Gabriel Weston Kaplan (born March 31, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, and professional poker player.
Gabe honed his standup routine in 1964 in places such as the Cafe Tel Aviv at 250 West 72nd Street, New York City.
During that time, he also recorded the comedy album Holes and Mellow Rolls, which included long routines about his high school days and other topics.
The phrase also became the title of a board game for the series, which came with a small, green tube to be inserted in a nostril by an opposing player upon the conditions required to recite the catchphrase.
Kaplan, who was 31 at the time, passed Conrad, then 40, with a strong sprint to the finish line, giving ABC television network the win with 175 points.
After Welcome Back, Kotter, Kaplan continued with his stand-up act and was in several movies, including a starring role in Fast Break in 1979.
[7][8] In July 2004, Kaplan finished third in a World Poker Tour no-limit Texas hold 'em event, earning more than $250,000.
In 2007, Kaplan won on NBC's Poker After Dark in the episode "Queens and Kings" after defeating Kristy Gazes heads-up and outlasting Howard Lederer, Ali Nejad, Vanessa Rousso and Annie Duke in a $20,000 buy-in, six-person No-Limit Texas Hold-Em winner-take-all Sit-and-Go.
[14] Kaplan won again on Poker After Dark during "Cowboys" week that first aired in February 2008 against Chris Ferguson, Andy Bloch, Chau Giang, Hoyt Corkins and Doyle Brunson.
[15] Kaplan's Poker After Dark win in the first week of the 2010 season (the "Commentators III" episode) was the greatest comeback in the show's history.
In 2007, he appeared in Zak Penn's improvisational comedy The Grand as Seth Schwartzman, father of brother-and-sister poker players.