@nbc @NBCThePlayer @philipwinchestr @charitywakefld @WesleyTSnipes @Daisy_Betts, NBC’s The Player is a show I tuned into with moderate expectations.  I heard a little hype about it at San Diego Comic-Con, but not enough to be sure about the premise, or maybe more precisely, sure it was a show I would enjoy.

Having just sat down with the first episode I can honestly say I enjoyed that considerably more than I dared hope to.

Imagine being in Las Vegas, a guy who might not always be perfect, but somewhere along the line he met a girl who stole his heart, a woman who believed “if you do good, you are good,” and this guy, at his core, he wants to be a good guy.  He is approached by people who have access to profound resources, and information, and they are doing what so many in Vegas do, running in a betting parlor.  Wagering on crimes.  They offer you a chance to be their player in the game, a person money is being laid down on, and you can, via them, tap into their resources of information as they adjust the odds on you for their gamblers based on your actions.  Conceivably you could save lives.  Prevent crimes.  Possibly.  Hopefully.  Well, maybe.

After all, the house does always win, and in the modern age it can be easy to be cynical and hard to know exactly what motivates people — but for the guy who wants to be good, wouldn’t it be tempting to accept the offer to be their player?

Unfortunately viewers either are not find The Player, or are not sharing my curiosity as to how the show will unfold, so if this is one you were thinking about checking out you might want to head the direction of video on demand or possibly the NBC site and stream the episodes now, and check it out.  (Or on Hulu.com)

From the executive producers of “The Blacklist” comes the action-packed Las Vegas-set thriller “The Player.” The series co-stars Wesley Snipes as a pit boss and Charity Wakefield as the dealer for a high-stakes game where an organization of wealthy individuals gamble on the ability of former military operative turned security expert Philip Winchester (“Strike Back,” “Fringe”) to stop some of the biggest crimes imaginable from playing out. Can he take them down from the inside and get revenge for the death of his wife, or is it true what they say: The house always wins.

John Rogers serves as writer and executive producer. John Davis, John Fox and director Bharat Nalluri also executive produce. “The Player” is produced by Sony Pictures Television, Davis Entertainment and Kung Fu Monkey.