It’s the end of an era. According to Poker Listings, but not independently confirmed by PocketFives, GSN has cut “High Stakes Poker,” its signature cash game poker franchise, from its schedule. Consequently, the show will not return for an eighth season after it began airing five years ago. PocketFives attempted to reach out to GSN numerous times this week for verification and comment, but our calls and e-mails were not returned.

According to Poker Listings, “‘High Stakes Poker’ will no longer be shown on the network effective Jan. 2, 2012.” The show took a major hit following Black Friday, as its primary sponsor, PokerStars, was driven from the U.S. market. The United States Department of Justice targeted PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker on Black Friday in April, leaving “High Stakes Poker” and other poker television franchises without sponsorship dollars.

Besides ad revenue, “High Stakes Poker” also apparently suffered because of its on-screen talent. Poker Listings explained, “The show reportedly lost a good portion of its audience when Norm Macdonald (pictured) recently took over from Gabe Kaplan.” Macdonald, who gained fame on series like “Saturday Night Live,” was largely monotone in the booth and, unlike Kaplan, did not provide in-depth poker analysis.

“High Stakes Poker” originally starred Kaplan and A.J. Benza before the latter was axed in 2009. Kaplan then flew solo in the announce booth, with PartyPokerpro Kara Scott conducting interviews from the floor of the “High Stakes Poker” suite. Previewing who might take his place, Benza told Poker News Daily in a 2009 interview, “I hope you like the female they toss in front of you. And I hope the repartee between she and Gabe works likes ours did.”

Earlier this year, Macdonald took over the reigns from Kaplan. In addition, the seventh season featured a dearth of Full Tilt Poker pros, including Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, and Tom Dwan, who had to that point been fan favorites. We all know what happened to Full Tilt, but its pros’ absence left PokerStars players to square off against wealthy businessmen, which appeared to change the dynamic of the show’s seventh and final season.

Did we mention the seventh season of “High Stakes Poker” was filmed in 3D?

An article that appeared on ESPN.com shortly after it was announced that Macdonald was taking the reigns cautioned that expert analysis would likely be needed: “As [Macdonald] replaces Kaplan (pictured), he’s going to rely on his comedy and let the action speak for itself … which is basically what the show is known for in the first place. That said, the game is about serious money and serious action and without intelligent commentary and analysis, real die-hard poker fans might as well watch the show on mute.”

Reportedly, some of them did just that.

On TwoPlusTwo, a thread referring to the Poker Listings article popped up, with fans of the show blaming Macdonald and Black Friday for its demise. One poster wrote, “Can’t say I’m surprised. I was totally uninterested this season and I don’t mind Norm, but yeah I wish Gabe was there.” Another TwoPlusTwo member added, “When A.J. left, it went down a notch, and when Gabe left, it went down another. The battle of the sites didn’t help either, nor did BF, but this show was on its way out.”

One poster perhaps summed up the community’s reaction to the cancellation of “High Stakes Poker” the best: “Very sad to see this show get canceled, but not a huge surprise. It was easily the best poker show on TV for a long time… I knew HSP was destined to fail when Norm took over. The entire program was flat and the action was boring. In fact, it seems like the show lost its chemistry completely and his commentary was beyond bad.”

Other casualties of Black Friday include NBC’s “National Heads-Up Poker Championship” and “Poker After Dark” along with FOX’s “PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge.”