Is GSN Looking to Revive “High Stakes Poker”?

Ever since “Black Friday,” the number of poker programs on television has dwindled. Although stalwarts like the World Series of Poker, the World Poker Tour and even the Heartland Poker Tour have been able to make it through the fray, the number of “made for television” poker productions has become almost nil. There is some hope, however, as a recent survey is gauging interest in a rebirth of one of poker’s most popular programs.

In a video on GSN’s (formerly the Game Show Network) YouTube channel, people are asked to take part in a survey regarding their program “High Stakes Poker.” That survey is intriguing to poker fans in that it does seem that the cable network is getting information as to whether bringing back the program would be worthwhile. A look at the questions on the survey will more than likely offer the brass at GSN information as to their future course of action.

After getting the basic demographic information out of the way (age, sex, location, etc.), the survey delves into the nuts and bolts of what GSN is wondering. How much poker a viewer watches in a week, how often that the respondent watched “High Stakes Poker” in a typical month and whether the respondent watched the program online (and where) are some of the opening questions that the survey asks. Following those questions, the GSN survey looks deeper into what makes “High Stakes Poker” tick for the viewers.

The survey asks about what draws the respondent to watching “High Stakes Poker,” whether it is the players, the venue where the event is being held or whether the viewer is watching to improve their own play. The questionnaire also looks into what was one of the more controversial aspects of the program, its hosts.

Two of the hosts of the program, Gabe Kaplan (who hosted the show for its first six seasons) and Kara Scott (who hosted the last two), are in particularly singled out. The questions delve into what level of importance the host of the program is, looking to grade Kaplan and Scott on whether it was “important” for the enjoyment of “High Stakes Poker.” As these two notable poker hosts were the main draws (other than the players), GSN could be considering bringing one (or both) back if the show is revived. The survey closes with questions on what other poker programming the respondent watches, their primary source for poker information and the person’s favorite poker player.

“High Stakes Poker” came about during the mid-2000s “poker boom” that brought a great deal of poker programming to network and cable television. In 2006, the show – which featured a cash game populated with some of the biggest names in the poker world such as Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu and Barry Greenstein (among many others) – premiered on GSN with Kaplan and co-host A. J. Benza doing the commentary from the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas (the show would also be shot at the Palms and the South Point Casino during its run). It immediately became popular with the poker community for the demonstration of the complexity of cash game play (previous televised poker only dealt with tournament poker), the banter between the players (and Kaplan and Benza) and the factor that the players involved were bringing in their own money to take part in the game.

The format continued with various casts of characters and hosts for its seven season run. After the fifth season, Benza was replaced with Scott (much to the chagrin of many viewers) and, after the sixth season, Kaplan was replaced with Norm MacDonald. Despite these changes, the series continued to be popular until an unprecedented act finally ended its run.

After the “Black Friday” indictments of April 2011, the show lost most of its sponsorship from the online poker rooms that were affected by the litigation (this was typical of many productions at the time, including the PokerStars-backed “Million Dollar Challenge” and the Full Tilt Poker-sponsored “Face The Ace”). “High Stakes Poker’s” final episodes were broadcast in May 2011 and, since then, has slumbered while the poker world recovered.

If GSN were to bring back “High Stakes Poker,” it would be a truly welcomed return. There has been a slow rebirth of “made for television” poker programming (most notably “Poker Night in America” on the CBS Sports Network) and the return of an old friend such as “High Stakes Poker” would undoubtedly be cheered by the poker community.