Rebuy!
High Stakes Poker Back in Action?
Yesterday was supposed to be the day we learned the future of the World Poker Tour. No such luck. However, WSOP stalwart monopodder Steve Hall hears from Eric Drache, who was playing in Day 1 of the $10,000 7-stud World Championship, that High Stakes Poker will be back. The word is that HSP, along with Poker after Dark, will be moving from the South Point Casino back to the Golden Nugget. High Stakes will reportedly begin filming new episodes in August.
No info yet on time-buys or even what network will be airing the show(s) — but all indications point toward NBC. Drache is one of those important poker people who few of us have heard of — his last cash coming in 1991, where he finished 5th in a 7-stud event in Laughlin. But since then he’s gone on to manage all sorts of card rooms — including the Golden Nugget — and most recently has served as a consultant for NBC.
Drache is also the guy credited with creating the concept of tournament satellites and the “must move” table, according to Wikipedia.
UPDATE: It’s possible but not likely we are wrong on this. Less traceable thirdhand sources are saying no way this is happening at the Golden Nugget.
Poker on TV says:
June 9th, 2008 at 1:18am
I’m pretty sure Drache works for Poker PROductions. He and Mori Eskandani were the “Executive Consultants” on High Stakes Poker, and I believe he’s credited on Poker After Dark as well. That doesn’t mean the rumor’s true, though. Rumors seem to swirl around HSP like they do around the death of a famous celebrity.
DanM says:
June 9th, 2008 at 1:37am
Yeah, that’s exactly right on the production crew … and that’s the hat Steve was wearing. (Steve loves swag.) So I gotta think the “rumor” coming straight from the horse’s mouth is pretty valid, no?
Either he’s totally full of shit or’s got the stone-cold nuts.
DanM says:
June 9th, 2008 at 1:42am
The reconfirmed word, btw, secondhand two ways … is that Golden Nugget is indeed the place, High Stakes Poker is indeed the show … and Full Tilt Poker is paying for it. No confirmation on the network … but NBC seems so logical.
Poker on TV says:
June 9th, 2008 at 3:01am
That would be great. I’m skeptical about the NBC part, though, because GSN owns HSP. They could sell the rights of course.
GSN/WPT are expected to announce another delay in GSN’s WPT decision today. Just a few days ago Mori Eskandani was saying that if GSN decided to continue with poker he was confident that HSP would be back. So the above seems to be quite a change in a few days, unless the plan is to keep all the shows on GSN.