Shana Hiatt, host of The World Poker Tour on The Discovery Channel tapes a segment for the WPT during day three of the World Poker Tour's Five. Actress Shana Hiatt arrives at the EMA & E! Golden Green After Party held at the Beverly Hilton on January 15, 2007 in Beverly Hills, California. Actress Shana Hiatt arrives at the NBC/Universal Golden Globe After Party held at the Beverly Hilton on January 15, 2007 in Beverly Hills, California. Actress Shana Hiatt arrives at the 16th annual Environmental Media Awards held at Ebell Club of Los Angeles on November 18, 2006 in Los Angeles.
Before Shana Hiatt became one of the very first poker babes in the world, she was already well known for her beauty and likeable personality.
In 1995, Shana was voted Miss Hawaiian Tropic USA and posed nude inside the pages of Playboy and on it’s cover that year.
As the sexy presenter of The World Poker Tour (her first experience with poker), Shana Hiatt quickly became known as ‘The Goddess of Poker‘. She used to be married to the brother of Vince Van Patten, James Van Patten, the co-host of the WPT TV show. Unfortunately the marriage didn’t last and they got divorced.
Shana fell in love again in 2005, the year she got married to movie producer Todd Garner. In the same year (2005) Shana Hiatt left the WPT TV show and sued the producers of the show. She needed to get a restraining order to prevent the WPT organization from forbidding her to work on rival poker shows like Poker After Dark. The WPT organization countered back by saying she signed a non-competition clause as part of her contract. Shana claimed that she had never signed the contract.
After parting with the WPT organization she signed with NBC and became the hostess of Poker After Dark and the National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Eventually she was replaced in 2008 by Marianela Pereyra when she left the show due to pregnancy.
Even though she didn’t play much poker back in her Miss Hawaii days, she definitely does now. After hosting many poker shows and interviewing the best players in the world, she couldn’t resist trying it out for herself. Shana Hiatt has become a fanatical online poker player and makes rare appearances at live poker venues.
If you think about the many hours of poker shows Shana Hiatt has hosted (and been broadcasted around the world) and the fact that she can be seen as the first poker babe in the world absolutely makes her worth mentioning in our collection of the hottest babes in poker.
Here’s a funny montage of some of Shana’s poker hosting work.
Enjoy:
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Stay totally up to date with the latest tweets from Shana Hiatt right here:
If you’ve ever had a glance at World Poker Tour, you may have noticed that the girl to the right is in fact the hostess of the whole game. Shana Hiatt (often misspelled Hyatt) is not a poker professional and does in fact stay away from the game, but has had deep roots in the scene since Party Poker picked her up as a spokeswoman.
Shana Hiatt was born and raised in 1975 and grew up around New Jersey, near Philadelphia. She spent her childhood travelling around as an “Army brat” with her parents and a younger brother. This pattern became more and more apparent later on as Shana got used to all the trips even before turning into a teenager.
Television has always played a key role in Shana’s life. She was stuck and glued to the newscasts and analyzed broadcasters thoroughly and even started to immitate. Her first and foremost dream was to become a news reporter.
In high school, Shana developed her early taste for athletic sports and seemed to be one of those kids who hate to sit down in front of a poker table. She practiced lacrosse, field hockey and lured boys with her beauty as a cheerleader.
Full Tilt Poker Bonus CodeAfter graduation, Shana enrolled in New Jersey’s Burlington County College in order to study broadcast journalism. Her educational course did not last very long as she was spotted by Ray Manzella, a famous model agent who has made careers for Jenny McCarthy, Pamela Anderson and more. Only 18 years old, talented, ambitious and beautiful was obviously what took her to her current standing point.
A few years later, she met the man of her dreams and got married. This is how her successful TV career started. Her husband, James Van Patten, encouraged her to aim for a newscast career and her beauty surely helped her off. Some of you may recognize Van Patten from World Poker Tour, since James’s brother Vince Van Patten is co-commentator with Mike Sexton. And this is how her acquaintance with World Poker Tour started.
Today, Shana works with numerous projects besides her job as a WPT hostess. She is often seen in papers and on other TV occasions, but spends most of her time with yoga activities, her husband and of course her dog.
Shana Hiatt Height
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