The brand new poker game show, Face the Ace premiered on Saturday and finished dead last against shows like Cops and America’s Most Wanted.

The show features online poker pros from Full Tilt hidden behind doors who are chosen by contestants. The poker pros face off against the contestants, first for $40,000 and then for higher cash prizes as the game continues. Unfortunately, despite the amount of money increasing, that’s about as suspenseful as it gets.

On shows like Who Wants To Be a Millionaire and Deal or No Deal the choices for contestants become harder. On Millionaire, the questions get harder and the lifelines decrease as they are used. On ‘Deal,’ the number of boxes decreases, increasing the possibility that the big money or utter failure lies in the selection of one of two boxes. On ‘Ace,’ the pots get bigger, but the risk of the game remains the same. The first round of poker is the same as the last round, except it’s against a different poker ace.

Poker continues to struggle in the world of television. For some reason they can make cooking exciting, real estate exciting and scrapbooking (ok, not scrapbooking)…umm… celebrities sitting in the jungle exciting, but they can’t make poker exciting to watch. The closest anyone has come is the World Poker Tour and even that is a bit of a tough watch for many avid poker players. I attribute this to the “poker face.” When you watch Deal or No Deal, the players are so emotional and you get excited for them. On poker shows, everyone puts on their poker face and wears sunglasses. No emotion = guys sitting at the table = boring..no matter how dramatic your lighting.

With such low ratings, it doesn’t seem like Face the Ace will be around for very much longer. Of course, it’s only the first show so there is room for improvement. Perhaps they’ll add more gorgeous ladies to the show? Perhaps they will throw some elements of Deal or No Deal in to sweeten the pot? Only one thing is for sure, if things continue like this, cancellation of Face the Ace is a sure bet.

A recent poll conducted by the betting exchange found that there are two major factors weighing on the minds of internet gamblers, the US government’s freezing of assets back in May and the recession. The fact that the US government overstepped their authority, or what I like to call “doing what the government does best” by seizing funds to be paid out to winning players is a major concern among online players – at least those who know about it. The survey showed that 88% of the players were concerned about the security of their money and 76% moved to different sites as a result. However, only 42% of the players in the United States were aware of the freezing of assets from PokerStars, Full Tilt, Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker.

 The poll also showed that 52% of the US players are spending less money in online casinos than the previous year due to the recession. So basically, online players are worried about the government stealing their money and about the government trashing our economy by spending too much of their money. Both problems seem to stem from the same principle: the government cannot be trusted with your money. The players’ worries about the government is the hurting online casino business, which should come as no surprise, because the current administration of bad for every other business as well, though it is good for the United Auto Workers union (UAW) and lawyers that love frivolous malpractice lawsuits. So if the online players want to make some real money they should probably join the UAW.

On July 19 Full Tilt Poker, one of the most popular online poker websites, is setting its sights on breaking the official Guinness World Record for the Largest Online Poker Tournament by bringing more than 35,000 players to the table.

The record attempt is being done as the curtain call to the aptly titled “FIVE,” a week of events and promotions set up to blow out the candles for Full Tilt’s fifth birthday.  Team Full Tilt member Howard Lederer said of the event, “By extending the limits of what is possible in online poker tournaments, Full Tilt Poker will allow players to compete for a big payout without the big buy-in,”

The online poker record attempt will offer players the chance to sit down with some of the biggest names in high stakes and tournament play in the world. Team Full Tilt, WSOP bracelet winners Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson and Phil Ivey (who made it to the WSOP main event final table last night) are all expected to participate.

The current World Record of 35,000 online poker players is held by rival and #1 online poker site, PokerStars. Full Tilt hopes that this will not only establish them as a World Record holder, but as leaders in the online gaming industry.

Such a record would not be possible in a land-based casino. The World Record for Largest “Live” Poker Tournament was set at the 2006 World Series of Poker with 8,772 players taking to the tables. Full Tilt hopes to attract nearly four times that amount to secure their name as Guinness World Record Holders.

The Record Breaker games begin on July 19, 2009 at 15:05 ET. Players can be a part of the world record attempt for $5 or 1000 Full Tilt Points and compete for a share of $250K added prize pool.