Face the Ace Debuts with Low Ratings
Posted by CarbonPoker on 10th August 2009

face-the-aceIn an already saturated market of poker shows, Face the Ace officially threw its hat into the ring at the beginning of August.  Unfortunately, Face the Ace has failed to gather a significant amount of viewers during its first two weeks on NBC.

Face the Ace is an hour-long show that runs from 9:00 to 10:00 pm ET on Saturday night.  Its debut aired on August 3rd and was met with less than desirable ratings in comparison with other network shows in the same time slot.  Out of the 4 major networks (ABC, FOX, NBC, and CBS), Face the Ace finished with the lowest ratings at .04 which equates to 1.59 million viewers.  FOX took top honors here with an episode of America’s Most Wanted which had a 1.5 rating, or 4.43 million viewers.

The second week was even worse for Face the Ace ratings-wise since it managed just a 0.3 rating, or 1.46 million viewers.  With its 0.3 rating, the show was last among all shows that ran on Saturday night, and it even finished behind reruns of Finding Nemo and 48 Hours Mystery.

As part of a pre-determined plan by NBC, Face the Ace will be moved to a different time slot, and possibly a different network.  Program guides indicate that some upcoming episodes will be shown on CNBC while other episodes may run on Saturday afternoons on NBC.

Face the Ace is a reality poker show which sees a contestant attempt to survive 3 rounds of heads-up play against professional poker players.  Winning the first rounds pays a contestant $40,000, winning the second round pays out $200,000, and a third round win will pay out $1 million.  At the end of round 1 and round 2, contestants can quit the game and walk away with their winnings.

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Moneymaker Appears on New ESPN.com Poker Show
Posted by CarbonPoker on 7th August 2009

espnA new poker show called the Inside Deal had its first episode Tuesday on ESPN.com.  The 30 minute show is hosted by ESPN the Magazine writer Laura Lane and poker personality Bernard Lee and it takes a look inside the world of poker.  Inside Deal is also held in the same Bristol, Connecticut studio as SportsCenter and is broadcast in similar fashion to the hit sports show.

The first episode of Inside Deal centered on a preview of the 2009 WSOP Main Event final table.  2003 WSOP Main Event champion Chris Moneymaker joined both Lane and Lee to talk about the final table as well.  Phil Ivey’s legacy and Jeff Shulman’s disdain for WSOP gold bracelets were two of the main topics discussed during this segment.

Another topic of heavy interest that was touched upon was the Day 1D sellout where over 500 players were denied entry into the Main Event.  While the obvious explanation for this incident was that WSOP officials wanted to keep a cap on each segment of the first day, Bernard Lee also offered the explanation that, “Poker players are known procrastinators.”  The trio ended the Day 1D segment by discussing possible solutions for how this problem could be avoided in the future.

Much of the show’s focus switched towards Moneymaker in the second half of the show as the co-hosts talked about Moneymaker’s Omaha success.  Moneymaker also made it clear that he’s all but done with Texas Hold’em as he stated, “It’s hard to find myself playing Hold’em anymore.”  The show ended with Moneymaker answering a quick series of questions and talking about how he had lost his WSOP Main Event bracelet at one point before finding it.

Those who are interested in catching the Inside Deal can do so by checking out ESPN.com’s poker section every Tuesday.

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Johnny Chan says “Poker King” Movie Could Be Bigger than “Rounders”
Posted by CarbonPoker on 7th August 2009

johnny-chanThe 1998 film “Rounders”, which starred Matt Damon and Edward Norton, is quite possibly the biggest poker movie of all-time.  But poker legend Johnny Chan, who had a guest starring role in Rounders, believes that the new Chinese-language movie entitled “Poker King” could be an even bigger hit than Rounders.

Chan was quoted as saying, “Poker King has the potential to be much, much bigger than Rounders ever was.”  Chan continued his reasoning on why Poker King could be a bigger hit by stating, “Say there are over one billion Chinese speaking people in the world, and compare this to the US and its 300 million people and you can see that this could be huge.  Rounders gave poker a new lease of life in the western world and this could kick start a new poker boom in Asia.”

Poker King is set to be filmed at the Asian Poker Tour Macau Festival which is held at the Galaxy StarWorld Hotel and Casino.  Chan, who is originally from China, is hoping to land a spot in the new movie which includes some of China’s biggest film stars.  Sean Lau Chin-Wan, Louis Koo, Stephy Tang, Josie Ho, and Cherrie In are some of the big name Chinese actors who will be appearing in Poker King.

Regardless of whether or not Chan ends up in Poker King, he will still fondly remember his Rounders days as he said, “I had a fantastic time filming Rounders back in the 90’s.”  He went on about his involvement by mentioning, “A big part of my involvement was behind the scenes where I helped teach Matt Damon, Edward Norton and John Malkovich how to play poker. I also played myself in the film and to this day it gives me recognition in the mainstream outside of poker circles.”  Chan will be hoping for a similar role when Poker King starts filming next week.

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ESPN Will Begin Airing 2009 WSOP on July 28th
Posted by CarbonPoker on 22nd July 2009

espnThose who are tired of seeing reruns of the 2008 World Series of Poker on ESPN will be relieved to hear that the World Wide Leader has plans to start airing footage from the 2009 WSOP on July 28th.  And ESPN will be showing much more of the Main Event through this footage since so many people have requested it.  In fact, there will even be a 24 hour period of time where ESPN will only be airing the 2009 Main Event.

The only catch to this increased coverage of the WSOP Main Event is that ESPN will show just one other bracelet event.  Last year, the network showed 3 other bracelet events in addition to the Main Event.  The lone other bracelet event they will show is the $40,000 40th Anniversary No-Limit Hold’em tournament that was held to commemorate 40 years of the WSOP.

In fact, the 40th Anniversary event will kick-off ESPN’s coverage of the 2009 WSOP as it begins at 8pm ET on July 28th.  This will last two hours while ESPN will have two more events following this one in the WSOP Champions Invitational and the Ante Up for Africa charity tourney; both of these tournaments will be shown for two hours as well.  The Ante Up for Africa tournament is especially interesting since many celebrities took part in it including Ben Affleck, Brad Garrett, Charles Barkley, Matt Damon, Ray Romano, Adam Sandler, and Don Cheadle.

On August 18th, ESPN will begin showing two hour episodes of the WSOP Main Event with each day being shown for two hours.  So Day 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D will all have their own separate episodes, and ESPN will continue like this until Day 8 is shown on November 3rd.  The final table of the 2009 Main Event begins on November 7th and will conclude on November 10th.

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The Worst Poker Movie Ever?
Posted by CarbonPoker on 17th June 2009

I’m usually pretty up to date, but this poker movie slipped by me, luckily. Deal was a 2008 bomb that should have folded before the flop.

This is more of a public service announcement than a blog post.

Starring Bret Harrison and Burt Reynold’s moustache, Deal looks like a pretty watered down high stakes poker movie. Expect it to be complete with card-playing montages, a successful build up, inevitable crash and then redemption. Spoiler alert, right?

The movie features a poker babe (Shannon Elizabeth) and all of the poker/Vegas clichés you could hope for. WHOA! A fly over shot of Vegas? The fountain in front of the Bellagio? All-in metaphors? You bet you’re a$$, kids.

This steaming pile gets a whopping 3% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes…ouch.

Here’s the trailer, which is essentially the entire movie. You’re welcome; I just saved you two hours. Can you think of a worse poker film?

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New Leonardo DiCaprio Online Poker Film in Development
Posted by CarbonPoker on 16th June 2009

leonardo-di-caprioI hope this happens.  Mega-star, Leonardo DiCaprio is set to star in a new film based on the world of online gambling.

The yet-to-be-titled project will be set in Costa Rica, but the rest of the details are a little tough to find right now.

What we do know is that Brian Koppelman and David Levien (writers of Ocean’s Thirteen & Rounders) are attached to write the script. If their previous work is any indication, I expect it to make gambling and online poker look awesome – which it is.

We’re all interested in seeing the portrayal of how this is going to look.

Let me know what you think it’s going to be like. We’re making a lot of guesses around the office.

We’ll keep you posted on any new developments

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Simpsons Producer bringing his Wild Poker Games to Playboy TV
Posted by CarbonPoker on 11th June 2009

simpsons-pokerIt’s well noted in many Hollywood circles that The Simpsons producer Sam Simon holds some of the wildest poker games known to man.  Simon’s games are always filled with celebrities, lots of foul language, humor, and hot women.  Simon’s poker games have become so interesting that he’s decided to take them to Playboy TV.

The show will be called Sam’s Game and will be held at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas in a swanky lounge setting complete with Playboy Bunny waitresses.  In addition to the cool setting and model waitresses, Sam’s Game will also feature many of Simon’s celebrity friends including Artie Lange, David Attell, Jeff Ross, Norm McDonald, Brande Roderick, and Jennifer Tilly.

The addition of Tilly is very interesting because she is Sam Simon’s former wife which should create some extra fireworks on the show.  But this definitely makes sense from a poker perspective since Jennifer Tilly has become a professional player in her own right, and has cashed for well over $350k in her career.  In addition to Tilly, her husband Phil Laak and Jennifer “Jennicide” Leigh will also make appearances on the show in an effort to provide some real poker skill.

Besides the professionals, Simon admits that his games won’t be the best from a playing perspective since he said, “The stakes aren’t the biggest, the players aren’t the best, but the game is definitely the funniest.”

The idea for Sam’s Game came about when Playboy TV caught wind of how entertaining and funny Simon’s games.  And Simon was more than happy to oblige to their offer as he stated, “I’ve spent years in development to try to get shows on the air.  When a network calls and says, ‘We want to shoot this’.”  Simon finished the quite by saying a resounding “Yes”.

Sam’s Game will not edit the language and the comedy is sure to be edgy at the least.

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The Roots Of Online Poker – Great Video
Posted by CarbonPoker on 4th June 2009

What a noble beginning online poker had. This Intellivision gem: Las Vegas Blackjack and Poker (great name, right?) is a real slice of early 80′s gaming. In fact, this was a release game with the Intellivision system (thanks, Wikipedia!).

Intellivision is awesome. Sure, there’s no ultra-realistic graphics, dancing girls or whatever…but did you see the raw emotion on the dealer’s face? Seriously, I’m going to pick one of these up for the Carbon office on ebay.

The dude reviewing the game is way too calm for all the excitement that LVBJ&P has to offer. What’s his deal? I’m not sure where the clip is from, but anyone sitting at home while videotaping their TV of old video games definitely isn’t late for a party, if you know what I mean. Now if you’ll excuse me…I’ve got some really important things to attend to.

Just watch the video, ok?

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ESPN360 To Broadcast Final Tables of the 2009 WSOP
Posted by CarbonPoker on 28th May 2009


ESPN360.com will be webcasting 12 final tables at the 2009 WSOP between June 2 – June 30. See the full lineup here.

Finally! I really needed some more reasons to never get up and leave my computer’s side. Even if I’m in Vegas, I might chill out in the hotel room and catch the action online.

While this is awesome poker coverage, it’s also a great jump in poker’s legitimacy. Getting accepted, documented and show by the World Wide Leader (of SPORTS) is some great ammo for poker in general. You don’t get much more mainstream than ESPN.

Bonus Carbon info: with some great play, you’ll be able to see our boys froliche and sliekas at the final table of the $1K event on ESPN360 on June 2 – the first cast done by the site. ESPN also scooped the $50K HORSE event on June 30.

As you can tell, we’re getting pretty excited for the WSOP around here, but there is still plenty of online action going off at CarbonPoker with everyday poker tournaments, games and action.

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3009 Universal Poker Tournament : Looking at ones cards is a crutch for players who rely on skill
Posted by CarbonPoker on 4th March 2009

Welcome all to the 3009 Universal Poker Championship, well lets not waste any time and get down to play.


Boobs Vanderbuilt has a decent pair, also she has pair of 8′s…


Holy “#$%√” a stunning play by mentally ill new comer Phillip Fry, laying down pocket kings, its almost as if he knew Bender Rodriguez had two aces!


ALL-IN, CALL MY MIGHTY BET AT YOUR PERIL!


Tex Connecticut moves all in…
Bender; “wait this is the worst possible hand right *shows 72*, Allin! I mean Fold! Whatever…”
The flop comes A, 8, Q.
Commentator Penn Jillete, ” well there we have it folks Bender’s luck has finally run out, no card can save him now”
*see below*….


The final hand of the tournament is dealt, its heads up between Fry and Bender. Fry, if you havent figured it out has the ability to read minds and Bender is made of 30% lucky horse shoes from he luckiest race horses in his native Mexico.

Bender, moves all in.
Fry reads his mind only to discover that he hasnt looked at his cards.
“What! but you havent even looked at your cards!”
“Looking at ones cards is a crutch for players who rely on skill,” states Bender
All in calls fry.
The flop – KKA
Turn K
River A…

“Yes!” yells Fry, “4 Aces!”
“uh uh uh,” Chimes bender as Fry reaches for the chips. “read em and weep! and then tell me what they are…” says Bender.

“Two Kings!” says the Dealer, “and with three on the board, that give Bender 5 Kings”


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