"Ace in the House"

I mentioned a few days ago having played briefly with Cory Zeidman at Mandalay Bay. (See Cardgrrl's account of the story here.) That caused me to poke around the web a bit to see what else the guy has done. I found that he was the host of a show on the Game Show Network called "Ace in the House." It apparently never got past the pilot episode, which aired back in December, 2007. The premise of the show is that they pick an ongoing home poker game, come in and spruce up the room and add a table with hole-card cameras, then bring in a pro (presumably it would have been a different one every time) to play against the amateurs for a $10,000 winner-takes-all prize.

I found a torrent of the show online, downloaded it, and watched it last night. I then scanned through some of the comments made on various discussion sites. I found myself siding with those who found it pleasantly entertaining. Yeah, a lot of the poker was badly played, similar to what used to be the case on "Celebrity Poker Showdown." But the people were pleasant, and Mike Matusow--at least as far as can be judged from the highly edited tape--played nearly perfect poker against the five amateurs. Zeidman was OK, though he needed more practice to speak really fluently in his commentary.

I think the main ingredient that is largely lacking in "World Poker Tour" and WSOP play is showing that poker is fun.* Because of the player mix selected by the producers, "High Stakes Poker" and "Poker After Dark" are usually engaging to watch, not only because of the exceptional level of game play, but because the players appear to be genuinely enjoying themselves. That element of fun was present in abundance on "Ace in the House," and I thought it made up for the mostly mediocre skills on display.

Too bad they didn't turn it into a series. It seems like a great idea for a show. Then again, I was one of the few who enjoyed "E! Hollywood Hold'em," so my taste has to be brought into question.


*I realize that my stoic, stonewall posture and appearance at the table looks somewhere between bored and robotic, but the truth is that I'm usually having a grand ol' time. I do actually enjoy it still. Once in a while an extrovert at the table comments that I look miserable when everybody else is having fun, but it's rarely true. People just have fun in different ways. Mine is very quiet and laid back. Maybe that's why they don't invite me onto televised poker shows. Well, that plus the fact that I kind of suck at the game. (N.B.: "Good enough to beat most tourists" does not equal "actually good.")