Aces Aced In Face The Ace
Phil Ivey, Erik Lindgren and Howard Lederer were the pros featured in the premiere of Face The Ace. All three of them were bested by the contestants.
In the first match of the day, Jonathan Nygaard from Jonestown, Pennsylvania drew Phil Ivey as his first Ace. Nygaard who had a really good run of cards in the match was dealt 
in the very first hand. He took down this first hand and never looked back.
Don Topel Aiming For $1 Million
In the deciding hand, Nygaard picked up 
against Ivey's 
. Ivey decided to go all in after Nygaard played back strongly against his raise. The queens held up and the match was over. When asked about the hand later, Ivey said “He played real aggressive. I didn’t think he had a hand, so I moved all-in and I was wrong". Nygaard then decided to go home with the $40,00 he had already won.
Don Topel from Midlothian, Illinois was the second contestant and he drew Erik Lindgren (pictured right) for his first match. Lindgren easily won the first 3 hands but Topel came back strongly to take the chip lead. With 
and a short stack, Lindgren decided to push all-in after 
came on the flop. Topel called with 
for a flush draw. The 
on the turn completed his flush and the 
on the river meant Lindgren was beat.
Don Topel then decided to parlay his $40,000 into $200,000 by facing his second Ace. He drew Howard "The Professor" Lederer for the match. The defining hand of this match came when Topel picked up 
against Lederer's 
. Lederer decided to put Topel all-in after a raise and a re-raise. Topel called instantly and his pocket kings held up to cripple Lederer. Not long later, the match was over.
When asked after the match, Lederer said that Topel should go for the $1 million. "He played well. He has a reasonable chance" said The Professor. Topel took Lederer's advice and decided to risk the $200,000 he had already won. He will be back in the next episode to try to beat a third Ace, and go home a millionaire.
