In the months following Black Friday, several poker TV shows got the axe since they lost key sponsors. However, one show that appeared destined to return was High Stakes Poker after the Game Show Network announced it would be back on. Unfortunately, it looks like GSN has changed their minds since High Stakes Poker is not on the early 2012 lineup.
As of January 2nd, 2012, the formerly-popular poker show will be off GSN and looking for a new home. The Chuck Woolery-hosted game show “Lingo” will take HSP’s old time slot, which is 3:00 am ET on Saturday mornings.
High Stakes Poker is arguably the most successful poker TV show in history since it lasted for a full seven seasons. The program commonly featured some of the top poker pros in the world such as Patrik Antonius, Jason Mercier, Phil Ivey, Barry Greenstein and Tom Dwan.
HSP programmers made some interesting moves over the show’s history, which included breaking up the popular commentating duo of Gabe Kaplan and AJ Benza; hostess Kara Scott was brought in to replace Benza in Season 6. Despite initial protests, the move didn’t turn out too badly as Scott did a commendable job in her two seasons of work.
The second big change, which involved replacing Kaplan with comedian Norm Macdonald in Season 7, didn’t work out quite so well. It was clear that Macdonald wasn’t nearly as well-versed in poker terminology as Kaplan, and his dry sense of humor often misfired with the audience.
Macdonald’s presence on the show turned a fair share of viewers off, and months later, GSN has apparently chose to part ways with the poker show. This leaves the possibility open that another network/sponsor could step in and revive the show, but don’t hold your breath.
