From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Gabriel W. "Gabe" Kaplan (born March 31, 1945) is an American comedian, actor, poker commentator, and professional poker player. He was born in Brooklyn, New York. He is best known for his role as Gabriel "Gabe" Kotter in the 1970s sitcom, Welcome Back, Kotter, but he has become more visible in recent years in relation to the popularity of poker, especially the "No-Limit Texas Hold-'Em" type, particularly as co-host and joint commentator, with A.J. Benza, on previous seasons of High Stakes Poker on GSN. Gabe was replaced by fellow comedian and celebrity poker player Norm Macdonald for the show's seventh season. Description above from the Wikipedia article Gabe Kaplan, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.