Play your cards right: Celebs flop on ITV dud

As reported by: Sunday Mail:

"ITV'S All-Star Poker Challenge was the perfect show to tune into if you wanted to learn how NOT to play the game.

The players were clearly selected for who they are rather than what they can do at the poker table.

I was expecting to see celebrities with a modicum of skill but it seemed as if their only previous association with a deck of cards was listening to the Max Bygraves song of the same name.

Some of the play was truly awful - and this was edited highlights! The dopey celebs twice risked everything on a pair of twos and it was like watching highlights of East Stirling when Real Madrid were playing in your garden.

Witnessing the world's best players battle it out can be compulsive viewing - sadly this was a forgettable tournament memorable only for glaring mistakes.

Rugby star Mike Tyndall eventually came out on top after bluffing snooker player Mark Williams but by this stage nobody cared.

ITV missed out on a great chance to take poker to a wider audience.

Why serve up such rubbish when highlights from events like the World Series of Poker would have shown the game's real appeal?

Terrestrial channels will come under increasing pressure to deliver quality poker programming if the game's popularity continues to grow on the internet.

Huge profits are being made in cyberworld thanks to the poker boom and Empire Online is leading the way.

The company floated on the Alternative Investments Market in June and is expanding at a rapid rate."

Sunday Mail - 2005-08-09 02:03:28