Debut of The Poker Star

September marks the start of PokerStars new reality show, The Poker Star.  Quite a creative name, right?

Anyway, creative or not-so-creative name for PokerStars' new reality show, it cannot be denied that The Poker Star received a good verdict from its viewers, both the poker fans and those who knew next to nothing about the game.  The market might be so saturated with reality shows, but this new series has a certain appeal to it.

The Contestants

The show has seen about 18,000 contestants who wanted to be a part of the reality program, and Joe Hachem, the host, trimmed down the number to 11 contestants, four of which are women.  Their backgrounds and professions vary — from marketing executive to classical pianist to golfer to speech pathologist to even an emergency services worker — but they all have one thing in common, poker in their veins.

The addition of the four women into the reality show had a two-fold purpose.  One is to encourage women to be more active in poker and play the card game, and two is a bit, well, chauvinistic — to provide the sex appeal in an obviously male-dominated poker world.

Even before the real tests start, the contestants were already given a big challenge — to assess each other, the winner of which was given immunity from elimination at the end of the week.  Aside from this, the contestants were also asked to assess who they think is the weakest and the strongest player.

The three contestants who were first up on the chopping block were the first contestant who was knocked out of the first tournament of the show as well as two other contestants whom Hachem has chosen as the weakest contestants.

The Show

All in all, The Poker Star did a good enough job of introducing poker to the world.  It showed enough poker so as to keep poker fans on their toes, and the show made sure not to use too much poker lingo so as to keep the attention of the mainstream public.  Likewise, the show provided enough action that it will surely never bore its viewers, the poker enthusiasts and those who have only heard of poker for the first time.

Furthermore, Hachem proved to be a good host who knows how to carry the reality show well without making it seem too corny by using catch phrases, especially when it came to the elimination round.

Big cheers to The Poker Star and more seasons to come!

Tagscard game, Hachem, Joe Hachem, poker, poker player, poker room, Poker Star, PokerStars

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