High Stakes Poker - GSN
Overview
High-Stakes Poker began airing in early
2006 with an idea unique to the TV poker world: air the biggest cash
games in the world instead of big tournaments. It seems like a
simple enough idea, but GSN’s the first network to try it out.
Featured in a private room at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las
Vegas, the show films some of the top professional poker players
(and some wealthy amateurs) playing for real cash.
Each player buys in with his or her own money, with virtually no
maximum limit. Probably for dramatic television effect, players can
even bring stacks of cash to use along with their chips. While
typical buy-ins are $50,000 and $100,000, you’ll occasionally see
players with over $1,000,000. The game is my personal preference for
ring games: No-Limit Texas Hold’em with (I believe) $1,000/2,000
blinds. While these ultra-stakes games between professionals are
usually mixed games switching after every round, the game is
restricted to Hold’em on the show for simplicity’s sake.
The initial season will be 14-weeks long and feature players like
poker legend
Doyle Brunson, his son Todd Brunson, Daniel Negreanu,
Ted Forrest, Phil Hellmuth, Barry Greenstein, Johnny Chan, L.A.
Lakers owner Jerry Buss, and a wealthy local physician whose name is
currently escaping me. It is hosted by AJ Benza and Gabe Kaplan sits
alongside him for an insider’s take on the game. I always find
sounds to be extremely entertaining and I think that Kaplan has an
interesting voice combined with a nice touch of humorous sarcasm.
Comments
I commend GSN for finally catching on
and airing what actually earns these pros the big bucks. Easily,
millions of dollars are exchanged during each session and many
amateurs don’t realize that tournaments are really only about the
glory, the respect, and the win for these professionals. This is
where the real money is. The actual show is pretty entertaining,
although I usually find GSN’s poker coverage somewhat dry. It
certainly doesn’t have the production value of the WSOP or WPT, but
it’s a different format and I like it. As usual, there are way too
many commercials for me to stomach so be sure to set up TiVo or your
VCR for this one.
Score
Overall, I would give High-Stakes Poker
an 8 out of 10 and I’ve been looking forward to catching new
episodes. Hopefully, the series’ contract is renewed for another
round following the initial 14-week initiation. You can catch new
episodes Mondays at 9pm and reruns at 2am late Monday night and throughout the week. You can
always check our poker TV
listings for airings each day.
For current reporting of online
high
stakes poker games, we also recommend High Stakes Report.
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