By
Dan |
Published
Nov 06 2009, 12:04 AM
Recently, GSN officials released the cast list for Season 6 of the popular cash game franchise “High Stakes Poker.” A total of 17 names were revealed and filming begins on November 11th at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas. In a radical change from Season 5, A.J. Benza is out as host. His replacement is none other than Kara Scott, a television veteran who is one of only two women to make the money in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event in back-to-back years.
When the news broke that Benza was out as “High Stakes Poker” host after five seasons, the PocketFives.com online poker community responded sharply. saxton82 was one of those who chimed in and stated, “good, i thought Benza blew anyway....they need Kaplan and Norman Chad to do all poker coverage.” It won’t be Chad, an ESPN announcer, joining “Welcome Back, Kotter” star Gabe Kaplan. Instead, it will be Scott, who will take to the floor of the “High Stakes Poker” suite for interviews and analysis.
“High Stakes Poker” Executive Producer
Mori Eskandani told PocketFives.com, “When it comes to actual playing in cash games and having the knowledge she has, she is the best-suited. She also knows all of the international players.” First-time players competing in the sixth season of “High Stakes Poker” include
Sammy George, a cash game aficionado who has earned the nickname “Any Two.” Also making their way to Las Vegas to appear on “High Stakes Poker” for the first time is
Andreas Hoivold, who resides in Norway.
Debuting on “High Stakes Poker” with George and Hoivold are Yevgeniy
Jovial Gent Timoshenko (pictured at left),
Dennis Phillips, and Lex
RaSZi Veldhuis. Timoshenko took down the World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship and
PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event, both in 2009, for nearly $4 million total. Phillips made back-to-back deep runs in the WSOP Main Event and took third last year for $4.5 million. Veldhuis final tabled the $40,000 buy-in event commemorating the 40th running of the WSOP for $277,000.
Besides the five aforementioned newcomers, others who will appear on “High Stakes Poker” Season 6 include Patrik Antonius, David Benyamine, Doyle Brunson, Tom Dwan, Eli Elezra, Antonio Esfandiari, Barry
barryg1 Greenstein (pictured at right), Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Mike Matusow, Allan Meltzer, and Daniel Negreanu. GSN officials are especially looking forward to hosting Ivey, who will be fresh off an appearance at the 2009 WSOP Main Event final table as part of the November Nine.
Some in the poker community have drawn the comparison between “
Poker After Dark” and “High Stakes Poker” given Scott’s introduction as a floor reporter. Both shows are developed by
Poker PROductions, but Eskandani shunned the similarities: “Six-handed games on ‘Poker After Dark’ have smaller in buy-ins and are smaller in size. ‘High Stakes Poker’ is the highest limit cash game that people are going to sit down and play. We set the parameters, but once the game starts, the sky’s the limit. If the table wants to take it up 10 notches, they can.” Prop bets, running boards multiple times, and friendly table banter make “High Stakes Poker” on GSN a perennial fan favorite.
Eskandani faces the tough task of one-upping the previous season of “High Stakes Poker” each time out, but revealed the secret to his success: “When we compile a list, we start out with our core players, people who are known in USA television and around the world. Then, we go into the world of cash games and start asking who’s hot and who’s not. We get tons of comments from friends and players and start feeling them out.” Eskandani also reviews what personalities made waves during previous seasons and tries to court them once again. Last season, the most talked about player was
Dwan (pictured at right), who scooped the largest pot in “High Stakes Poker” history at the expense of Greenstein.
“High Stakes Poker” will hit television airwaves for its new season on
Sunday, February 14th at 8:00pm ET.