Is anybody watching high stakes poker ?

There are only 4 returning players. I know who the Vanessa girl is, but who are those other old geezers?

Is the new season starting tonight?

It's on right now!

ill take a watch

i shore did forget, but at least my DVR didnt

not sure,,, but they play like me ,,,scared

1st hand from the new season:

http://tv.gsn.com/shows/highstakespo...n-7-first-hand

I believe they're all billionaires. The geezers. :P

Esfandiari - “I had a billionaire on my left, and another billionaire on his left. I raised from the button and thought that’s the first time I’ve ever raised two billionaires in the same pot!”

I'm watching it right now and wow, how dull is it now, they need to let norm macdonald have a couple of drink before doing the show....has norm ever play poker, does anyone know?

Hhe has played in the ME, they have showed him on espn, but he only has a very elementary understanding of poker strategy imo.

ya it's such a weird gig for him, and his voice just doesn't fit it imo.
I love me Norm, but it's just weird watching him here. Like when he was doing the intro stone faced, was like he's too serious.

He does a good Bob Dole.. other than that.. I'm not a fan of Norm's.

I mean i love norm's work in his moves, and SNL, but it just not working for this, I guess I'm so use to gabe then him, and also it sounds like someone wrote for him. What happen to him...he use to be so good at what he did.

I didn't realize the new season had started. Thanks for the tip - I'll check it out...

For the OP and those who might not have heard, FTP has boycotted HSP and won't allow any of their players to play this season, so you won't see anymore Durrr, Ivey, Lederer, Matusow, etc.

And as much as I like Norm, he's no Gabe, and Gabe was lousy without a straight man. Letting AJ go was a mistake, and letting Gabe go to bring in Norm instead of just bringing AJ back was a bigger mistake. Wouldn't surprise me if Norm cost them more than Gabe and AJ combined. Especially if this move trashes their ratings.

When I heard that FTP boycotted HSP, I lost respect for FTP and some interest in watching HSP.

When I heard that Gabe was being replaced by Norm, I lost further interest in watching HSP.

When I learned that at the time of filming, Viktor Blomm was not old enough to participate in this years HSP, I lost even more interest in HSP.

But after watching that first hand, I realized that watching people play with 2+ million collective dollars on the felt will always be interesting, regardless of who is playing or commentating.

Wow, you all really liked Gabe Kaplan commentaries? I liked Gabe a long time ago, but didn't find him all that good at this. Yeah, he understood poker, which was a plus. But he got snarky with AJ, and when AJ was gone, he got into stupid jokes. Not a big fan of GK as a commentator. I like him better as a poker player...

I sort of watched last night, but was not entranced. Liked Vanessa Selbst. Barely noticed Norm. Which is probably how I prefer it.

Now if they brought in Shana Hiatt... I always liked her.

I love watching every season of High Stakes Poker. Honestly, some of the stuff that has happened on that show has been straight up crazy, I remember when there was a huge fight because someone accused Freddy Deeb I believe of taking money off the table, and he went ballistic. I haven't watched the newest epsiode, but thanks for letting me know that it has started again and I will get right on it!

Well, I agree that aside from his usually solid poker analysis, Gabe wasn't very good by himself. When AJ was given the boot Gabe kind of floundered in season 6. I think this is why a change was made in season 7 -- I'm sure Gabe felt it was the right move as well.

Gabe + AJ was excellent though -- very entertaining and often insightful. The snarky attitude with AJ and AJ playing patsy and playing along with it is what made it fun.

I have to admit Gabe was getting old but Norm hasn't shown me much better....yet.

The boycott by FTP to keep it's players out is going to hurt the show.
The amateurs will add something to the games but I want to see Daniel, Durr and Ivey

Leo, Daniel is a Stars player so you should see plenty of him still.

I loved Gabe's humor and his ability to talk poker. His relationships with and knowledge of the old-timers like Doyle added even more flavor to it. By himself, he was just too awkward, but with AJ as his foil I thought he was the best poker commentator on TV.

they killed the show imo. Used to love it

Is Viffer considered a pro?

Yes. Big online player (and baller) that has made a name for himself in live games and has had a lot of TV exposure the last few years. Well known as an action junkie that'll play ATC, much like Durrr. He's way too crazy and just doesn't give a s---, which is probably why he doesn't have a sponsorship (that I know of).

Viffer is not an online player.

/Facepalm

im just waiting for norm mcdonald to bust out the old "theres a dead hooker in the trunk" line....lol

Says who? Apparently all the bios I'm reading about him are wrong then?

http://www.pokerafterdark.com/player..._72/David_Peat

http://www.bluffmagazine.com/players...er-profile.asp


I realize he's most known these days for live play, but has been no stranger to online play. He's pretty active on 2p2, and quoting him directly from his well thread:

yes viffer is an online player and as far as i know he used to play more online than anything....google him

Why in the world is Norm replacing Gabe?

I can understand that Gabe alone last year was not a good move, but thought they should just bring back AJ Benza or a second person.....come to think of it, has there EVER been a good pokershow with just ONE commentator, except for Ali Najad on Poker After Dark? And that only works because of the planned format to have almost no commentary and let the table talk do the talking.

Or, even if you decide to axe Gabe and try someone else solo, then OK, but then you don't go with Norm, who sounds like a just more boring Gabe. This was just a big swing-and-a-miss by the shows Producers. True it's been only one episode of Season 7 with Norm, but I'm pretty sure my read will hold up.

I wonder why Gabe was take out in the first place?

+1

While I agree he has his poker roots in online play, I expect what our favorite egg white & grease laden condiment was getting at was that he doesn't play much online these days. Which is probably true, as just about everything I see/hear of him these days is live. Still, you can't just say he's not an online player as if he's never been one.

Because of the aforementioned FT boycott. No FT pros or affiliated players will be on HSP this season.

Viffer is an online personality but 90% of his play is live

Ok..please explain to me why full-tilt has boycotted show. I've heard they were going to boycott, but I still haven't looked up the reason why it happened.

Because PokerStars is the primary sponsor this season, which didn't exactly please FT.

Viffer is a big time pool hustler too. He kind of goes where the action is. He was at the Derby City Pool Tournament last month and was backing one of the pros for 17K in a side game.