Tilt [TV Series] (2005)

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The nine-episode inaugural season of the ESPN poker drama Tilt was heralded by a preview special, taking viewers behind the scenes of the production and detailing various important plot points (without giving away any significant twists or turns). The series proper, which lasts nine episodes, begins with professional gamblers Eddie (Eddie Cibrian), Clark (Todd Williams), and Miami (Kristin Lehman) tensely prepping for their high-stakes showdown with poker king Don "The Matador" Everest (Michael Madsen) at the World Poker Championships, which will be held at Las Vega's Colorado Casino, owned by the fiercely (one could say maniacally) honest Bart "Lowball" Rogers (Don McManus). Before the big game, Eddie tries to infiltrate The Matador's inner circle, hoping to pick up the great man's arsenal of strategies. The Matador likes Eddie's style and invites him to join his entourage, which sets Miami and Clark to worrying that their master plan to topple The Matador will be schneidered before it begins. Adding to the intrigue is the hot romance between Eddie and The Matador's daughter, Dee Everest (Amelia Cooke), and a murder investigation conducted by vengeful out-of-town sheriff Lee Nickel (Chris Bauer). Meanwhile, outside the poker arena, such unpleasantries as deceit, duplicity, and death constantly rear their ugly heads. And, can it be possible that the above-suspicion Lowball has actually allowed some cheating to pass by undetected in his establishment? Matters continue to develop in this same hectic pace until the final confrontation between The Matador and...who? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi