Dacooler
05-11-2009, 05:34 AM
The company that produces NBC’s Poker After Dark will mix everyone’s favorite game with reality television when Face The Ace premieres this summer.
Poker Productions, the company responsible for the late night hit for NBC, is betting that poker fans nationwide will tune in to Face The Ace when the poker reality show debuts in August. Hosted by Steve Schirripa (”The Sopranos”), the show will center on contestants drawn from online qualifying tournaments who play heads-up no limit hold’em against poker pros.
Each contestant will start off by choosing one of four doors, behind each of which lies a pro player. If the contestant wins his match against the first pro, he’ll have to make a choice: take the money and run, or let it ride and play against another pro? Beating three pros in a row will be worth $1 million, but a loss means a trip home empty-handed.
NBC Universal TV executive VP Jerry Petry told Variety that the network had picked up an initial run of seven episodes, with the option of ordering more if the show succeeds in its Saturday afternoon time slot.
“There’s nothing like it on the air right now,” Petry said. “This will attract the core poker fans who watch it on our network but will also open it up to a new audience of people who like game shows and aren’t necessarily poker fans going in.”
This isn’t the first time that poker and reality television have been mixed together. Fox Sports Net teamed with UltimateBet to start the trend with Best Damn Poker Show, where a field of contestants competed against one another on teams headed up by poker pros Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth. The show has run for two seasons on FSN, with the most recent contest being won by Patrick Karst of Indiana, who spoke to BLUFF after his win.
In addition to a different format - the players will play against pros, not other amateurs - Face The Ace will also have the benefit of being one of the big four television networks with its national audience. Poker fans will get their first taste of the show on Saturday, August 1, at 9 p.m. ET.
Poker Productions, the company responsible for the late night hit for NBC, is betting that poker fans nationwide will tune in to Face The Ace when the poker reality show debuts in August. Hosted by Steve Schirripa (”The Sopranos”), the show will center on contestants drawn from online qualifying tournaments who play heads-up no limit hold’em against poker pros.
Each contestant will start off by choosing one of four doors, behind each of which lies a pro player. If the contestant wins his match against the first pro, he’ll have to make a choice: take the money and run, or let it ride and play against another pro? Beating three pros in a row will be worth $1 million, but a loss means a trip home empty-handed.
NBC Universal TV executive VP Jerry Petry told Variety that the network had picked up an initial run of seven episodes, with the option of ordering more if the show succeeds in its Saturday afternoon time slot.
“There’s nothing like it on the air right now,” Petry said. “This will attract the core poker fans who watch it on our network but will also open it up to a new audience of people who like game shows and aren’t necessarily poker fans going in.”
This isn’t the first time that poker and reality television have been mixed together. Fox Sports Net teamed with UltimateBet to start the trend with Best Damn Poker Show, where a field of contestants competed against one another on teams headed up by poker pros Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth. The show has run for two seasons on FSN, with the most recent contest being won by Patrick Karst of Indiana, who spoke to BLUFF after his win.
In addition to a different format - the players will play against pros, not other amateurs - Face The Ace will also have the benefit of being one of the big four television networks with its national audience. Poker fans will get their first taste of the show on Saturday, August 1, at 9 p.m. ET.