Brandon McSmith Claims Rights to Face the Ace

Recently, Poker News Daily reader Brandon McSmith wrote in claiming that Poker PROductions, which brought the NBC poker game show “Face the Ace” to life, took his idea for the series without permission. We sat down with Smith to get his side of the story in the lawsuit, which is currently pending in Nevada.

Poker News Daily: Thanks for writing in. Tell us about your claim against Poker PROductions.

Brandon McSmith: I created a show called the “All Star Poker Challenge.” I pitched it to Poker PROductions, specifically to Mori Eskandani. They sent me an e-mail saying to send it over to them and they’d take a look. Subsequently, Mori sent an e-mail back rejecting the concept. He said in the e-mail that a contestant risking everything to play on was a flawed concept.

PND: How did you find out about “Face the Ace” airing on NBC?

Brandon McSmith: While online, I read about “Face the Ace” and thought it was my show. I saw that Poker PROductions created it, so I contacted them and they responded with their general counsel stating that first and foremost, I contacted the wrong people. They said NBC brought the show to them. We contacted NBC, who said that they were in discussions with Poker PROductions and Full Tilt Poker and Full Tilt came up with the concept. This is all documented in letters and e-mails.

Right now, I have a suit pending in the Eighth District Court in Nevada. I have paralegals drawing papers for me. I’m confident that the judge and jury will see that they lied three different times.

PND: How did NBC and Poker PROductions respond when you contacted them?

Brandon McSmith: I have Poker PROductions saying that NBC brought it to them. NBC said Full Tilt brought it to them, but I didn’t name Full Tilt in the lawsuit. Full Tilt tried to act like Big Brother and come in and protect Poker PROductions. They haven’t done anything in court, so I left them out of it. If they assert a claim to it, I’d be happy to ask the judge to amend the complaint to include Full Tilt.

PND: Were there any differences between the “All Star Poker Challenge” and “Face the Ace”?

Brandon McSmith: The prize structure was different. They also had one less door and two fewer matches. I had five doors and five matches, with $2,000 per match. On the fifth match, you’d win $10,000 plus a World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event entry. Everything else was the same.

PND: How did you come up with your poker game show idea?

Brandon McSmith: I’m just an Average Joe who plays poker around Las Vegas. One day after playing in Tuscany, a small poker room, I was coming home and thought there was nothing out there like this. I’d love to play in the WSOP Main Event, but can’t afford the $10,000 buy-in. Everything on television is pros versus pros. Out of that, I sat down for an hour or so to hammer out the concept. I pitched it to several people and everyone was nice and loved the concept. Out of all the people I pitched it to, Mori was the only one who stole it.

PND: What damages are you seeking?

Brandon McSmith: I’m seeking fair compensation. Whatever the courts decide, I’m fine with. I think they’ll get hit on punitive damages. The compensatory part is what the show is worth. Once the judge and jury realize that two powerhouses stole the idea, they’re going to inflict a hefty punitive damage award to it.

PND: Did you have a dollar value in mind?

Brandon McSmith: I don’t have a number right now because I don’t know what the show has done. I also don’t know what the agreement is. What is a flop in the United States could be a hit in Europe and I don’t know the scope of their plans. I’m just a regular guy who pitched the show. The “Created By” credit is worth something to me since there would be something I created on television. I have several other concepts and it’d be easier to approach people or be represented by an agent.

We were supposed to go to court on January 4th, but court was shut down that day due to a security incident. Now, we’re waiting for the court to reschedule us.

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Poker jargon:

DRAWING DEAD - A draw in which it is impossible to obtain a winning hand for any of a variety of reasons: an opponent's hand is better than whatever you are drawing to, the card(s) that make your hand are out of play, or (in Hold'em) give an opponent a stronger hand even if it makes yours. Frequently used in the past tense, since one rarely knows it at the time.
EXPECTATION - The long-run [dis-]advantage of a given situation, specifically without reference to any particular outcome. I.e., what you figure to win [lose] on average after a large number of repetitions of the same situation.
TABLE STAKES - A standard rule whereby during a hand players can only bet the money they have on the table. If the bet to a player is more than the player's stack, that player may call with all his chips and be eligible to win only that portion of the pot he contributed to equally. A side pot is created, for which only the remaining players may compete.
FISH - A player who loses money. An old saying is "If you can't spot the fish at the table, *you* are the fish.".
FLOORMAN - The casino representative in charge of the card room or a section of a card room. Arbitrates disputes when unusual events happen.
STUCK - Down a nontrivial amount of money, as in "he's stuck $800".

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