Marc Graboff, President, NBC Universal Television, West Coast.

Loosely (very) paraphrasing what Graboff said about "Poker After Dark":

"Hey all you Red Bull-soused online poker junkies up past 2am on a Monday, turn your frickin tube on because Shana's back on TV and this time it's network and that means new spreads in Maxim, Stuff and FHM are sure to come so if you want to thank us, then watch Poker After Dark, starring Shana Hiatt. Thanks."

After the jump, his actual quote and the rest of the press release made pretty with photos of Shana from the "Poker After Dark" website.

Lawsuit Reveals Why Hiatt Left WPT and Other Things Steve Lipscomb Doesn't Want You to Know

When we got the inside word three weeks ago that Steve Lipscomb was Peacock-blocking Shana Hiatt from taking a gig with NBC, we were unable to get a comment from Hiatt herself, let alone from anyone at WPT or NBC.

But with the lawsuit she dropped yesterday, Hiatt is no longer silent, and she's ready to take the WPT to task.

Indeed, Hiatt makes several damning allegations in her complaint including that she left the World Poker Tour because of harassment by WPT representatives and that Lipscomb himself called NBC to say they can't have Hiatt and has been telling people he "owns Hiatt in poker."

First, on reasons for her leaving, which up until now she merely stated were personal, Hiatt claims that the World Poker Tour became a hostile work environment after she formally complained to them that a brother of a WPT exec was making defamatory statements about her. In the complaint she alleges:

"During the production of World Poker Tour in early 2005, [Hiatt] became aware that defamatory statements were being made about her and her husband by the brother of a senior executive of WPT. Plaintiff's counsel drafted and sent on February 10, 2005 a letter demanding that the brother of the WPT Executive cease and desist from communicating further false and defamatory statements. After this letter was delivered, Plaintiff began experiencing harassment and a deliberate attempt by WPT representatives to make her extremely uncomfortable during production of World Poker Tour episodes. The conduct of WPT and its representatives created a hostile work environment."

So in the Spring of 2005, Hiatt couldn't take this "hostile work environment" any longer and notified Lipscomb that she wanted out (word we have is this took place at the Bay 101 with Hiatt walking out of the meeting crying).

Shana Hiatt Fights Back, Sues The World Poker Tour

In a Wicked Chops Poker exclusive three weeks ago, we broke the news that former World Poker Tour hostess Shana Hiatt was being Peacock-blocked™ by the WPT from accepting a reporting job with NBC’s National Heads-Up Poker Championship. As our source revealed to us at the time, Hiatt was NBC's top choice to replace Kathryn Tappen, and when NBC sought permission from the WPT, Steve Lipscomb and gang refused to release Hiatt from her contract.

Today, Hiatt and her attorney Paul Sorrell fought back, filing a lawsuit in the LA County Superior Court in Santa Monica against WPT Enterprises and Steve Lipscomb for "Intentional Interference with Prospective Economic Advantage." Hiatt is seeking monetary damages for the WPT's conduct as well as declaratory and injunctive relief that will prohibit the WPT from "engaging in any conduct seeking to prevent or prohibit [Hiatt] from seeking employment with a third party other than WPT." Click here to download pdf of Hiatt's Complaint.

According to Hiatt's complaint, the WPT and Lipscomb are "[c]iting an illegal and unenforceable non-complete clause in a draft of an agreement that [Hiatt] never signed" and "have threatened [Hiatt] and her future employers with legal action in the event that [she] appears on poker-themed television program produced by someone other than WPT."

In connection with the suit, Hiatt obtained today a temporary restraining order "enjoining and restraining [WPT and its representatives] from seeking to prevent or prohibit [Shana] from seeking employment with NBC in connection with appearances in two poker-themed television shows by claiming or asserting the existence of a non-competitive or other exclusivity agreement."

Next up will be a preliminary injunction hearing on October 17, 2006 in which the WPT will have to show cause for lifting the restraining order while the lawsuit is pending.

In a statement to Wicked Chops Poker, Hiatt's attorney stated:

Wicked Chops Poker Exclusive: WPT Screws Shana Hiatt From Going to NBC's Heads-Up Poker Championship

The World Poker Tour has blocked Shana Hiatt from accepting a reporting gig with NBC’s National Heads-Up Poker Championship, refusing to release the popular ex-hostess from her contract, claims a well-placed source within the poker industry in an email sent to Wicked Chops Poker.

The 31-year-old Hiatt, who served as hostess for the World Poker Tour during its first three seasons, was reportedly NBC’s top choice to replace Head's Up post-match reporter Kathryn Tappen. Tappen departed NBC last month to assume weekend anchor duties at New England sports network, NESN.

Around that time, NBC contacted Hiatt about the job. She told NBC to first get permission from her old bosses, as the WPT apparently still has her under contract and maintains some control over her rights. And even though Hiatt has not worked for the popular Travel Channel show since the WPT World Championship III in 2005, and the WPT is on to its second hostess since Hiatt left, the WPT still said "no."

Formerly married to James Van Patten, brother of WPT co-host Vince, Hiatt had a successful modeling career, including an appearance in Playboy's "The Girls of Hawaiian Tropic: Naked in Paradise" video, as well as some small movie roles, prior to joining the WPT as hostess in 2003. Hiatt eventually left the WPT for personal reasons in 2005 and had no interest in returning to the show.

Friday Night Parting Shot: Shana Hiatt

The band regarded as The Beatles of the 1980's, Cinderella, once said, "Don't know what you got, til it's gaaahhhnnnnn."  Many poker fans right now are experiencing that very emotion, so eloquently expressed by Cinderella frontman Tom Keifer, over former WPT hostess Shana Hiatt.

Not that Shana Hiatt was ever under-appreciated.  But after the failed "Courtney Friel Experiment" and the initial, what's a good word for it, "intrigue" over fresh-faced Miss Polonii Świata 2002, Sabina Gadecki, poker fans everywhere seem to be jonesing for the days when the former Hawaiian Tropics model effortlessly gave her quick mini-commercials for casino & resorts playing host to WPT events, and for her skill-full sound-bite interviews of knocked out players.  "Phil, cards just weren't going your way today, were they?"

So in appreciation of all you brought to the poker table, this Parting Shot is for you, Shana (more at the jump)...