Too much of everything

Such a frustrating disappointment

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Network: ESPN; Genre: Drama, Crime; Content Rating: TV-14 (language, strong sexual content, brutal violence); Available: DVD; Perspective: Contemporary (star range: 1 - 4); Seasons Reviewed: Complete Series (1 season) Following in the footsteps of their first drama series, the controversial "Playmakers", ESPN's "Tilt" takes an unflattering look at the world of high stakes Las Vegas poker. "Playmakers" was an admirable failure, riddle with as many accomplishments as clichés. "Tilt" takes advantage of the national surge in interest for Texas Hold'Em, then turns around and bites the hand that fed it that opportunity. How dare the public not have recognized a game that has been around since the old west until now. There was some cynical fun in "Playmakers" take on football, but "Tilt" is an angry, bitter, relentlessly soul-sucking experience that is so single-minded in its attempt to demonize Vegas that the city could consider a defamation suit.When family man and cop Lee (Chris Bauer, "The Wire") sits down at the high stakes table he gets cleaned out by Don "The Matador" Everest. It turns out that Don is not only a legend in the poker world, but a strong arm of the casino sent to make sure that the house wins at all costs. If Lee wasn't enough of a pit bull bent on bringing down Everest, three pro poker players (Eddie Cibrian, Kristin Lehman, and Todd Williams), who were also at one time ruined by The Matador, team up to bring him down during the national poker championships.The poker action is as exciting as poker action gets. But creators Brian Koppelman and David Levien don't trust that poker will hold the narrative (a more talented team could have made it work), so they fill the stories with mobster, FBI agents, scam artists and a little murder mystery. Their Vegas is a full-on sadistic nightmare of a city, more "The Sopranos" than "Las Vegas", that sucks people in and eats them alive like a big neon monster. If the casino owners aren't crooked enough, the cops and judges are. Every few minutes somebody is being brutally beaten, casually murdered or tortured all set to trashing rock music. Nothing wrong with being loud, except when it is used as a transparent attempt to cover up a thread-bare nonsensical story.None of the characters are the slightest bit likable. Everybody growls and snarls either out of revenge or detachment or sheer black-and-white evil for the sake of evil. B-movie staple Michael "pardon me while I never clear my throat" Madsen is the worst as Everest. This unconvincing tough guy has 2 purposes: threatening in a gruff voice and beating while yelling in a gruff voice.The show is filled with monologues relating poker to life while saying nothing at all. On paper, on HBO or FX, this might not be a recipe for disaster, but Koppelman and Levien have a Jerry Bruckheimer/Michael Bay sense of subtlety and ESPN doesn't have the experience or sense of quality control to rein them in. Under their eye a simple poker revenge drama becomes a loud, tacky, empty-headed, testosterone-fueled piece of punishment. "Tilt" is cheesy, B-movie stuff – and not the fun kind either.* / 4

I would be lying if I didn't say I was disappointed with the TV series, "Tilt". I thought Rounders was a brilliant movie, and expected the TV show to be at least close to as good as the movie. My impression after watching the first few episodes was that a lot of the acting was bad (except for Madsen, of course), the writing was cheesy, and there wasn't that much actual poker playing involved. Tha being said, however, I watched the whole series without missing an episode. Despite its flaws, the show is interesting, and makes sure that you want to watch the next episode to see what happens. If you haven't seen it yet, don't expect "Rounders: The Series", but expect a show that is fun to watch, and will have you quote lines from it with your friends.

Wow, the only acting I have seen this bad was in the movie Showgirls. This girl that plays Miami acts as if she studied under Elizabeth Berkley. The writing is awful to be kind. It seems like the only hand Michael Madson can turn over is a straight holding crap cards like a 5 and an 8 to pull a straight. That girl who plays young Miami should have her SAG card taken away. This show is terrible for the poker community. It gives the impression that to be a successful poker player you have to be a cheat. People are not going to go to Vegas and play in big money games it they think they are being cheated by friends who all sit at the same table.

May contain spoilers!ESPN takes another foray into the entertainment portion of the sports arena with "Tilt", a new series focusing on the world of high stakes poker. Michael Madsen plays "The Matador", the world's best poker player, and a hustler."The Matador" is in league with seemingly everyone - the owners of the casino, the police, other players, and is using his influence to fleece the unsuspecting opponents he faces. He is opposed on two sides, first by the county sheriff brother of a man who tried to expose the Matador's cheating, and also by a trio of young players whom the Matador had cleaned out in the past by cheating. The young players are being staked by a mysterious older man who also has a grudge against the Matador.Unlike other poker series out there (Lucky comes to mind), this show seems fluid and well written. Madsen convincingly plays an amoral scumbag and the supporting cast is excellent. Those of you familiar with the poker world will notice the similarities between the character of the Matador and with real life poker icon Doyle Brunson. Most of the script seems to based on real life accusations made against the poker great by people like Russ Georgiev, who claims to have actively cheated at poker with many of the greats of the game. More on this can be seen at Georgiev's website. It is an interesting view into both this series and the seedly underbelly of pro poker.All in all - an excellent show.