Saturday’s episode of “Face the Ace” on NBC featured a memorable contestant named Adam Ehrlich who was far and away the most talkative player in the show’s three episodes. Ehrlich, a 33-year old stock trader from Philadelphia, was the only player featured on the episode as he battled through matches with Full Tilt Pros Chris “Jesus” Ferguson and Phil Gordon. Ehrlich prevailed in his first match against Ferguson, but fell to Gordon in Round Two and was the latest contestant to exit from the program empty-handed.
In preparation for the show Ehrlich, whose friends nicknamed “A-dam good bet,” turned to books, but they were not on poker strategy. Instead, he bought a book teaching people how to get cast on reality and game shows. He previously auditioned for another NBC show, “The Apprentice.”
Ehrlich was joined in the studio by his girlfriend, Karen, who periodically came on stage to rub the felt for good luck. Luck did not appear to be on Ehrlich’s side during the hour-long broadcast though. He got off to fast start against Ferguson, raising several of the hands early on and taking down pots without going to showdown. As the two players grinded through the match, Ehrlich fired off non-stop questions to the pro, almost as if he was auditioning to be the next Jay Leno.
Host Steve Schirripa couldn’t resist ribbing the contestant a little and told Ferguson, “I think his strategy is to talk you to death.”
The rapidly escalating blinds quickly turned the match into an all-in shove fest. First, Ferguson moved all-in with Q-8 and Ehrlich called with A-K. As the crowd gathered around the table to watch, Schirripa urged a seated Ehrlich to stand and watch the board come out. Ehrlich obliged, knocking his chair over in the process. To make matters worse, Ferguson spiked a queen on the flop to double up.
Ferguson would get lucky again when his J-5 bested Ehrlich’s K-4 after they got it in on the A-K-5 flop and Ferguson spiked a 5 on the turn. Ehrlich retaliated though, doubling up with A-7 to K-5 and then taking the match down when his K-2 held up against Ferguson’s 5-9.
Ehrlich elected to forgo the guaranteed $40,000 and instead chose the second match, which offered a chance at $200,000 and, perhaps more importantly, more airtime. Ehrlich’s second opponent was poker author and commentator, Gordon.
“Did you read Phil’s book?” Schirripa asked Ehrlich.
“Lie if you haven’t,” Gordon quickly chimed in. Ehrlich admitted he hadn’t, but requested to get an autographed copy from the pro after the show. Gordon was a little more talkative than Ferguson and asked Ehrlich if he was nervous at all during his first match. Ehrlich said no and Gordon was surprised because he finds Ferguson to be an intimidating opponent.
“I think he’s a sweetheart,” Ehrlich responded.
“Yeah,” Gordon said. “But how do you beat him, you know?”
“Well,” Ehrlich said with a smile. “Now the world knows.”
The remainder of the Gordon match would have a flair for the dramatic, with each player pulling off big bluffs on each other. Ehrlich also took to making speeches before acting in a hand, adding a dramatic touch to the event. One audience member even yelled out an amusing suggestion about how to make the proceedings even more humorous:
“RoShamBo for it!”
Gordon, who is an avid rock, paper, scissors player, got a good chuckle out of the idea, but decided to stick with the poker instead. It was a wise decision. Though Ehrlich was able to double up with A-10 to Gordon’s K-7, the final hand would go to the pro. Gordon moved all-in with J-9 and Ehrlich called with A-5. One final time Ehrlich got unlucky on the flop, as it fell Q-9-7 to pair Gordon’s seven and give him the lead. The 10 on the turn did nothing for Ehrlich, nor did the 5 on the river.
Ehrlich was out, but remained positive about his experience, saying, “I got beat by the best, what can you do?”
To date, “Face the Ace” has only given out $40,000 in prize money and all of the other contestants have pressed their luck and gone home with nothing. The next episode of the show will air on Saturday October 31st at 3:30PM.
