The Real Deal is a Real Dud!

Posted on 19 October 2008

The Real Deal is billed as a “first-of-its-kind poker-themed stage show” shown in a new “live show format that combines fast-paced action and humor with the latest in wireless technology and abundant prizes, including a chance to win $1,000,000.”

A Las Vegas stage extravaganza that gives audience members a chance to play against the world’s best professional poker players. Sound good, right? Wrong!

Four friends and I went to a preview of The Real Deal!, (premier this Tuesday, October 21^st at 7 pm.) and wish we hadn’t.

After picking up our tickets at the box office we entered The Venetian Showroom and found that our assigned seats were in the upper half of the venue where there are no interactive devices to play along. Why would someone want to go to an interactive show and not get to play? After returning to the box office to ask just this question, I was told that there was room for only three of us in seats with the ability to play along. We played rock, paper, scissors to decide who would get those seats and split up. After asking the ushers for help, two other interactive seats were found for the other two in our party elsewhere in the theater.

Advertised hosts for the show are funnyman Paul Rodriguez and insult-style comedian Vinny Favorito. They are joined by poker pro/model Lacey Jones. Paul Rodriguez was not at the show we saw; however, Vinny Favorito is exceptionally funny.

The premise of the show is two members of The Real Deal! professional poker team compete live with six amateur players picked from the audience in a tournament-style game of Texas Hold’em. At the same time, the audience will play the virtual 9th hand against the table through the use of wireless devices operating with patented touchscreen technology. The audience members play along and are supposed to gather points through their play and prop bets.

“Cowboy” Kenna James was there calling the “play-by-play” action at the table and the two poker pros for the day were Eli Elezra and Gavin Smith.

Other The Real Deal! poker pros advertised are: Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Harmon, Phil Hellmuth Jr., Phil Laak, Antonio Esfandiari, Scotty Nguyen, and Todd Brunson.

We entered our names and nickname easily on the small touch screen devise clipped to the cup holder at our seat and then the hosts went on the do a terrible job of explaining how to enter your “prop” bets into the devise.

Prop bets are side bets. Generally players are betting on what will come on the flop. Players have certain numbers and suits, and the more often they come, the more they win.

Then there is this random portion of the show where you pick 5 of 52 card that are face down and the people with the best five card poker hands win cheap prizes and qualify to have an opportunity to be dealt a royal flush at the end of the show, netting the grand prize of $1 million. A straight flush will win a $75,000 diamond bracelet.

Eventually the 2 pros and 6 audience members actually start to play a no limit poker tournament and the audience is the 9^th member at the table, all playing the identical hand. None of the players at the table play prop bets and the audience starts with less chips than those at the table. Also the only choice the audience has in playing their cards is call or fold. What! How do you play a no limit poker tournament with no ability to raise? Oh yeah, and you never post the blinds either.

At this point, one of my friends, an avid poker player, couldn’t stand how bad it was and walked out about 15 minutes into the show. From there it just got worse. The hole cards on the interactive screens would change, the time you had to make your decision to fold or call was not synchronized with the rest of the pace of the show, the hole cards, flop, turn and river appeared be predetermined as to look totally faked, and the remaining 1 hour and 30 minutes was just ridiculous. Oh, and the prizes were really cheap for a show with ticket prices in the $75/$85 range. A portable dvd player, T-shirts, a really small, cheap looking chip set, logo T-shirts and sweatshirts, coffee mugs, etc.

The Good

The set on stage looks cool.

I received our tickets complimentary. If I had actually paid to endure this fiasco, it would have been down right insulting.

Insult style comedian, Vinny Favorito. However, you’d have a much better time catching him performing in his regular headlining show at the Flamingo for much less money.

The Bad

Everything else.

If you enjoy playing poker, stay in the poker rooms and avoid the Venetian’s The Real Deal!

Category: Entertainment, Las Vegas, Poker, Shows
Tags: Entertainment, Las Vegas, Poker, show, The Real Deal, Venetian, Vinny Favorito

1 Response to The Real Deal is a Real Dud!

Violet says:

October 19, 2008 at 8:20 pm

Your review is dead-on. That show sucks. We went last week and got that Paul Rodriguez guy. Not very funny whatsoever. I have seen Vinny at the Flamingo and he’s hilarious — an equal opportunity offender. Paul? Not so much. He appears to be capable of only making Latino jokes. Anyway, the whole thing was a train wreck and not worth your time, even if you had comped tickets. (We paid $50 a piece for ours.) If you go, make sure to get the device to play with, otherwise you will be bored sick.