There's a common question that every gambler eventually asks themselves once they've spent enough time at the tables: "Why didn't I quit while I was ahead?"  This all-too-familiar question is probably going through game show contestant Don Topel's mind right now, after gambling big and losing on Saturday's second episode of Face The Ace. 

Don Topel started his run on NBC's newest poker game show last week on the premier episode, besting both Erick Lindgren and Howard Lederer in heads-up competitions.  As the rules of the show state, Topel had the option of stopping right there and walking away with $200,000 but instead he chose to play one more match for a chance at a life-changing one million. 

Topel's decision could probably be supported by game theory, after all at that point he was basically wagering $200K to win a million in what amounts to be one heads-up sit-n-go, but unfortunately for Topel his last contestant was PokerRoad's own Gavin Smith, who may now have to change his nickname from "Birdguts" to "Dream Crusher" after dispatching Topel and leaving him with nothing but stories and lingering doubts.

Why didn't I quit while I was ahead?  It is a painful question, and one Poker Productions, the company also behind such popular shows as GSN's High Stakes Poker and NBC's National Heads-Up Poker Championship, may be asking as well.  For the second straight week Face The Ace failed to produce and was the least watched network show of Saturday night, according to ratings tracking site TVbytheNumbers.com, who went so far as to call the slumping show a "disgrace" in a recent article.

When Face The Ace was first announced, the plan was to debut it on prime time for two episodes before moving it to Saturday afternoons, but surely many secretly hoped the show would be successful enough that it could earn it's starting prime time spot.  Unfortunately, after two dismal weeks, not only did Face The Ace fail at proving it was worthy of Prime Time, it has yet to prove it's worthy of the middle of the day. 

As of this writing, the next episode of Face The Ace is still scheduled for Saturday, August 15th.


Story by Mark Anderson