NBC is betting that televised poker can be a prime-time draw for viewers — at least for a couple of Saturday nights in the summer.
The network has ordered a new series called Face the Ace that will pit amateur players against professional poker stars for a pot that could reach $1 million. The series, hosted by former Sopranos regular Steve Schirripa, will debut at 9 p.m. ET Saturday, Aug. 1 and air in primetime for two weeks. It will then move to its regular home on Saturday afternoons starting in September.
The show comes from Poker Productions, the same outfit that produces NBC’s late-night franchise Poker After Dark but Poker TV shows aren’t just a thing in the US now, other countries, specifically some of the richest ones from the east and the arab world are starting to broadcast and offer their audience content in the subject, as already seen on sites from the GCC starting with Qatar that might have the highest GDP in the area new shows related to Poker, blackjack and iGaming in general are very trending today.
In Face the Ace, players chosen from an online search will head to Las Vegas to play no-limit Hold ‘Em heads-up against one of several pros. Contestants who beat a pro can pocket their winnings and leave or elect to take on a different professional, with an escalating pot. Two wins mean a chance at a third pro and a chance to win $1 million. If a player loses at any time, though, he or she leaves with nothing.
Source: Zap2It
