Poker Runs Over Shark With 'Real Deal' Vegas Stage Show

'The Real Deal' poker stage show at the Venetian is coming soon. (Image from TheRealDealLV.com)"]

After jumping the shark with "All In: The Poker Musical," which was such an abysmal failure that they couldn't give away tickets on CraigsList, poker has now backed up over the shark, run over it again and is pointing and laughing while the vultures pick at the carcass. Why? Another poker stage show.

The Venetian announced recently that "The Real Deal!" (exclamation mark theirs, not ours) stage show will be coming soon to its casino and will be "the first ever live, interactive poker-themed stage show,"

*cringe*

This is how the game will work:

Two members of The Real Deal! professional poker team compete live with six amateur players selected from the audience in a tournament-style game of Texas Hold'em. Along with the game on stage, the rest of the audience will use their ultra-mobile touchscreen PCs to try to accumulate points through wagers on the action (everyone will be dealt a ”˜ninth’ hand’) and various side bets (a.k.a., prop bets). An elimination process will result in the chip-leading pro, the final surviving amateur, and the point leader from the play-along audience, on stage for a three-handed finale.

Audience members will also get the chance to win $1 million by drawing for a Royal Flush.

The professional poker team, or Poker Superstars as they are also referred to, is actually quite an impressive list of pros. Somehow, they convinced Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Jr., Eli Elezra, Antonio Esfandiari, Jennifer Harman, Phil Laak, Scotty Nguyen, Gavin Smith, and Todd Brunson that this was a good idea and that at least two of them could be there six nights a week.

There's no word as to when opening night will actually be, but they are already planning a "To Go" version for corporate events and an online version.

For more information visit: http://www.therealdeallv.com/#/home