High Stakes Poker will return for Season 5 on GSN
With filming still on hold and no announcement of a venue or player lineup, rumors have been circulating for months about the future of High Stakes Poker. The WPT’s contract expired in late May, adding fuel to the fire. But, a late decision was made to bring back the show for its fifth season on GSN. “We’re thrilled, we’re really excited about it. We recently decided we would be doing a fifth season. We haven’t shot it yet but will roll it out soon though.” says Kevin Belinkoff, Vice President of Programming for GSN. Details on the show’s lineup of stars for this season are still a mystery. The network is currently looking for young players who are compelling and can display their skills in an entertaining and professional way.
Addressing rumors of whether pot-limit Omaha would make its first appearance on the series, Belinkoff said, “It’s still High Stakes Poker, it will still be no-limit hold’em. We always look to change the game up, look for different things we can do with the game, different players, but at the end of the day, it will still be the same cash game that everyone knows. We kind of let the players do their own thing, so if they come up with other things, then we just let them have their way with it.”
In the past, players showed up with at least the minimum buy-in of $100,000 and played $300-$600 with a $100 ante. In the past few seasons however, players have been showing up with an increasing amount of cash, with some even buying in for $1,000,000. Mori Eskadani, President of Poker PROductions, would like to see the minimum buy-in increase to $250,000 with the blinds increasing to $400-$600. Eskadani feels that the show’s hands-off approach has worked well and wouldn’t be altered in Season 5. The only deviation from that policy was when the network suggested that players not talk about the props being bet at the table. The related props banter often confused the viewing audience who couldn’t discern the side action in which bets were placed on what the board would bring.
Stay tuned for further High Stakes Poker updates on the cast and release date for Season 5.
