Steve Kuhn wins First "Poker Night on Wall Street"

Over the years, we've seen plenty of poker TV shows that feature famous pros grinding on the felt. So Bloomberg TV decided to take a different route with their new poker show: get six highly successful Wall Street investors together in a $50,000 buy-in, 6-max sit and go.

This seems to be a pretty successful formula, given the highly publicized launch of "Poker Night on Wall Street." Six uber-rich hedge fund managers took part in the first episode, including the following: Kynikos Associates’ Jim Chanos, Greenlight Capital’s David Einhorn, Gabelli Asset Management’s Mario Gabelli, Pine River Capital Management’s Steve Kuhn, Ariel Investments’ John Rogers and Skylar Capital Management’s Bill Perkins.

Out of this group, Einhorn and Perkins are the most experienced players. The latter has had a poker-coming-out party this year after finishing third in the 2013 WSOP $111k One Drop ($1,965,160) and fourth in the UKIPT London £48.5k Super High Roller ($470,369). Thanks to these big finishes, Perkins has $2,493,552 in live tournament winnings.

Einhorn first landed on the poker map after taking 18th place in the 2006 WSOP Main Event ($659,730). He also took third at the 2012 WSOP $1 million Big One for One Drop, which drove his career winnings up to $5,108,135.

Despite both Einhorn and Perkins being in the mix, Steve Kuhn emerged victorious on the first episode of Poker Night on Wall Street. He seemed to be the third most knowledgeable player, behind the previously discussed duo. And Kuhn's skill showed as he marched towards the top prize - $300,000 that he gets to donate to the charity of his choice. When asked if he'd consider playing poker full-time after this victory, he quipped, "I kinda like my job already."

As for the other three players, Chanos, Gabelli and Rogers, they are certainly better at their day job. However, all three players are learning fast and could eventually compete with the defending champ Kuhn, as well as Perkins and Einhorn.