Gabriel Kaplan was born on the 31st March 1945, in Brooklyn, New York City USA, of Jewish ancestry. He is a comedian, actor, professional poker player and TV presenter. Kaplan is probably still best known for starring in the 1970s sitcom “Welcome Back, Kotter”. He is also known for taking-up up the position of commentator and co-host of GSN’s “High Stakes Poker” (2009 – 2011). Kaplan has been playing poker professionally since 1978.
How much is the net worth of Gabe Kaplan? It has been estimated by authoritative sources that the overall size of his wealth is as much as $30 million, as of the data given in mid-2016.
Gabe Kaplan Net Worth $30 Million
To begin with, as a youngster Kaplan wanted to become a baseball player. However, he did not manage to join one of the higher leagues and so then decided to pursue other interests. Kaplan began working in a hotel in New Jersey, where he came into contact with comedians, and soon he decided to dedicate his life to stand-up comedy. In this sphere, Kaplan was so successful that he made five appearances in the late night talk show “The Tonight Show” within 18 months. In the further course of his career he released his first album under the name “Holes and Mello-Rolls” (1974). His net worth was now established.
From 1975 to 1979, he was the main actor in the TV sitcom “Welcome Back, Kotter”, which was based on his own experiences when growing-up. In the following years, he starred in several films including “Fast Break” (1979) directed by Jack Smight, “Nobody’s Perfekt” (1981) directed by Peter Bonerz as well as “Tulips” (1981) by Rex Bromfield and Mark Warren. Needless to say that acting added significant sums to the outright size of Gabe Kaplan’s net worth as well as increasing his popularity.
Concerning his career as a poker player, Gabe Kaplan first participated at the World Series of Poker in 1978. His greatest success to date was recorded in July 2004, when he took the third position and won a $250,000 at an event of the Poker Tour World. Furthermore, he was second in a tournament of the World Series of Poker 2005, and received more than $200,000. In 2007, he took part in the television show “Poker After Dark”, in which he eliminated Howard Lederer and Annie Duke among others to the heads up to beat Kristy Gazes, receiving $120,000 for his victory. On the 27th June 2014 Kaplan played his last live tournament in which he was eighth overall and won his highest ever prize of $258,390. Overall, he has won $1,991,248 in official tournaments, which has certainly contributed significantly to the size of Gabe Kaplan’s net worth.
Today Kaplan works as a moderator of main poker events shown on television in USA. These include the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, tournaments of World Series of Poker, the Intercontinental Poker Championship and the cash game format High Stakes Poker; in the latter he has worked as an expert.
Finally, in the personal life of Gabe Kaplan, he has never been married. Currently, he resides in Los Angeles, California.
