Gabe Kaplan not Joining “Welcome Back, Kotter” Reunion?

On Friday, March 4th, 2011 in Entertainment by Jessica Stevens.

Gabe Kaplan then and now

A recent announcement regarding the 35th anniversary reunion of the famous TV show “Welcome Back, Kotter” included a noticeable omission from the list of actors expected to accept a 2011 TV Land award. Gabe Kaplan, the actor who played Gabe Kotter in the 70s sitcom, was not listed as one of the actors that would receive an award, leading many people to believe he will not be a part of the reunion.

It appears that Kaplan would rather continue to pursue his poker career, which he has done quite admirably in since he started in the late 1970s. Since he began playing poker professionally, Kaplan has earned more than $1.7 million in poker tournaments around the world. In fact, he made $145,000 in 2010 alone. In addition to his playing poker, Kaplan has been a renowned poker announcer on popular shows such as “Poker After Dark” and “High Stakes Poker.”

Many Welcome Back Kotter fans will be disappointed that the reunion will not include one of the television program’s stars, but the reunion should not be affected that much. TV Land as already announced that the show’s other stars Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Ron Palillo, Marcia Strassman and John Travolta will be present to receive their awards.

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