First off. If you decide to start watching the show because you solely want to watch poker, you'll be in for disappointment. But if you like a darker serial with poker elements, like I do, this is worth a watch, and I speak as a person who has logged countless hours of televised poker.
The Ace in the Hole turns out to be the nominal star, Michael Madsen as Don "The Matador" Everest. I say nominal because, while he's definitely a leading character as the show's primary antagonist, the focus is a bit more on upstart Eddie Towne, played by Eddie Cibrian. Still, I'm a massive fan of Madsen since "Reservoir Dogs," and he gets plenty of screen time. The scenes between Madsen and Cibrian, whether together or apart, pop. I'd not seen Cibrian in anything prior to this, but He was a more than capable protagonist.
Other standouts include Chris Bauer as Lee Nickel, a cop out of his jurisdiction determined to bring Everest down over the death of his brother, working with local authorities, federal agencies, even Matador's associates in a desperate attempt to bring him down. He's more familiar for playing another cop, Andy Bellefleur on "True Blood," though here he gets to play a lawman with no comedic slant.
The remainder of the main cast has less showy roles, but as an amateur critic, I found no fault in their performances. The female lead portrayed by Kristin Lehman is only known as Miami, and brings a nice intensity to her role, and surprisingly, while partners with Towne, the series declines to follow the old trope and make the partnership romantic between them. The last playing member of the team is Todd Williams as Clark Marcellin. The three have an excellent chemistry together.
Also of note are casino mogul Michael Murphyas Jimmy Molloy, and Don McManus as casino manager Bart "Lowbal" Rogers. Who are in league with Everest. As the series begins, Everest essentially works for the casino, bringing in suckers who want to take on the famous pro.
Towne, Miami, and Marcellin eventually gross paths with Seymour Annisman (Kenneth Welsh) who brings them together as a team to try and take Everest down. However, things come to a head at the halfway point in the series, and the plans have to be rewritten. The series culminates at the WSOP stand-in "The World Championship of Poker," and features supporting appearances from famous WSOP commentators Lon McEachern and Norman Chad. Phil Hellmuth has an extended cameo during the tournament scenes, having a verbal sparring match with Madsen's Everest. Daniel Negreanu, Erik Seidel, David Williams,and T.J. Cloutier also make cameos. The late great Robert Forster also makes an appearance as Towne's estranged father.
The one thing that I appreciated is that the poker only mildly stretched credibility. In films like "Maverick," the hero beats the villain with a Royal Flush. "Casino Royale" was a great film, but the poker scenes were a stretch, especially a four way all in featuring an ace high flush, a full house, a higher full house, and a straight flush.
Here, a key hand involves A/K/ vs pocket sixes, and the flop ends up as A/K/6. Yes, it's convenient that the hands fall the way they do, but it's a situation I've seen many times playing online poker, and even sometimes in live poker. There wasn't a need by the writers to jam in a bunch of huge hands to make the audience go "WOW!" they're realistic and straightforward.
The Ace in the Hole turns out to be the nominal star, Michael Madsen as Don "The Matador" Everest. I say nominal because, while he's definitely a leading character as the show's primary antagonist, the focus is a bit more on upstart Eddie Towne, played by Eddie Cibrian. Still, I'm a massive fan of Madsen since "Reservoir Dogs," and he gets plenty of screen time. The scenes between Madsen and Cibrian, whether together or apart, pop. I'd not seen Cibrian in anything prior to this, but He was a more than capable protagonist.
Other standouts include Chris Bauer as Lee Nickel, a cop out of his jurisdiction determined to bring Everest down over the death of his brother, working with local authorities, federal agencies, even Matador's associates in a desperate attempt to bring him down. He's more familiar for playing another cop, Andy Bellefleur on "True Blood," though here he gets to play a lawman with no comedic slant.
The remainder of the main cast has less showy roles, but as an amateur critic, I found no fault in their performances. The female lead portrayed by Kristin Lehman is only known as Miami, and brings a nice intensity to her role, and surprisingly, while partners with Towne, the series declines to follow the old trope and make the partnership romantic between them. The last playing member of the team is Todd Williams as Clark Marcellin. The three have an excellent chemistry together.
Also of note are casino mogul Michael Murphyas Jimmy Molloy, and Don McManus as casino manager Bart "Lowbal" Rogers. Who are in league with Everest. As the series begins, Everest essentially works for the casino, bringing in suckers who want to take on the famous pro.
Towne, Miami, and Marcellin eventually gross paths with Seymour Annisman (Kenneth Welsh) who brings them together as a team to try and take Everest down. However, things come to a head at the halfway point in the series, and the plans have to be rewritten. The series culminates at the WSOP stand-in "The World Championship of Poker," and features supporting appearances from famous WSOP commentators Lon McEachern and Norman Chad. Phil Hellmuth has an extended cameo during the tournament scenes, having a verbal sparring match with Madsen's Everest. Daniel Negreanu, Erik Seidel, David Williams,and T.J. Cloutier also make cameos. The late great Robert Forster also makes an appearance as Towne's estranged father.
The one thing that I appreciated is that the poker only mildly stretched credibility. In films like "Maverick," the hero beats the villain with a Royal Flush. "Casino Royale" was a great film, but the poker scenes were a stretch, especially a four way all in featuring an ace high flush, a full house, a higher full house, and a straight flush.
Here, a key hand involves A/K/ vs pocket sixes, and the flop ends up as A/K/6. Yes, it's convenient that the hands fall the way they do, but it's a situation I've seen many times playing online poker, and even sometimes in live poker. There wasn't a need by the writers to jam in a bunch of huge hands to make the audience go "WOW!" they're realistic and straightforward.