From left: Binh and Washington Ho and cousin Sammy from the HBO series 'House of Ho,' which focuses on the Ho family of Houston.
Aug 17, 2009 Sammy George: Nobody likes to lose money, in business money doesn't come easy, you start work at 7am and have 14 hour days. Losing money hurts, but it is easier for me to handle at the poker table, if I lose £200,000 playing poker it's a lot easier to take than if I lose it working. WPT Career Highlights Value Rank; Career Earnings: $23,245: 5,348: Cashes: 1: 17,435: Final Tables: 0: 17,925: Titles: 0: 17,457. Every match brought something different to the table and the Sammy George encounter was a real battle. To be fair to Sammy, he played some great poker, but Tom was faultless and that's why he is the best player in the world. All in all, the event was a huge success and we are already in talks to take the challenge to the States early next.
Photo: Felicia Graham/HBO MaxFairly early in the new HBO Max streaming reality series 'House of Ho,' debuting Dec. 10, Washington Ho — the fast-living scion of the family whose name is in the title of the show — slips into a striking blazer and sunglasses and enters a dimly lit room to join a poker game with stacks of chips and bundles of Benjamins.
'Let's get (messed) up,' he declares, 'and make some money.'
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The scene feels of a kind with the hit film 'Crazy Rich Asians,' a vibe further established with scene-setting shots of Houston's affluent neighborhoods and punctuated with images of the kind of cars that carry six-figure sticker prices.
The son of a Vietnamese immigrant who came to the United States 45 years ago, Washington took naturally to having cameras around. 'I love it, the lights, camera, action,' he says in an interview.
And while grandiosity is on display in 'House of Ho,' the show also finds pockets of nuance in its presentation of an immigrant success story. It tells stories of people teetering between young adulthood and the responsibility of parenthood, of complications in domestic partnerships, of small tensions between old and contemporary cultures from geographic points thousands of miles apart.
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‘House of Ho'Details: Streaming on HBO Max beginning Dec. 10
Washington's wife, Lesley, confesses to 'a little anxiety opening our lives like this.'
'With this venture, I had some concerns,' Washington says. 'But we chose to focus more on how we as a family inspire each other to be better.'
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American dreaming
Family is at the center of 'House of Ho,' starting with the story of Binh and wife Hue Ho, who left war-ravaged Vietnam and landed in Texas. Fredericksburg, to be exact. Hue worked at a Circle K and learned English from a woman at Schreiner University. Binh worked at an Exxon station .
'My dad jokes, his friends in Vietnam would ask him, ‘How did you show up and get a job at Exxon so quickly?'' Washington says. 'But he was proud of how he started. This was a land of opportunity. This show lets us showcase that American dream.'
They then moved to Houston, where he made a fortune in real estate and banking. Daughter Judy — named after the woman who taught Hue English — and son Washington were born in the early '80s. A third sibling, Reagan (the family wanted to name their sons for U.S. presidents), decided not to appear in the show.
'House of Ho' picks up the family's story before the pandemic, yet for the Ho family it's still a time of change and unease. Judy, an attorney, is reconfiguring her life shortly after a divorce. And Washington is slowly stepping away from a more fast-paced youth into a more family-focused role (his son and daughter are named Roosevelt and Lincoln) and a greater emphasis on work in the energy field.
Anxieties about connections surface early on the show. Lesley, a pharmacist, says opening their lives to the cameras required an adjustment. 'For me, my family was not aware of issues going on with our marriage, so it was difficult,' she says. 'But the crew was so welcoming and warming. It got easier over time.'
Even then, the show's cousin Sammy, who serves as a confidant to Washington, says at one point, 'Damn, should that be on TV?'
Judy's divorce also generates tension. It's a subject her parents sidestep with a quiet disapproval.
'It's not a thing Vietnamese families speak about, even among themselves,' she says. 'But I felt there was some good to bring it out in public. That this is something that could perhaps help someone else in the same situation.
'Sometimes, life takes unexpected turns.'
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Washington's wife, Lesley, confesses to 'a little anxiety opening our lives like this.'
'With this venture, I had some concerns,' Washington says. 'But we chose to focus more on how we as a family inspire each other to be better.'
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American dreaming
Family is at the center of 'House of Ho,' starting with the story of Binh and wife Hue Ho, who left war-ravaged Vietnam and landed in Texas. Fredericksburg, to be exact. Hue worked at a Circle K and learned English from a woman at Schreiner University. Binh worked at an Exxon station .
'My dad jokes, his friends in Vietnam would ask him, ‘How did you show up and get a job at Exxon so quickly?'' Washington says. 'But he was proud of how he started. This was a land of opportunity. This show lets us showcase that American dream.'
They then moved to Houston, where he made a fortune in real estate and banking. Daughter Judy — named after the woman who taught Hue English — and son Washington were born in the early '80s. A third sibling, Reagan (the family wanted to name their sons for U.S. presidents), decided not to appear in the show.
'House of Ho' picks up the family's story before the pandemic, yet for the Ho family it's still a time of change and unease. Judy, an attorney, is reconfiguring her life shortly after a divorce. And Washington is slowly stepping away from a more fast-paced youth into a more family-focused role (his son and daughter are named Roosevelt and Lincoln) and a greater emphasis on work in the energy field.
Anxieties about connections surface early on the show. Lesley, a pharmacist, says opening their lives to the cameras required an adjustment. 'For me, my family was not aware of issues going on with our marriage, so it was difficult,' she says. 'But the crew was so welcoming and warming. It got easier over time.'
Even then, the show's cousin Sammy, who serves as a confidant to Washington, says at one point, 'Damn, should that be on TV?'
Judy's divorce also generates tension. It's a subject her parents sidestep with a quiet disapproval.
'It's not a thing Vietnamese families speak about, even among themselves,' she says. 'But I felt there was some good to bring it out in public. That this is something that could perhaps help someone else in the same situation.
'Sometimes, life takes unexpected turns.'
PREVIEW:Get our experts' picks for concerts, kids' stuff, fine arts, movies and more each week in our entertainment newsletter.
Any reality series presents some sort of distorted reality. Behaviors change when people are observed, and the Ho family found themselves regularly going about their lives with multiple cameras and crew members milling about.
'In the beginning I felt very self-conscious,' Judy says. 'There's a microphone attached to you, so you're very aware of what's going on. But after a while, you forget about it and lose that filter.'
Adds Washington, 'And that's when it gets fun.'
In one clip, Washington and Lesley discuss Binh's potential retirement and how they should discuss it with her family. There are traditions to abide by, that they refer to as 'the Asian way.'
More Asian American visibility
'House of Ho' fits a growing trend in television programming as a medium, with increasingly broad outlets, that seeks to diversify the people and cultures it chooses to spotlight. Earlier this year Netflix introduced 'Never Have I Ever,' a scripted teen drama about a first-generation Indian American high school student. A Houston woman was featured in another Netflix reality show, 'Indian Matchmaking.' And Bravo's 'Family Karma' focused on a South Asian family based in Miami.
On multiple occasions, members of the Ho family point out the family's story as representative of the American dream. 'I think the idea of the American dream is a more common thread in the United States now,' Lesley says. 'You're looking at a much more diverse United States. We also have the first woman vice-president elect … I think our story is very relatable now.' Great blue slot free demo.
'I think it started for us with ‘Crazy Rich Asians,' how well that movie did in Hollywood,' Judy says. 'It was a big step toward people seeing Asians in a different light. Of course, there are so many different Asian cultures. Our family's story represents just one. But I'm proud of what we showed, this one Vietnamese tradition that gets followed through our homes.'
Washington says the show's producers considered other families in other places. 'I told them Austin's a cool city, Dallas is a cool city, but you got to come to Houston,' he says.
Judy calls the show 'a love letter to Houston.'
And the Ho family kept looking for ways to underscore the breadth of their journey. The opening shot includes the Houston skyline, a Ferrari and a dining scene, which certainly triangulate an aspect of the city's culture.
Even that tuxedo jacket Washington wears for his poker game — black and embroidered with red flowers and sequins — has a story. It was created by Patrick Pham, a Vietnamese designer based in Paris.
'With this project, I wanted to help other Vietnamese and Asian people,' Washington says. 'Maybe open some doors for them to this Hollywood industry. We try to support some local businesses that maybe don't have the national marketing budget to do something like this.'
With the show about to debut, the family says they'd do the it again.
'No regrets,' Washington says.
Adds Judy, 'We'll have some nice home videos to show the kids and grandkids one day.'
andrew.dansby@chron.com
Sammy George Crushes European Cash Game
TV poker regular Sammy 'Any Two' George has finally actually won a game in front of the cameras. Sammy arrived late yesterday at the Pokerheaven European Cash game (Which was streamed live and will be televised later this year) but it didn't stop him netting the biggest profit of the game, winning over $36,000 and the ECG title. He did so in spectacular fashion too, managing to take Simon Munz off a set of sevens and Andy Black off a straight by representing a flush when a fourth club hit the river. Sammy, who will be facing Tom Dwan later on this year in the Million Dollar Challenge, commented 'Im ecstatic to have won, but it doesn't stop here, this is just the beginning'.
Final profit/loss
Sammy George €44,075 (€+24,075)
Sion Munz €22,550 (€+12,550)
Andy Black €21,275 (€+11,275)
Jens Kyllonen €20,725 (€+10,725)
Francois Balmigere €11,275 (€-3,775)
Andrew Feldman €23,100 (€-6,900)
Eric Liu €22,575 (€-17,425)
Ricardo Sousa €6,950 (€-23,050)
Photo courtesy of James Lyndsay
Paul Zimbler World Record Attempt Confirmed
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The details for the Paul Zimber Heads Up World Record have been clarified. From 1pm on the 21st of September, the Empire Casino will host the attempt, which aims to go for 80 hours. This is to raise money for the SPARKS charity and the aim is to raise £50,000. Already due to compete are Neil Channing, Teddy Sheringham, Jesse May, Devilfish, Vicky Coren, The Hendon Mob, Annette Obrestad, Sorel Mizzi, John Tabatabai, Michael Greco, Roberto Romanello and more.
The charity are looking for donations, players to compete and items to auction for the event. If you want to make a donation you can here
Online Poker Player Charged with Benefit Fraud
A 36 year old online poker player has been charged with benefit fraud after revealing he was a successful online player. Alan Forsyth was charged with council tax fraud and disability benefit fraud. He claimed he had no savings, but his online poker winnings, which included a win of $49,000 in a single day, were used as evidence to the contrary. Forsyth of Norwich has been off work with ME and was said to suffer from severe pain and fatigue.
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It certainly does raise some interesting questions about to what extent income from online poker should figure in legal proceedings. It isn't taxed after all and whether you are a pro player or just a recreational player, in the eyes of the UK government it is deemed 'winnings'. But at the same time, online poker is becoming an increasingly popular and viable occupation, and surely poker pros must be subject to the same laws as everybody else.
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