Poker Stars Million Dollar Challenge Returns Sunday on FoxNew Episode Begins Right After NFL on FOX |
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The premiere of the PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge was the most watched poker television show in U.S. history, with more than four million viewers tuning in, easily beating out the World Series of Poker final table on ESPN, and after a short hiatus, the show will continue its first season with a new episode this Sunday, right after FOX’s NFL coverage.
Two contestants will fight for a shot at the $1 million grand prize this week. First up is Oluwasegun “Big Mike” Odumuyiwa, a 35-year-old music manager from Michigan. The former athlete was signed as a free agent by the Dallas Cowboys, but was injured and never played in an NFL game. He also goes by the nickname “The Nigerian Nightmare.” Odumuyiwa is hoping to take care of his late brother’s family with the potential prize money.
Brian Barboza, from Raynham, Massachusetts, is a 31-year-old wine and liquor salesman. He’s been playing for six years and would like to win enough money to be able to compete in the 2010 WSOP main event.
Barboza and Odumuyiwa are looking to do better than the first two contestants featured on the Million Dollar Challenge. A poker-playing priest won $100,000, and a U.S. Army National Guard sergeant took home $25,000. Both episodes can be found on Hulu.com.
Here’s how the show works: Contestant compete in the first round of heads-up play and face a celebrity, such as Super Bowl champion Jerome Bettis, mixed-martial-arts champion Tito Ortiz, or Playboy Playmate of the Year Jayde Nicole. The top prize will be a trip to the Bahamas.
Should the contestant beat the celebrity, he or she will continue to the second round of heads-up play and face a member of Team PokerStars Pro. Among those on the team are Vanessa Rousso, Barry Greenstein, and Bertrand Grospellier. The prize for winning this round is $25,000, or the opportunity to play Daniel Negreanu heads up for $100,000. If the contestant wins the match against Negreanu, he will keep the money and also play in a sit-and-go against other $100,000 winners for a chance to play Negreanu one more time, but this time for $1 million. Until the million-dollar heads up match, Negreanu will serve as the contestants’ personal poker coach.
Contestants can win their way onto the show by finishing in the top 10 in one of the four daily freeroll tournaments on PokerStars (8 p.m., 9 p.m., 10 p.m., 11 p.m. ET). The qualifiers must then submit a 60-second video about themselves and include why they deserve to star in the new show. Officials at PokerStars will review the tapes, and select the winners.
Freerolls onto the show will run until Nov. 25, so there is still time left to qualify. If you don’t have an account, start one today with Card Player’s exclusive PokerStars deposit bonus.
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