Winning With a Set of ACES : Poker Player

Winning With a Set of ACES

In a new DVD movie to be released in early September, trip aces are the best hand. Coincidentally, the movie is called ACES, and it is being sponsored by Aces.com, an online gaming site. And the aces just happen to be three gorgeous women who navigate their way through the poker world.

While attempting to run a scam using their good looks and crafty poker techniques, the women find themselves in a high stakes poker game in Las Vegas that leads them down a dangerous path – endangering their lives and risking everything they've worked for.

ACES is a fun film about the lure of poker for the new generation of players, the allure as well as the dangers for women in the game, and the camaraderie between women, no matter their varying intentions or backgrounds.

The Aces Themselves

Sheena Chou plays Peiti, a college student who plays online poker as a way of creating extra income for herself. She is a skilled and cunning player but tends to follow the group's leader rather than make her own decisions.

Chou's real life story is somewhat similar in that she is preparing to graduate from UCLA and does play poker as regularly as her busy schedule permits. The main difference from her character, however, is that she is very grounded and makes her own way – quite successfully. She is a model and actress with several television and film credits under her belt and numerous modeling contracts in the works.

As for ACES, it was a role that Chou wanted and vehemently pursued. "I always loved poker, and I really wanted to do this movie," she says. "I went to three auditions in three months. At one of them, I actually had to audition at the same time that another girl was [auditioning], but I got the part."

Chou enjoyed the shoot which lasted ten days. It was a whirlwind event, but working with a low budget for an independent movie, they filmed a few days in Los Angeles, a few days in Las Vegas, and wrapped it up in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. "It was stressful," she recalls, "but the whole crew was really cool, and we played a lot of poker on the road."

Christina Morris plays Elle, who is the dominating personality of the three women. Her character is a skilled poker player who plays in casinos and underground card clubs, and she believes that she has a scam that will make all of them rich.

In real life, Morris is also an outgoing actress who has been in demand for a number of roles and modeling opportunities. She hails from Sacramento, but came to Los Angeles on her own to make a career for herself. Despite some bad experiences with some shady people in the beginning, she held her own – much like her character in ACES – and her career is taking off.

"My manager sent me out, and the part they gave me [at the audition] was the role of a girl who was being a bitch, and I thought, this will be fun!" Morris recalls. "They asked me to go blonde for the role, and after the second audition with the wig, [the producer/director] was really rooting for me."

As for her poker experience, Morris didn't have much coming into the role. "I played a few times and learned," she says. "I definitely enjoy it! But I'm looking forward to playing more and learning more in time. My character mostly taught them how to play instead of actually playing. That's good acting, baby!"

"The best part of the movie for me was driving my car in Vegas," Morris adds, noting that the Camaro featured in the film is hers. "I had never driven it out of L.A., so cruising on the Strip was a lot of fun."

The third woman featured in the film is Lacey Toups, who played the role of Brooke, the completely inexperienced poker player who learned the game and, in the end, was the one who was put to the ultimate test of poker skills in a match in the film's climactic scenes.

Toups was raised in Plano, Texas but now lives in Florida, pursuing an acting career from the Sunshine State. She has a number of significant film and television parts on her resume, and she hopes that this film will propel her to a new range of possibilities.

Toups' level of poker experience was somewhere between that of her two costars. "My boyfriend taught me to play poker," she says. "My first experience was playing with him about two years ago. To study for the role, I played poker at least twice a week, watched Rounders a lot, and spoke to one of my friends who has a very similar history to that of Brooke. I love the game."

The Jack of All Trades
 
Daniel Zirilli is the director and producer of ACES, not to mention the co-writer of the film. He was in charge of tight scheduling under a very tight budget – the obstacles associated with independent films – but he believed in the movie and carried it out.

Zirilli was raised to be a lawyer but was diverted from that path when attending Pepperdine University; screenwriting classes caught his eye. Upon graduation, he was immediately offered work in the music video business, and he has produced over 200 music videos to date, with bands like the Rolling Stones in his considerable list of credits. Through his own studio, Popart Film Factory, which was established in 1990, he now has several feature projects completed and even more in the works.

ACES was a pet project of Zirilli's. "It's obviously got a great hook, and it's very timely. Even a year ago, when I started pitching the project, people were skeptical, but I said to the distributor, ‘I know this thing is going to work.' The investors believed it, too, so I wrote the story, and Glase Lomond wrote the screenplay."

Zirilli even has a cameo in the movie, as a high stakes poker player named Danny the Shark, and much of the role came naturally to him. "When I knew I was going to do [the film], I got really into it. I've played a ton of poker since, especially home games, but I like Texas no limit hold'em at casinos."

On the whole, Zirilli is proud of the movie and the characters that made it come to life. "I like the strong female lead, character-driven movies. I think they're fun, and I think girls kick ass! I don't want to put them in the victim role," he asserts. "I think it's a fun movie and a good slice of pop culture. It doesn't take itself too seriously; it's a bit of an escape."

ACES is due to be released on DVD soon and will be available on Time Warner Video on Demand thirty days later. And anyone can play poker with the female stars of the movie by logging on to Aces.com.

Written by Jennifer Newell.

Printed with permission from American Poker Player Magazine.