Face the Ace Poker Show Premieres Saturday on NBCContestants Can Win $1 Million by Beating Three Pros |
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Saturday evening marks a significant milestone in the poker industry, as the game goes prime time on a national network. NBC will launch its new television show this week, Face the Ace, where contestants can win up to $1 million by defeating three heralded pros.
“It’s an exciting new poker-themed game show premiering on Saturday, Aug. 1 [at 9 p.m.],” said Amber James, with NBC Entertainment. “It’s the first of its kind to air in prime time on a broadcast network.”
Each contestant on the show will have the opportunity to face up to three Full Tilt pros for a chance to win $1 million. The player will select from four smoke-glassed doors whom he plays, and the pro will walk out to play him heads up. If the contestant wins, he can walk away with $40,000 or play another to-be-determined pro for $200,000. However, if he loses, he gets nothing.
If the contestant decides to face a second pro and wins again, he once again has the opportunity to take the money and run, or he can play a third and final opponent for $1 million — or nothing.
“There’s no safety net here like there is in Millionaire. If you don’t win your match, you lose whatever it is that you had won,” said Ali Nejad, best known for his announcer roles on NBC’s Poker After Dark and the National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Nejad will serve as Face the Ace’s tournament director and commentator. “It’s tough for them to hide their disappointment in that situation. The pressure is really on. This is not a cake walk.”
The show — which was announced last April — will be hosted by Steve Schirripa, formerly of The Sopranos fame, who has been working more recently as an actor on ABC Family’s The Secret Life of the American Teenager.
“I don’t think you have to be a gambler to really enjoy this, because it’s part game show, part gambling, part entertainment. You’ve got a little bit of everything here. It’s even for the guy who’s not a big gambler,” said Schirripa. “Some of the poker shows, as great as they are, you really have to know what’s happening.”
While the first two episodes will debut on NBC at 9 p.m. on Aug. 1 and Aug. 8, the third episode isn’t scheduled to run until Saturday, Sept. 12 at 2 p.m. on NBC. Schirippa acknowledged that the initial broadcasts were to “test the waters” and hinted that the schedule of future broadcasts would be determined by how well the initial episodes were received by the general public. Both Schirippa and Nejad believe that this show can be popular with a broad audience, not just those obsessed with the game itself.
“This is probably one of the few shows where you’re sitting on your couch in your underwear and a week later, you can be playing against him. In nothing else can you do that,” said Schirripa. “It’s like batting against C.C. Sabathia.”
Nejad believes it’ll be hard for viewers not to emotionally connect with the contestants.
“It’s very palpable, the amount of pressure these guys are feeling,” said Nejad, revealing that there were several surprising storylines throughout the episodes that were shot. “[Viewers will] maybe even shed a tear or two in a couple of spots.”
Contestants qualified for the show online at Full Tilt Poker and come from a variety of backgrounds, from students to blue-collared workers to even people who couldn’t secure a full-time job in these tough times.
They will face some of the greatest players on the planet, including Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, Chris Ferguson, Mike Matusow, Gus Hansen, Howard Lederer, Allen Cunningham, Andy Bloch, Jennifer Harman, Erick Lindren, John Juanda, Huck Seed, Erik Seidel, Phil Gordon, and Gavin Smith.
For each heads-up match a pro wins, $10,000 will be donated to the charity of his or her choice.
“Don’t make the mistake of thinking that pros aren’t incentivized to win,” sand Nejad. “Not only are these guys some of the most competitive people that you’re ever going to bear witness to on national prime time TV — and that’s in their head — but there is a lot of real money at stake and it’s going to be their name on the ‘W’ or the ‘L’ that gave up all those ‘000’s. There’s definitely a great two-way dynamic there.”
Face the Ace debuts this Saturday at 9 p.m. on NBC.
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