UNIVERSAL CITY, CA - Continuing its commitment to bring viewers the most entertaining poker shows on television, NBC is announcing a new variation in its already strong poker lineup with the addition of a new show called “Face the Ace.” This show will allow contestants the opportunity to compete against as many as three different top professional poker players on national television for the chance to win $1 million. The show will be hosted by Steve Schirripa, a regular on the HBO acclaimed series “The Sopranos.”

“Face the Ace” combines elements of the entertainment found on a game show, the drama of a reality show, and the intense pressure of a player competing in a poker tournament with huge sums of money on the line. Quite simply, there is nothing like it on television, and it should appeal to not only poker fans but to viewers who enjoy putting themselves in the shoes of contestants faced with big decisions for the potential of life-changing money.

To have the opportunity to appear on the show, fans can go to either facetheace.com or fulltiltpoker.net and enroll in free qualifying tournaments which are currently running around-the-clock. The first set of winners will be flown to Las Vegas this summer for the taping of seven one-hour shows currently scheduled to begin airing on Saturday, August 1 at 9:00 p.m. EDT, NBC’s first entry into prime time poker programming.  The show on August 8 will also appear in this time slot, with the remainder appearing on a yet-to-be-determined time on Saturday afternoons.

If selected to be a participant on the show, the contestant will have to choose between four smoked-glass doors, behind which are four top professional poker players, or the “Aces.”  Once one is chosen, the contestant will play that pro in a heads-up no-limit Texas hold’em match.  Should the contestant defeat the pro, they will have the opportunity to take the money they have won and leave or risk it all and choose another door and battle a different pro for a significantly larger sum of money. 

Should they defeat the second pro, they will again be faced with the decision of taking the money they have won, or foregoing it and choosing a third door and facing off against another top-ranked pro.  Successfully defeating three pros in a row will result in the contestant winning $1 million.  If the contestant loses any of their matches, they go home with nothing.

Contestants must be at least 21 years of age.  Complete rules can be found on the Face the Ace website at facetheace.com/rules.html. 

The show is being produced by POKER PROductions, which also produces “Poker After Dark” for NBC. Look for additional details to be released in the near future.

This press release was written by Dennis Oehring, who serves as the Public Relations Coordinator for the firm POKER PROductions.