If you're like me, you forgot about Face the Ace
I completely forgot to watch/record Face the Ace this weekend. I mean, it's a new show that gets it launch at 9PM on a Saturday night, so I'm sure a lot of people didn't realize it was on or realized it but forgot to watch it. Thanks to the Internet, here's the first episode. (For the record, the ratings weren't that great.)
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-03-2009 @ 4:47PM
Elf said...
NBC should be mailing apologies to anyone who did watch it. It was painful, agonizing, mind-numbing and just plain pathetic, and this is coming from a guy who's watched practically every other televised poker show over the last seven years. If this is poker's first foray into prime-time network television, I think it's safe to say it will also be the last. This was a Pro vs. Amateur Home Run Derby, and the game was being played with wiffle balls and bats.
There were so many things that could have been done to make the show at least marginally watchable, most notable would have been to hire a real host. There are lots of celebs who know something about poker and can banter with contestants. (Brad Garrett? Jason Alexander? Gabe Kaplan?)
Another would have been to bring out four pros, then have the contestant pick one randomly. Why have the pros all hiding backstage when they can all get face time during a wheel spin or some other randomizing element?
Next was the fact that the blinds seemed to increase something like every four hands. I suppose they could have edited some hands out, but it did not seem like that happened. The game they're showing requires only slightly more skill than Go-Fish.
One thing I almost liked was the graphic showing the cards a player needed to win. Granted, most knowledgable players watching know when a player just needs a spade or a nine of the river to win, but it may be helpful to the newbies.
I suppose them that this would be a good time to remind anyone still reading that real poker is currently being shown on ESPN. The 2009 WSOP broadcasts have begun with two hours per night every Tuesday. (OK, that broadcast has its flaws as well, but it's probably as good as it's going to get. Mmmmm, beef jerky...)
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8-03-2009 @ 4:59PM
Elf said...
Oh yeah, one more thing that was just not right. Anyone who did not watch the show can consider this a spoiler alert. (Yeah, as if anyone is still gonig to watch it at this point.)
The odds of getting pocket aces on the deal are 221-1.
So would anyone like to guess what the first amateur contestant got on his very first hand?
If I'm mis-remembering that, I'm sorry. I'm pretty sure that's what happened and there's no f---ing way I'm going to watch it again to make sure.
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8-03-2009 @ 5:32PM
Malfoy Roark said...
i'm with Elf, this show was the most painful show i've ever witnessed about poker. The host just killed it
8-03-2009 @ 5:09PM
Ryan said...
I can't say I forgot to watch as much as made no effort to watch.
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8-03-2009 @ 5:30PM
Frank said...
Elf hits it spot on.
I also enjoy televised poker and thought this would be kind of interesting.
If Steve Shirippa hadn't immediately ruined it (which he did), it would have been ruined by the super fast blind raises that effectively turned this into Celebrity Coin Flip.
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8-03-2009 @ 6:24PM
Edward said...
I changed the channel before a single hand was played...
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8-03-2009 @ 7:09PM
Brett Alan said...
WARNING!!!!
The episode contains a pretty big SPOILER for the World Series of Poker on ESPN. I suppose I can't totally blame NBC--what happens at the WSOP is definitely poker news, and it isn't their fault that ESPN waits months before showing some of the action. Still, a lot of the potential audience for this show is planning to watch the WSOP on ESPN, so this is a spoiler for a lot of people.
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