Poker's Dream Karaoke Lineup

The idea for a Poker Central office trip to karaoke has been tossed around since New Years and so far, my coworkers seem less than interested. They say, “Oh, that would be fun.” or “We should definitely do that!” but I know we’re never going to karaoke together. Luckily, poker players seem to love karaoke as much as I do and thanks to some investigative reporting from last month’s PokerStars Championship Bahamas, by our very own Remko Rinkema, I now know who my dream karaoke lineup includes.

“I Will Survive” – Jason and Natasha Mercier

It’s no secret that you need to start a karaoke party on a high note, with an upbeat song to get everyone in the mood. That job is reserved for Jason and Natasha Mercier and they shouldn’t disappoint with their duet of “I Will Survive”. After the newly married couple get off the mic, the party will certainly survive.

“Can’t Help Falling in Love” – Felipe Ramos

We follow on PokerStars Team Pro with another for the second song on our karaoke playlist. Brazil’s Felipe Ramos slows it down and tells everyone to grab their significant other with a samba-inspired version of Elvis’ “Can’t Help Falling in Love”. The crowd, the majority of which have started to tear up, proceed to implore Ramos to stay on stage for an encore but he thinks that would be a sin.

“Little Drummer Boy” – Nick Petrangelo

The crowd is still begging Ramos for another song and as they wipe away the tears caused from his beautiful performance, Nick Petrangelo makes his way to the stage. In a scene reminiscent of Will Ferrell’s “Por Ti Volare” from Step Brothers, Petrangelo sings “Little Drummer Boy”. The High Roller doesn’t move a muscle throughout the entire song and four minutes later, one person claps as Petrangelo returns to his seat.

“Lose Yourself” – Ryan Riess

After whatever it is that Nick Petrangelo just did, party organizers realize that they might only have one shot and one opportunity to save the rest of the night. They call in Ryan Riess to recapture the audience’s attention. The former Main Event champion goes back to his home state and throws down Eminem’s “Lose Yourself”. While it might not be your prototypical karaoke song, Riess drops bombs and the party lives on.  

“Baby Got Back” – Maria Ho

Who understands those rap guys? Maria Ho does and after Ryan Riess dropped rap bombs, Maria felt the crowd was looking to get sprung. That means that there is only one choice for the Poker Central Ambassador, Sir Mix A Lot’s “Baby Got Back”. Again, it might not be your normal karaoke pick but I like funny karaoke songs and I cannot lie.

“Always Be My Baby” – Bill Perkins

The night comes to a close with a much slower pace. Bill Perkins takes the stage and waits for order to be restored after back-to-back rap bangers. It takes a while but once he has silence, Perkins lets out a quiet “do do doop um”. That’s right, “Always Be My Baby” by Mariah Carey ends the evening. I ain’t gonna cry and I won’t beg you. If you’re determined to leave boy, I will not stand in your way but inevitably, we’ll be back again with more fake karaoke parties.