The first episode of the new internet poker reality show, Two Months. Two Million. (2M2MM), premiered on cable's G4 last night, joining popular shows like X-Play, Code Monkeys and Ninja Warrior.

The show, which features four top internet poker players living together in a rented mansion in Las Vegas, is unlike any other poker show on TV, in that the poker- although prominent- is a means to an end and not a main character.  Instead, it is the player's day-to-day lives that the cameras focus on as the four work together in order to achieve, what to many internet players would be impossible, earning $2 million in just two months.

The four players, Dani "Ansky" Stern, Brian "just_the_nuts" Roberts, Emil "WhiteLime" Patel and Jay "Pr1nnyraid" Rosenkrantz are not actors or made for TV characters, each is a real, highly respected online player, with significant results both live and online.  In fact, some are almost as well known as the top poker stars they can be seen associating with, which last night included both Tom "durrrr" Dwan and Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond.  For example Dani Stern recently gained much notoriety, when he placed fourth in the second event of the 2009 World Series of Poker- the $40,000 buy-in, 40th Annual No-Limit Hold 'em.

Stern's $548,315 fourth place cash, although televised on ESPN, did not make it onto last night's episode nor is it likely too.  The goal of 2M2MM is for the guys to make their millions online, so the only tables viewers have seen so far- besides the mansion's home game table- are the virtual ones on Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars and Ultimate Bet.  Interestingly, these tables are shown quite often, with producers even going so far as to show the Full Tilt avatars changing expressions when the players win or lose.

These avatars and other little G4 touches, seem to make the show instantly relatable to online players, and it is somewhat comforting to see how even top players can suffer evil rivers and ridiculous bad beats.  Indeed, much of the show seems to embody that classic gambling saying immortalized by the late great, John Hughes, in the movie Some Kind Of Wonderful,

"To win big you gotta do what?
-Lose. - Lose big.
What are we doing now?  We're losing big."

This first episode saw many of the players lose big, including Jay, who at times was down over $100,000 before finally turning things around by the end of the first week- thanks in part to an online tell he discovered against one of his main opponents.  The crucial tell, which Jay casually explained to his roommates, served to teach the viewing audience the importance of timing tells in online poker and this tip, whether purposefully added or casually stated, is a great example of what makes 2M2MM so important for poker, not only did it most likely help many online players improve their games, but perhaps even more importantly, it began to show non-playing viewers some of the true skill involved in winning big in poker. 

These guys aren't portrayed as lucky game show contestants, their real people working at their real jobs, just like the crab fisherman, cops, lumberjacks and pawn brokers, which can be found on all the other popular reality shows.

G4's "Two Months.  Two Million." airs Sunday nights at 9:00p.m. and can also be seen in rerun throughout G4's broadcasting week. 

For more information, including an interview with Jay Rosenkrantz, check out PokerRoad's most recent episode of the Poker Beat.


Story by Mark Anderson