As the top two poker rooms online, it’s is no surprise that Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker compete in a variety of arenas. The latest clash between the two however is taking place far off the felt and on your TV screen.

We refer, of course, to the room’s dueling television shows. Full Tilt Poker has ‘Face the Ace’ and Poker Stars recently rolled out the ‘Million Dollar Challenge’. Both shows are relatively new and have a lot of development still to be done, but at this point it seems as if viewers have chosen a clear winner: Poker Star’s Million Dollar Challenge.

Let’s start by talking about where Face The Ace is lacking. Most critics agree that the show suffered from a labored pace, poor production values, the lack of a compelling host, and also a basic lack of an interesting storyline for contestants.

On the other hand, Million Dollar Challenge seems to have learned valuable lessons from the missteps of FTP’s show. MDC has done a great job of introducing some interesting gimmicks and twists that liven up what would otherwise be a relatively straightforward poker show, and has done a far superior job of integrating professional poker players (along with some celebrities) into the mix.

MDC also has done far better work creating a personality for contestants, and at developing a format that allows the audience not only to root for the contestant, but also giving them a reason to do so.

While Full Tilt Poker certainly has the star power and marketing experience to make more of the show in subsequent episodes at this point, much as they do in overall traffic, Poker Stars simply holds the stronger hand.