To say that some of the televised poker offerings that have cropped up in the years since Chris Moneymaker won the World Series of Poker (WSOP) have been a bit lackluster would be putting it nicely. A rash of poker content has found its way onto just about every channel, from Bravo to ESPN to NBC to BET, and many of those programs bear a striking resemblance to one another: Take a six player sit and go, populate it with interesting characters, and let the all-ins commence.
There have been poker shows that have tried to differentiate themselves from the pack, opting to focus on the poker lifestyle rather than the game itself, but none of these shows had any staying power. With such an iffy poker show track record, the recent debut of “2 Months, $2 Million” on G4 seemed like a risky venture. The show surprised viewers with its unique mix of high-stakes online match-ups and behind-the-scenes glimpses at the social lives of players. In the three weeks since it debuted, it appears to have won the vast majority of the poker community over with the Las Vegas antics of its four stars, Jay Rosenkrantz, Brian Roberts, Emil Patel, and Dani Stern. With the buzz about the show growing every week, Poker News Daily sought out “2 Months, $2 Million” fans to see what keeps them coming back every week.
Darryll “DFish” Fish not only enjoys the show, but he can relate to it as well. Fish is an online poker player and currently has a similar living situation as the guys on the show, sharing a Las Vegas house with his friends and fellow online pros. When asked what he enjoyed most about “2 Months, $2 Million,” Fish cited the lack of contrived situations: “I really like the show because it is the first reality show of its kind and it’s more or less a better version of ‘Big Brother.’ It deals with real-life situations rather than stupid challenges and drama between stupid people.”
While some elements of the show, like the weekly tally of money won and subsequent “penalty stunt” may be designed primarily for filming, Fish also attests that the bulk of what the guys are doing on the show is in line with the lifestyle of young online poker players. “The show is definitely pretty accurate. I mean, we don’t all have a chef or personal assistant, but the interaction between the guys and the way they spend free time is very common,” said Fish. He also tapped in to an element of the show unique to the poker community: “The show gives us kids a way to laugh at ourselves via a third party and it’s extremely entertaining.”
Nat Arem, a longtime presence on the major online poker forums, knows a thing or two about making the lives of poker players entertaining. The creator of thepokerdb was also one of the creative minds behind the popular internet video project thepokerfilm. The 2007 film dealt with the lives of four young online pros, tracking both their poker progress and their partying. Arem is a fan of “2 Months, $2 Million” and praised the show for capturing the highs and lows of online poker. “I think the best part is showing the emotions of the swings,” Arem suggested. “Things like the excitement over finding a tell contrast really well with the tilt we’ve seen out of Jay and Dani thus far. It really shows what playing poker for a living is like.”
Several online pros have been taking time from their busy Sunday schedules to catch the latest episode. Adam “akat11” Katz likes to wrap up his busy day by sitting back and watching the show. “When it comes on at 10:30pm West Coast time, it’s a nice relief from an always disappointing Sunday,” Katz joked. “I tape two shows on Sunday night, ‘Entourage’ and ‘2 Months, $2 Million.’”
Katz and others were particularly impressed with the most recent episode, which pitted the guys against a rival house in battles of football, girls, and, of course, poker. The various poker forums were all buzzing about how funny the contests were and heaping high praise on poker pro Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger’s appearance. Perhaps we have a potential spinoff on ours hands?