ESPN's Series About Poker Has Potential

ESPN debuted another scripted dramatic series Thursday. Hopefully the National Football League won't be offended by “Tilt,'' set at the World Poker Championship in Las Vegas, and force ESPN to drop this one like it did with “Playmakers.''


Tilt will air Thursday nights at 9, with one-hour shows that will explore the drama of high-stakes gambling, as well as the action away from the table where greed and revenge fuel conflict, power plays and deal-making.


“The launch of our next drama underscores ESPN's commitment to scripted entertainment,'' said Mark Shapiro, ESPN executive vice president, programming and production. “Capitalizing on the incredible popularity of poker and ‘Playmakers,' ‘Tilt' promises to put the audience at the table and into the lives of the characters.''


“Tilt'' will take place in Las Vegas in the days leading up to the World Poker Championship. The viewer will see an inside look at this glamorous and dangerous world through the eyes of the players. In addition to the competition in cards, the central characters will battle for control, money and fame.


In the series premiere, Eddie Towne (played by Eddie Cibrian), Miami (Kristin Lehman) and Clark Marcellin (Todd Williams) - three young, determined and very able poker pros - descend upon the Colorado Casino in Las Vegas. Their plan is to get revenge on Don “The Matador'' Everest (Michael Madsen) - a crooked character who wronged each of them and who has a stranglehold on the Vegas poker scene. These three aren't the only ones after “The Matador.” Lee Nickel (Chris Bauer), an Iowa lawman, arrives in Sin City to settle a score of his own with Everest.


Like “Playmakers,'' it's going to take a few more episodes to determine whether “Tilt'' is a keeper. It's rated TV14 but still has a mature theme to it. A bathroom sexual scene and a gun-pointing situation during an underground poker game were parts of the show that could have been left out.


“Tilt'' has potential, once the characters have been exposed.