Face the Ace - Bad Beat or Blank?

With all of the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire hoopla going on, I've neglected to mention NBC's newest game show, Face the Ace, which kicked off earlier this month. Before we get into the nitty gritty on this show, I'll have to admit that I am not a poker person - I even had to look up the terms in a poker glossary for the title of this post. Keep in mind that my opinions may be vastly different from those of true poker fans!

While I'm not a poker person, I'm obviously a game show person. Face the Ace was billed as the "first poker game show," (which we know isn't true), and meant to combine elements of both genres. I watched both episodes that have aired thus far, and I have to say, it's a poker show.

Contestants, who have been recruited from online poker tournaments, are faced with four doors, each represented by one of the four aces in a deck of cards. Behind each door is a professional poker player. Contestants choose a door, find out who their "Ace" is, and then play a game of Texas Hold'em. If the contestant wins, he or she can then chose another door and continue playing, or walk away with the money, which breaks down as $40,000 for the first game, $200,000 for the second, and $1,000,000 for the third. The catch is that, if a contestant loses any of these games, he or she walks away with nothing.

The host for the show is former Sopranos star Steve Schrippa, and he's likable enough, even if his job here isn't really that of a typical game show host. He's joined by Megan Abrigo (Face the Ace equivalent of the Duel chip girls), Ali Nejad (on the floor announcer), and Matt Vasgersian (play-by-play commentary). Strangely enough, it's Ali Nejad, who is actually a very competent color analyst for other poker shows, who seems extraneous in this game. It feels like he was brought in for credibility, rather than anything he could add to the show.

As for the game itself, if you're not a fan of televised poker, you're not going to be a fan of this show. They haven't done anything to make the game more accessible for the average game show fan, and the whole thing is extremely low key. I found it slow, and at times, painful.

The other odd thing about Face the Ace is the schedule. It's aired for the past two Saturday nights at 9pm Eastern, and the rest of the shows will air as follows:

• September 12, 2009 – 2:00pm
• October 31, 2009 – 3:30pm
• November 14, 2009 – 3:00pm
• December 12, 2009 – 3:00pm
• January 2, 2010 – 2:30pm

I'd love to hear from poker fans that have seen the show, to see if your opinions are different from mine on this one, as well as those of you who, like me, aren't really into the card game, but were hoping for something fun from Face the Ace. What did you all think?

Photo of Gus Hansen, courtesy NBC