PokerStars Launches Heads Up Poker Challenge TV Show
If you’ve been keeping up with poker news over the last few weeks, it’s hard not to imagine PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker as the dueling vocalists in some online poker version of that old ‘anything you can do, I can do better’ ditty. Full Tilt Poker announces a Guinness World Record attempt for the largest online poker tournament; PokerStars launches a larger attempt a day later. FTP releases new software and a bonus for players; Stars responds shortly after with their largest new deposit and redeposit bonuses in recent memory.
The latest salvo: PokerStars has announced plans for their own televised heads up poker challenge, a model that FTP had a go at with the universally panned Face The Ace (now on hiatus). PokerStars lacks the catchy title (their version will be called the ‘PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge’) and perhaps some of the star power of FTA (Daniel Negreanu is the ultimate opponent in the PSMDC), but seems to be doing smarter advance work than Full Tilt did on the contestant selection front.
From the PokerStars website: “All you need to do is play any of the PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge daily freeroll tournaments and finish in the top ten. Then submit a short video, explaining why PokerStars should choose you to be part of this exclusive show. Make a good impression and you could be heading off for the TV shoot to star in poker’s hottest new show. And to support you all the way, we’ll let you bring a couple of poker buddies too!”
The format for the challenge is still a little fuzzy, but it looks like it will essentially be the same ladder-style progression – win a few preliminary matches with other PokerStars pros and you advance to the final match with Dan. What’s unclear is if there will be any way for contestants to opt-out at some point and leave with partial winnings, or if they’re locked into continuing on to the next match.
