"Amazing Race" Poker Players: Why We Quit

The Poker Girls played their last hand in Week 7 of the hit CBS reality show, "Amazing Race."

The professional poker players it appeared everyone loved to hate decided to give up when they failed to complete two physical challenges in the Netherlands.

Maria Ho, 26, of Arcadia, Calif., and Tiffany Michelle, 25, or Los Angeles, have been best friends for three years, and were the last women standing in the World Series of Poker Championship Events in 2007 and 2008. From Las Vegas to Monte Carlo, the two have competed against the toughest fields in the world and hold their own playing for high stakes in the male-dominated sport.

But they found the "Amazing Race" took too much of a toll, and dropped out when they couldn't handle the Detour portion.

On "The Early Show Saturday Edition," they explained to co-anchor Chris Wragge what went into their decision to "race" no more, and denied ALL the other teams hated them.

"Both sides of The Detour ended up having a very physical element to it," Ho explained, "and, given the weather conditions ... also just the physicality ... we just couldn't overcome it. ... It was just really frustrating because we felt like usually there's something less physically challenging on one side of the detour."

"We made it so much further than we thought we would," Michelle pointed out. "We were willing to accept our fate at any time that it came, just because we made it so far. We pushed through so many challenges ... so, we can't complain."

Asked by Wragge why other losing teams who'd been on "The Early Show Saturday Edition" in recent weeks seemed to dislike them most, Michelle said, "We actually didn't get to spend a lot of team with the teams that you've already talked to. The ones we really bonded with and are friends for live with are the last six teams (the ones who lasted longer than the others)."

"Let's be honest," she added, "the two girls are easy targets. Everyone kind of likes to be caddy with the girls. We're used to that in poker, sop, whatever."

Ho said she and Michelle plan to return to pro poker as soon as possible. "That actually sounds relaxing" after what we went through!" she remarked.

"Amazing Race" was "physically, mentally, emotionally one of the hardest thing we've ever done," Michelle noted, "life-changing. Perspective-changing." But, "We've grown leaps and bounds."