AJ Benza out as HSP co-host

There was a thread here a few days about about which poker show was everyone's favorite. HSP was, by far, the most popular among those who responded.

Well, in case you missed it, the Game Show Network (GSN) has ousted AJ Benza as the co-host and he'll be replaced with a woman. Gabe and AJ were, in my opinion, the best co-hosts on any poker shows. While Gabe will stay, AJ's out.

Here's a copy of the info as it appeared on Poker News. Also attached is a link to the story, in case you want to go to any of the links embedded in the original story.

From Poker News:
On the Outs
We told you about AJ Benza's fears of being replaced on High Stakes Poker a few weeks ago. After a meeting with some suits at GSN, Benza took to his blog to confirm his fears. He has been replaced by an unnamed female co-host.
Benza tired to appeal to the suits by taking the family/father approach.

"I said...."Let's talk man-to-man and father-to-father." They said,"Absolutely." I unashamedly told those two guys that if I don't get my gig back....."your basically putting a man and his family on the street. Is that what you want on your conscience?" I offered a pay cut for Chrissakes. Shit, the economy is in the tank, so I'm willing to take less to do the same job."

Benza also says that if she doesn't work out, he could be back for HSP Season 7 in a strange situation that we will call "sloppy thirds." Filming for HSP Season 6 begins in November and is slated to premiere in 2010.
AJ's blog has the whole story.


http://www.pokernews.com/news/2009/1...d-was-7376.htm

I don't know about you, but I don't understand why in the heck would GSN mess with a winning formula? If you are upset by AJ's ouster, here's a link to the GSN site where you can express your displeasure.


http://www.gsn.com/cgi/help/index.ht...upport=general

Thanks for posting this...I hadn't heard about it yet. I did get a little tired of the "you don't know anything about poker AJ" routine that Gabe played but I will miss him on there.

I like HSP and Gabe, never really cared one way or the other about the other guy...but maybe that's a good thing for a co-host. Will have to see how his replacement fits in.

I used to enjoy the interaction between Gabe and AJ, Was one of the factors that makes HSP my favorite poker show. Shame...

Thanks for posting, I too had not heard. It will be interesting to see who his replacement is. I kinda feel for the guy, it sounds like he really loves his job.

I'm wondering WHY they chose to do this? Did you see anything about that in your searches?

Its a shame and it seems like he really enjoyed the job from those quotes. I thought they both did a nice job, glad to see Gabe is still on. Can't wait for the new season.

AJ is ok, but lets see who they actually replace him with. If it's someone like Lacey Jones, I doubt anyone will complain.

Keep in mind that the majority of the announce work on HSP is voiceover. One of the great things about that show is that AJ and Gabe are rarely seen on the show, and they don't clutter the broadcast with lame interviews with the players. I fear that adding a female to the broadcast team will go hand-in-hand with changing the format to a more "Poker After Dark" feel, which is fine for what it is, but it's not HSP.

I hope there's a public backlash and GSN changes their mind. I might be wrong, but this sounds like it's just changing the show for the worst.

I really hope season 6 sucks so they can bring AJ back, imo he and gabe were the show, they made watching other people play poker actually entertaining, and all the eye candy needed there is some hot waitresses and maybe someone to interview the players.

AJ Benza getting fired seems to be a hot topic at a lot of poker forums. I never knew people liked the guy so much. I guess I always took him for granted, as Gabe Kaplan seemed to be the star of the show. Now that Kaplan will have a female co-host, maybe the jokes will get a little bit racier. Benza was at least better than that Corboy guy who announced the PPT. I would like to see a poker show bring back the guy from Battlebots; he was a fun announcer.

Wow, I can't see that as an improvement. They were the best two behind the mike by far.

He will be missed.

As long as Gabe stays I'm happy. Interesting to see if the new host will become more popular than him. Gabe's humor is what makes the game more enjoyable to watch.

I think GSN just made a big mistake. GAbe and AJ had a good chemistry that they have built up for 5 seasons. I don't think AJ was all that great on GSN but him and Gabe seemed to play off each other. Hopefully this female is decent, but still High STakes poker will be a must on my Tivo.

Zee plot thickens - now people (Daniel Negreanu, for one) are claiming that while there'll be someone else joining the show in some capacity or other but Gabe is actually going to be doing the commentary solo. And everyone seems to be leaning towards it being a woman taking the spot.

More interesting though is that Stars are apparently going to be sponsoring it next season:

http://pokerati.com/2009/10/14/poker...-stakes-poker/

Massive shame, IMO. One of the many things I like about HSP is that it isn't covered in the advertising patches and sponsored segments that every other poker show on TV feels the need to include.

As for AJ Benza leaving, I dunno, I'm pretty meh about it. The only real purpose he served was to give Gabe something to bounce off. He contributed pretty much nothing else to the show. And Gabe's a professional, I'm sure they'll find another way to make his commentary work.

Depends on who the woman is, and what she brings to the show. If she's just eye candy, no. If she's interesting and a poker player...

Which poker lady would you like to see in this? I'm thinking Isabelle Mercier would be good. She has a bit of an edge...

This took too long imo. AJ tilts me every time he talks.

FWIW that's an interesting double standard - people are bemoaning the fact that AJ is being fired even though he knew sod all about poker. It's obviously not necessary to the format. So why should we care if the woman (if indeed it is a woman and if she's actually asked to do the same job - neither seem confirmed) that replaces him does or not?

Anywho, Vanessa Rousso is a name that's getting mentioned a bit and she'd certainly fit in with a Stars sponsorship of the show. Sounds like there's no particular basis for that rumour though. Same goes for rumours linking Vanessa Selbst to the show, though her inclusion should at least appease the "poker knowledge not aesthetics" crowd - FWIW I think she'd be pretty good at the job.

Annie Duke would be a smart choice IMO, though if Stars is sponsoring they're not really likely to give UB's leading lady a job.

And if it's a host / presenter role rather than a commentary one alongside Gabe then it probably doesn't matter who they choose.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Hope they are making the right decision here. HSP is one of the best poker shows on. All though every time I saw AJ the word "gangsta" came to mind (lol).
Take care

Vanessa Rousso.....Really.... If that is what happens I will mute the entire show while watching it! I don't know why but she just annoys me. Good poker player, but not very interesting when she talks.

I tend to agree that she's pretty dull on camera, though I did see the point made that a pre-taped show like HSP is a very different proposition to, say, a stand-up interview during a tournament. On a pre-taped show they can do multiple takes and edit out all the umms, aaahhhs and duuuhs

I want Vanessa Rousso as the co-host, she is cute

When I was in Dallas this summer, I saw Courtney Friel as a newsreporter for one of the tv stations there. She was as bad as that as she was on poker shows, and she was one of the better poker-chippies. Get a woman who plays poker to be an announcer--Barbara Enright for example. She's a character and has known Gabe Kaplan forever so they would work well off each other.

If we dream hard enough

Welcome back Shana

Attached Images

20091016-123901_shana-hiatt-5.jpg.jpg (97.1 KB, 12 views)

Bad news. I like this guy. The show was very popular with him so I dont understand this decision.
Maybe the girl should be the third commentator, that would be the good solution.

Does it really matter what the woman looks like? She's only going to be on camera (hopefully) for that minute at the beginning and end of the shows. For that little exposure even Kathy Leibert wouldn't destroy your capability to see.

AJ and Gabe had some "witty" repartee but I doubt any of it was adlib. They did seem to get along well but AJ wasn't really necessary to the show, Gabe is with his actual poker knowledge.

yeah. im not tore up over AJ not being on the show....gabe i do believe is the more important of the two as he can actually explain the action to the viewers who may not always be familiar with a certain player or something that may be going on in a hand

Shaa Hiatt would really be quite good for this role.. she seems to do the co host analysis quite well when working the WPT for the post match interviews.

However this, i think Gabes class act jokes are going to be toned down if they get a woman on the show.

As for AJ Benza leaving, its a real shame because even though he doesn't have the lifelong experience playing poker that Kaplan has, he seemed to be the Yin to Gabes Yang in many respects and they were a great match and very humerous to listen to.

and dwan turns over 8/6 for a pair of 8's to win the pot of 134K... "thats not the pair howard expected"

Thanks for the GSN link-I sent my suggestion in already. For the record- I can't stand Shana Hiatt. She's just a semi pretty face they set out there who reads cue cards.

glad hes gone, he was pretty annoying

I think that Gabe and AJ were the best commentators couple ever.... well, I hope the new commentator will be funny as hell, like Gabe and AJ were... They shouldn't took AJ out, both of them were great!

I thought I heard somewhere that the big rumor was it was going to be Kara Scott. I actually would like to see her on it.

i agree with this!!

I herd Kara Scott is a contender to take over as the co-host for HSP season 6. MMMMMM Kara Scott. Yummm.

I wouldn't object, i'll say that much. she seems to have a lot of experience playing poker and she's very attractive.

"if only i could find a girl like that i could do it right this time" truith

i think that if they get a person like her on the show it will target a greater nieche for the shows popularity. Im not saying most people out there watched the WPT because Shana was on the show , but lets not whitewash the truth here.....