A Lookback At The Micros

The poker industry had a great 2010, everybody was playing poker and the game was on TV constantly. We had no idea of what was coming, that we would need laughs... 

Enter the Micros created by John Wright and Jay Rosenkrantz.

Before the Micros

Despite being a niche series not meant for everyone, it had some pedigree behind it. 

Jay 'KRANTZ' Rosenkrantz. Was a high stakes poker player known for "Two Months Two Million" and "From Busto To Robusto". 

John Wright has a Master's Degree in Film and Animation from UCLA. He worked as a writer on Lilo and Stitch: The Animated Series and was a Poker Instructor and Video Producer for CardRunners.

Under the Showdown Monkey LLC banner, they both created The Micros.

The Micros

The Micros followed Chase (Donovan Oakleaf), a break even micro-grinder and his poker friends, Tommy (Nathan Baker), and Rose (Kristin Aldrich) as they go from the micros to the nosebleeds. 

Rosenkrantz co-wrote the pilot with Wright who also directed it. It was popular but expensive to make. If they would continue the series, they would need a sponsor...

Yeah, it's one of those stories.

The series was popular, Chase and Röfls even cameo'd in the 2011 WSOP broadcast, but no one could sponsor the second season after Black Friday. It had to end.

Quick Episode Guide:

The Pilot - 11/9/2010

Chase hits a one-outer and wins a million dollars which he shares with his poker buddies. 

Playing Poker Like The Rose - 1/24/2011

Rose LAGs the bankroll down the drain playing against a known whale.

One Flew Over the Kookaburra's Nest - 2/27/2011 (re-released 9/26/2012)

Rose escapes a mental institution as Chase plays in the Aussie Millions and Tommy flirts with Tatjana Pasalic.

Heads Up 4 Röfls - 3/31/2011

Chase agrees to a Heads Up 4 Rolls vs Max Röfls (Jeff Cannata), a German pro with a Vendetta. 

Countdown To Busto - 5/13/2011

Chase is close to losing it all against Röfls but receives advice from a special guest star.  

2011 WSOP Special - 6/30/2011

A  ''meta'' episode, the main characters beg many poker pros to sponsor the series.

Triple Episode Merge - 12/24/2011

The characters react to Black Friday.

The Lost Episode - 12/9/2012

Commissioned by PokerStars, Chase tries to get better by playing Zoom on PokerStars, he fails.

After The Micros

For a while Showdown Monkey released comic strips with their characters commenting on different events in poker. 

While working on the Micros, KRANTZ was producing Bet Raise Fold, a documentary that was about Poker players and ended up being about Black Friday.  The last Micros comic strip featured the three main characters in line to watch the movie.

John Wright still makes Internet content, he was the meme master behind "Building Wonder Woman's Invisible Jet" and "Toy Story and Walking Dead are Basically the Same". 

Hopefully we’ll see another collaboration from these two, cause the Micros was great!