Poker Stars Million Dollar Challenge Premieres

Chris Grove : October 10th, 2009

Poker Stars Million Dollar Challenge, the latest entry in the poker game show genre, gets under way with its premiere episode on FOX Sunday, October 11th (4:30 ET, check local listings).

The first episode of the show, which employs a heads up format similar to Full Tilt Poker’s Face The Ace, features Father Andrew Trapp, a Catholic Priest. Trapp will be coached by Daniel Negreanu for his first-round match against a celebrity playing for charity, for his second-round match against a Team PokerStars Pro and then, if he survives those two matches, has the chance to play Negreanu for $100,000.

Viewers looking for serious heads-up poker may be disappointed. As Negreanu says on his blog: “I want to make it clear what this show is: it’s a game show FIRST and a poker show SECOND. The blinds go up quickly and they get high pretty quickly, which I actually think benefits the contestants. The slower the structure, the harder it would be for an amateur player to get through a celebrity, a PokerStars Team Pro, and then me. The more luck involved, the better for them.”

Judging from the format and promos for the show, PokerStars took the lessons that FTP learned hard way with Face The Ace to heart. The production values seem to be a serious step up and Stars appears to have created a unique angle with Negreanu being available to coach contestants directly as they compete in their match.

The show culminates in episode five, where contestants who defeated Negreanu in earlier episodes have an opportunity to compete for $1 million.

Stars is offering viewers an extra incentive to watch the show. For the first two episodes the show will include a password viewers can use to enter an exclusive tournament with a first prize of $20,000.

You can view clips from the show and other exclusive material once the show has aired at PokerStars.tv here.

Get Negreanu’s reaction to the show, as well as some inside insights and the like, at his blog here.

View the promo for the show below:

Watch Million Dollar Challenge on PokerStars.tv