The Face the Ace Poker Show at NBC

NBC's poker game show Face the Ace started on August 1st, 2009 at 9:00 p.m. with a group of the facetheace.com and Full Tilt poker online qualifiers taking on some of the best poker players in circuit for $1 million. Hosted by Steve Schirripa of the Sopranos, the participants of the show will first pick a poker pro from behind 4-smoked glass doors and then play that poker pro in a heads-up No-Limit Hold'em showdown with $40,000 up for grabs.

Should the contestant prevail against their opponent, they can take home the $40,000 or pick another poker pro to play for $200,000. Participants moving on to the 3rd round will play for the $1 million top cash prize. If the participant loses at some point, they will go home with nothing and the winning poker pro takes $10,000 for their charity of choice.

Schirripa said that most people do not get to play against their favorite players in sports like basketball or football. He added that the show gives participants a one-of-a kind opportunity to test their poker skills against the best poker players in the world. The series premiered back-to-back shows and continue its 7 episode run on Saturday afternoons starting in September 2009.

15 Full Tilt poker pros were picked as "Aces" including Patrik Antonius, allen cunningham, phil gordon, gus hansen, phil ivey, erick lindgren, jennifer harman, John Juanda, mike matusow, howard lederer, gavin smith, erik seidel, Huck Seed, andy bloch and chris ferguson. Collectively, the group has won a total of forty-one world series of poker bracelets, eleven WPT titles and nearly $100 million in live event winnings.

August 20, 2009
Brian Nelson