High stakes poker

Television series
German title	High stakes poker
Original title	High stakes poker
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Year (s)	since 2005
length	43 minutes
Episodes	98 in 7 seasons
genre	Poker format
Theme music	I'm all in
idea	Henry Orenstein
production	Henry Orenstein
music	John Pratt
First broadcast	January 16, 2006 (USA) on GSN
German-language first broadcast	September 10, 2007 on Sport1

High Stakes Poker (HSP) is an American television format broadcast by GSN . In the show, well-known poker players compete against each other in a game round. Since 2005, 98 episodes of 43 minutes each have been created in seven seasons.

The show was hosted by columnist and television presenter AJ Benza . He was accompanied by the comedian and poker player Gabe Kaplan , who acted as an expert. Benza was replaced by Kara Scott after the fifth season , and Kaplan by Norm Macdonald after the sixth season. In Germany, the format began to be broadcast on September 10, 2007 on German sports television, today Sport1 .

format

Game format

High stakes poker is played as a cash game , which is highly unusual for a television format with poker content. In contrast to a tournament , a player in a cash game buys into the round for a minimum amount. Each token that is used represents a real money value. As a result, every participant can buy out at any point in time, which means that his chips are paid in the corresponding currency and he is subsequently excluded from the current game. If a participant should lose all of his chips, he has the opportunity to buy in as often as he likes. In the course of a game, the minimum stakes are not increased, but remain constant over the entire duration. Accordingly, there are no official winners or losers at the end of a session.

The idea of ​​broadcasting a cash game with well-known players instead of a poker tournament was unique when high stakes poker was first created. The number of such formats is now increasing steadily.

Variant and setting structure

Bundles of $ 50,000 dollars as used in the shipment.

Although those responsible were already breaking new ground with the game format, they stayed true to the main stream of poker broadcasts, at least in terms of game variant . The currently most popular variant of No Limit Texas Hold'em is also played at high stakes poker . The ante , the amount each player has to pay before receiving a hand, is $ 100. While the blinds, the minimum stakes for two players, were $ 300 and $ 600 in the first three seasons, the blinds were increased to $ 600 and $ 1200 in the later episodes of the fourth season. An additional third blind, called a straddle , is set up every now and then if the players mutually agree. This is then at $ 2400. In order to be allowed to participate, a player must pass the selection process in addition to a certain level of awareness and be able to show a minimum amount of money. In the first seasons the minimum was $ 100,000, at the end of the fourth season the amount was increased to $ 500,000. If a player should lose all of his chips, he can buy in again for any amount. However, this amount also has a lower limit with half of the initial minimum purchase. If a player is of the opinion that his current chip balance has a negative impact on his game, he may buy additional chips to his stack between two hands ( add on ). Again, the minimum purchase is $ 50,000. In addition to tokens, each player may also use bundled $ 100 notes valued at $ 5,000 to $ 100,000.

One of the participants, professional poker player Daniel Negreanu , stated on his web forum after the first season aired that GSN pays each participant an hourly wage of $ 1,250 in exchange for each player risking a large sum of money.

Special rules

In contrast to large tournaments, where the participants have to adhere to the sometimes strict interpretation of rules, special rules are accepted in high stakes poker . The only condition here is that if the rule is used for only one hand, all players involved in the current pot must agree. Should the rule be applied over a long period of time, all players must agree.

A rule that has often been used in all four seasons is the straddle , a kind of third minimum bet. A straddle is the mandatory bet that the player to the left of the big blind must pay. This bet is double the second blind and is applied if all players agree to this option. As a result, there is a large amount of money in the pot right from the start and the players are therefore a little more aggressive . The first three seasons saw about $ 3,000 in the pot with a straddle, and in the later episodes of the fourth season the total rose to just over $ 5,000. In some episodes there was even a re-straddle , which can be used in addition to the "normal" straddle and is four times the size of the big blind .

Especially in the case of large pots after a showdown , the players have all remaining cards deal twice ( run or deal it twice ). If a player has the best hand on both runs, he wins the entire pot. However, if both players can only win the pot once, the pot will be split . The reason that this rule is applied again and again is that the luck factor is significantly reduced with several runs. So it is rather unlikely that a player with the significantly worse hand wins the pot twice; however, this also increases the chance for the player with the weaker hand to reach at least one tied pot. With repeated runs, there is no disadvantage for a player, whether he is holding the better or the worse hand.

In the third season, two players, the Lebanese Sam Farha and the Israeli Eli Elezra , whose home countries were at war a few days earlier , split the pot among themselves before the flop as a "proof of peace".

Broadcast image

Gabe Kaplan , himself a semi-professional player, accompanies the show as an expert.

procedure

The opening credits are played at the beginning of each episode. Immediately afterwards there is a brief summary of the previous program for about 30 seconds, with commentary from Benza. The program then switched to the two commentators on the show. It is always stated that you are in the hotel where the game is taking place. In fact, the dialogues are recorded against a backdrop in a television studio. These speak briefly again about the main events of the previous episode, with Kaplan often using sarcasm. Immediately afterwards, the commentators give a preview of the current program, then it is played. At first glance, the viewer has the impression that the game is being played live. But this is only a cut version of the original recordings.

If there are new players at the table, Benza and Kaplan briefly explain to the viewer who it is. In certain situations, for example when two players have played a large pot , a short statement is made by one of these players, often via his opponent. In the first season, short videos about the everyday life of the participants were also shown regularly. During the broadcast or after advertising breaks, the commentator's studio is occasionally switched to, where they talk about trivial events at the table.

At the end there is again a switch to the two commentators who recapitulate the events and give an outlook on the next episode.

interaction

The viewer knows the cards of all players in the current hand at all times. This is made possible by cameras that are located under a small glass plate that is integrated into the game surface and is in front of each player. Immediately after the two hole cards have been dealt , they are placed on the glass. The information from the table cameras is then visualized by a responsible person. As a result, the hand, the probability that these cards will win in the end, the current action of the player - only since the end of the second season - and his name are displayed on the left edge of the screen - but only on condition that he does not discard the hand directly . Otherwise, the viewer usually does not receive any information about the two cards. In rare cases, mostly when a player puts down a strong hand immediately or thinks about it for a long time, the table camera of the player concerned is switched over so that the viewer sees his cards directly. The hands were rarely shown in the first two seasons when a player discards his cards after a long pause. The size of the current pot is displayed in the top left corner. As soon as the community cards are dealt, there is a switch to the ceiling camera, which is aimed directly at the center of the table on which the cards are placed. Then these, like the players' cards, are displayed as symbols in the lower right corner. In addition, the two commentators explain and evaluate the moves. While Benza mainly passes on the size of the bets and the cards of the players to the audience, Kaplan is responsible for the strategic part of the game. For example, he often analyzes what the player whose turn it is might think. As with the introduction, he often uses an ironic undertone.

history

production

Since 2005, a total of 86 episodes have been produced in six seasons. All episodes were recorded in an area of ​​the respective hotel specially set up for the show, which looked almost the same in all seasons. In addition to the poker table , which has always had space for up to eight participants, all rooms also had various comfortable seats for invited visitors or players who took a break or were waiting to be seated. They also had a hosted bar whose waitress delivered drinks directly to the table for a fee.

1st season

The first season was recorded at the Golden Nugget Hotel in Las Vegas in late 2005 . A number of the most famous players like Daniel Negreanu , Barry Greenstein or Doyle Brunson , but also some wealthy amateurs like Jerry Buss and Amir Nasseri took part. While most of the attendees bought in for the minimum of $ 100,000, Negreanu took over $ 1 million to the table. A total of 24 hours of poker were played on three different days, from which 13 episodes were cut with an individual duration of slightly less than 45 minutes net length. GSN began broadcasting on New Years Day 2006.

A total of 19 players took part in this season. The nations represented were the United States , Canada , Iran , Lebanon , Vietnam, and Israel . Tran and Harman were the only two female participants. The proportion of women was accordingly 10.5%. Most of the participants were professionals, but four amateurs, Buss, Stupak, Chamanara and Nasseri also took part in this season. The only player who sat at the table non-stop for all episodes was Daniel Negreanu. A total of three players, each with two episodes, shared the shortest appearance.

2nd season

After the successful broadcast of the first season from January 2006, the production of the second season began in the spring of the same year. The biggest change compared to the previous season was probably the change of the casino in which the filming location was set up. The Golden Nugget has been left to film at the Palms Casino Resort . The change also changed the value of the hotel's own chips , which was a small change for the viewer. Otherwise there were no noteworthy changes. It was shot for the first time on two match days, around 12 hours long.

The premiere finally takes place on June 5, 2006. Since this season with 16 episodes had three more than the first, the new episodes were broadcast weekly until late September.

With 22 players there were three more players this year than in the first season. In addition, with the Dane Gus Hansen , a European played for the first time . A remarkably high number of players who would subsequently become regular visitors to the show celebrated their premiere this season. Among them were prominent players like Phil Laak , "Yukon Brad" Booth and Erick Lindgren .

3rd season

Filming started at the end of 2006. It was not filmed in the Palms Casino Resort as in the previous one , but in South Point . From the game material, which was recorded over two days, 13 episodes were produced. In the third season there were relatively many new participants. Otherwise there were no major changes compared to the previous seasons. The first episode of the season aired on January 15, 2007.

28 participants represented a new record. Daniel Negreanu was, like the two times before, the player who spent the most time at the table with 10 episodes. The sixth episode was also the first in the history of the format that he was not involved as a player or commentator. Three players share the shortest appearance with three episodes. With Patrik Antonius and David Benyamine , two Europeans took part in this season. Other new players were, for example, the winner and runner-up of the biggest poker tournament of all time, the 2006 Main Event , Jamie Gold and Paul Wasicka , but also cash game specialists such as Phil Ivey and Brian Townsend .

4th season

See also: Season 4 on Wikinews

For the first time, the venue was retained for the fourth season. So it was played again at South Point . However, the appearance of the chips has changed slightly. Instead of the South Coast - chips from the third season which will now Southpoint chips used because the casino was renamed accordingly.

The recordings were finished in mid-May 2007 after three days. The first episode aired on August 27, 2007 on their old slot. The seventeen episodes of this season were filmed on three game days of eight hours each. While the minimum purchase on the first day was the usual $ 100,000, all players had to buy in for at least $ 500,000 on the third day. In addition, the blinds were doubled for this period.

After the third season of the format was successfully broadcast and even the most-watched TV show on the station, the television station announced on April 2, 2007, in close proximity to the final episode of the previous season, that a fourth season would be produced. Filming finally began in mid-May that year. There were a total of three game days of eight hours each, from which 17 episodes of 40 minutes each were cut. In the previous seasons there were 16 and 13 episodes twice. This mark represented a new record. After GSN originally intended to start broadcasting in late September, the fourth season celebrated its premiere on Monday, August 27, 2007.

22 players took part in the fourth season. As in the previous two seasons, Jennifer Harman was the only woman at the table. Again there were some semi-professional players at the table, Guy Laliberté was the only amateur player. Again, only Antonius and Benyamine represented the European continent. This year there were a total of 13 participants who also took part in the third season. With Phil Hellmuth , a player who was previously only seen in the first season returned. Accordingly, eight players were seen for the first time this year. Among them are, in addition to the wealthy amateur Guy Laliberte, Brandon Adams, Mike Baxter, Brian Brandon, Phil Galfond, Bob Safai, Antonio Salorio and Haralabos Voulgaris. These players are largely especially for their success in online - cash games known.

This year, for the first time, the selection process for the participants was criticized. As Galfond noted on his blog, he was promised a seat at the table for both the second and third days. According to his own account, he flew “across the country” to get the entrance fee, totaling over $ 700,000  . In fact, he could only spend two hours or forty hands at the table on the second day. Nevertheless, knowing that he would play the entire third session, he prepared for the next day. Late in the evening, however, the producers brought him the message that three of the experienced participants from the second day had decided at the last moment to play on the third day as well. So Phil Galfond had to leave early. He also expressed concern that the audience might have received a bad impression from his brief appearance. Brian Townsend , who was already participating in the third season, originally wanted to participate this year as well. However, those responsible for the format decided against it, as Townsend was very quiet in the previous season and thus offered little entertainment value for the audience apart from his game.

5th season

Season 5 of High Stakes Poker was recorded in late December 2008 and returns to its hometown, the Golden Nugget Casino, which was previously renovated. The line-up includes old friends like Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson and Eli Elezra as well as well-known internet players like Tom "Durrr" Dwan and Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies. A total of 13 episodes were recorded. The broadcast of the fifth season on US television began on March 1, 2009.

The complete line-up: Patrik Antonius, David Benyamine, Mike Baxter, Doyle Brunson, Nick Cassavetes, Tom Dwan, Peter Eastgate, Eli Elezra, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Laak, Barry Greenstein, Joe Hachem, Howard Lederer, Alan Meltzer, Dario Minieri , Daniel Negreanu, David Peat, Ilari Sahamies and Sam Simon.

6th season

On February 14th, the 6th season of the show started, in which AJ Benza no longer appears as a co-host, but instead Kaplan comments on the events alone. At his side is Kara Scott , who, however, is right at the table and conducts interviews with the players. Season 6 has so far been Tom Dwan, Eli Elezra, Antonio Esfandiari, Dario Minieri, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, Andreas Hoivold and Gus Hansen, with Hellmuth getting his entire stack of $ 200,000 in the first episode and then left the table without doing a rebuy.

Podcast

Since September 14, 2006, a free video podcast has been released every one to two weeks and is available on Apple iTunes . In these, about three minutes long, a look behind the scenes of the show is taken. Often participants analyze their game or give their opinion on their opponents. The content that is shown is usually not aired in the regular episodes.

Charisma and reactions

Broadcast slot and audience ratings

High Stakes Poker airs every Monday at 9:00 p.m. Central US time . The fourth season is shown at the same time on Tuesdays. The net length of an episode is approximately 40 to 42 minutes. With the commercial breaks , the broadcast time is around an hour. If no new episode is available for first airing, GSN will repeat episodes from previous seasons. In the second quarter of 2007, High Stakes Poker was the station's highest audience program. The particularly large reach in the target group of men between the ages of 18 and 34 was made clear by GSN. The household average in spring was 0.4.

The German broadcaster DSF originally wanted to broadcast the format as early as June 2007. Due to legal problems, however, the premiere was postponed to September 10, 2007.

resonance

High stakes poker has a very good reputation among poker experts . Beginners especially appreciate the high learning factor of the series. This is mainly generated by the fact that, unlike television tournaments, the players are not pressured into aggressive actions. As a result, there is significantly less all-ins and more interesting game actions. In addition, most of the players are experienced professionals who usually play more attractively than the often inexperienced tournament players.

Combinations

Possible combinations

All possible combinations from the high card to the quadruple appeared in each of the four seasons. By the end of the third season, the player "Yukon Brad" Booth was the only one who could manage to use his starting cards to form a straight flush . The remarkable thing about it is that he did it on the first hand he played. After he got 8 ♦ 9 ♦ and the flop gave him an open ended straight flush draw thanks to 10 ♦ J ♦ , he completed his hand with a Q ♦ on the turn. There is also a straight flush in the fourth season (episode 14). This time David Benyamine gets this one. He holds 4 ♣ 5 ♣ and the flop gives him a straight 6 ♣ 7 ♠ 3 ♣ . The turn comes the 2 ♣ , which completes his straight flush.

The Canadian Daniel Negreanu is the only player to have had four of a kind so far . He ended up with four sevens on both hands.

Strong starting hands confrontations

In the history of the format, there have been some extremely unfavorable starting hand distributions for at least one player.

The fifth episode of the first season was the last of the first day of shooting. Especially towards the end of the show, it was clear from the behavior and play of the players that they were trying to take as little risk as possible. After the dealer announced that the final hand of the night would be dealt , Barry Greenstein received A ♥ A ♣ . Sam Farha was given K ♣ K ♦ . After thinking for a while, Farha decided to risk all of his chips in this hand, which Greenstein got into, of course. Farha offered Greenstein to deal all cards twice, which would have meant a decrease in the luck factor. Barry Greenstein refused. While the two kings only had a 20 percent chance of winning at this point, this number changed abruptly with the K ♥ , which was brought with the first three community cards. Farha offered Greenstein again to play the turn and the river cards twice. Greenstein, however, stuck to his no. With no improvement in Greenstein's aces with the last two cards, Farha won $ 361,800 and the largest pot, which was played pre-flop by the end of season three.

In a later episode of the same season, three players received high pairs. While Phil Hellmuth “only” had two tens, Elezra received two jacks. Antonio Esfandiari was the player who picked up the perfect starting hand with two aces. All the chips landed in the pot before a community card was dealt. As in the previous case, the aces did not stand due to a jack on the turn, the fourth card, and Elezra won the over $ 200,000 pot.

In season two, two players (Eli Elezra and Cory Zeidman) received two kings. After a pre-flop showdown, they ended up splitting the money.

Biggest pot

The largest pot by the end of the third season was played in the second season between Gus Hansen and Daniel Negreanu in the 11th episode. There was a total of $ 575,700 in the pot at the end of the hand, equivalent to nearly 960 big blinds . Hansen was able to prevail with 5 ♦ 5 ♣ due to the community cards 9 ♣ 6 ♦ 5 ♥ 5 ♠ 8 ♠ against Negreanus 6 ♠ 6 ♥ . While Hansen held the best possible hand with four of a kind , Negreanu could only be beaten by three card combinations.

That record was broken in season 4 when Doyle Brunson and Guy Laliberte were involved in a pot. Doyle raised to $ 11,200 before the flop. 4 players called the raise. Gold had J7, Farha KJ, Benyamine K5 suited, Laliberte had A ♥ 5 ♥ and the raiser Doyle Brunson had A ♦ 10 ♦ . The flop was A ♣ J ♠ 4 ♦ . Everyone checked to Doyle, who then bet $ 40,000. All of them fit except Guy. The pot was now $ 137,100. The turn came 2 ♦ . She gave Doyle a nut flush draw and Guy an inside straight draw alongside his ace pair. Guy checked and Doyle bet $ 110,000. Guy raised to $ 310,000. Doyle didn't think twice and went all in. Guy then only had to pay 30,500 and called. The pot was now $ 818,100. They decided to play the river card twice. For $ 409,050 each. There was no help for Guy, however, and Doyle Brunson won the whole pot. So Guy lost nearly $ 400,000 in hand.

In the 5th season, the existing record was broken when Barry Greenstein and Tom Dwan met. Peter Eastgate with A ♠ K ♥ Greenstein with A ♦ A ♣ and Dwan K ♠ Q ♠ raised and called to $ 15,000 before the flop. The flop was 2 ♠ 4 ♠ Q ♥ , which gave Tom Dwan a flush draw with further outs on two pairs or trips, which is why he alluded to $ 28,700. Eastgate, who missed the flop, then folded his hand. Greenstein, who had an overpair on hand, was not impressed and raised to $ 100,000. Dwan then re-raised to $ 244,600. Greenstein, wanting to protect his hand, moved all-in relatively quickly for a total of $ 436,100, which Dwan called without hesitation. The pot now totaled $ 919,600, making it the largest ever televised pot. The two were in a 50:50 situation before the last two cards, so Dwan wanted to deal twice on the turn and river to reduce the variance a little. That was turned down by Greenstein, who offered to take $ 200,000 out of the pot. Dwan didn't want that, so the pot was played without a deal. The turn brought Dwan the Q ♣ and trips. The river card didn't help Greenstein, so Dwan was able to win the biggest pot in high stakes poker to date.

Special occurrences

In the following, some special incidents are listed that occurred outside of the "normal" everyday gaming routine.

"Going south"

In the ninth episode of the first season, the participant Freddy Deeb left the table without explanation. Some players jokingly assumed that he might have taken chips off the table without permission ( "going south" ). After he came back, some players confronted him about it. Deeb denied and asked to know who had accused him. The situation then escalated. Deeb demanded that the person in charge of the rules of the game resolve the conflict. After the camera records confirmed that Deeb did not actually take chips from the table, the situation calmed down again. Sheikhan, a player at the table, gave him a rose to comfort him, whereupon Deeb thanked him with the words "I love you" and Sheikhan replied with the words "I love you, too".

Exchange of commentators

At the beginning of the third season, the presenter Gabe Kaplan played two episodes at the table. Daniel Negreanu was ready to give up his seat at the table if he was allowed to moderate in return. Kaplan accepted the offer, and Daniel actually moderated for that time. Kaplan borrowed the $ 110,000 entry fee from Doyle Brunson. He also placed ten wads of money of 100 $ 1 notes each in front of him. Negreanu said he only did this to "look cool". When Gabe Kaplan left the table with a clear win, he stated that it was the easiest game he had ever played. The two then swapped roles again.

Dispute between Matusow and Sheikhan

During the same period, Shahram Sheikhan broke the sunglasses of his arch-rival Mike Matusow . Sheikhan had previously announced that he would destroy his glasses later in the day. After the fact, he called the dealer by saying "shuffle up and deal" that includes the annual World Series of Poker will be opened, for mixing and cards being dealt.

Attendees

74 players sat at the table in 7 seasons and 98 episodes. This corresponds to an average of around 10.5 new players per season. The majority of all participants were professional poker players; the small remainder are wealthy amateurs. Of all the participants, Jennifer Harman , Mimi Tran and Vanessa Selbst were the only women.

All participants are allowed to invite people they know to attend the game as observers . Phil Laak and Daniel Alaei , for example, made use of this, and their partners observed the game over a longer period of time. While Daniel Negreanu and Mike "The Mouth" Matusow were visited by their mothers at the end of the second season, Antonio Esfandiari invited a large part of his family around the same time.

The show's excellent reputation among the top players is underscored by the fact that 14 of the 25 most profitable tournament players at the time took part in high stakes poker .

Doyle Brunson

Antonio Esfandiari

Barry Greenstein

Daniel Negreanu

player	origin	job	Number of seasons	Played seasons
Brandon Adams		Professor, poker player	1	4th
Daniel Alaei		Poker player	3	1-3
Patrik Antonius		Poker player	4th	3-6
David Benyamine		Poker player	4th	3-6
Mike Baxter		Hedge fund manager	3	4-5, 7
Brad Booth		Poker player	3	2-4
Doyle Brunson		Poker player	7th	1-7
Todd Brunson		Poker player	4th	1-4
Jerry Buss		Entrepreneur, majority owner of LA Lakers	1	1
Nick Cassavetes		Actor, director	1	5
Fred Chamanara		Restaurant owner	2	1-2
Johnny Chan		Poker player	2	1, 7
Bill Chen		Mathematician, poker player	1	3
Robert Croak		Entrepreneur	1	7th
Jonathan Duhamel		Poker player	1	7th
John D'Agostino		Poker player	1	3
Freddy Deeb		Poker player	1	1
Tom Dwan		Poker player	2	5-6
Peter Eastgate		Poker player	1	5
Eli Elezra		Entrepreneur, poker player	6th	1-6
Antonio Esfandiari		Poker player	7th	1-7
Sammy Farha		Poker player	4th	1-4
Chris Ferguson		Poker player	1	3
Amnon Filippi		Poker player	1	2
Ted Forrest		Poker player	2	1-2
Phil Galfond		Poker player	3	4, 6-7
Jamie Gold		Poker player	2	3-4
Barry Greenstein		Poker player	7th	1-7
Bertrand Grospellier		Poker player	1	6th
David Gray		Poker player	1	2
Joe Hachem		Poker player	1	5
Gus Hansen		Poker player	2	2, 6
Jennifer Harman		Poker player	4th	1-4
Dan Harmetz		Entrepreneur	1	3
Phil Hellmuth		Poker player	3	1, 4, 6
Andreas Høivold		Poker player	1	6th
Phil Ivey		Poker player	2	3, 6
John Juanda		Poker player	1	2
Gabe Kaplan		Actor, poker player	1	3
Bill Klein		Entrepreneur	1	7th
Phil Laak		Poker player	6th	2-7
Guy Laliberté		Founder of the Cirque du Soleil	1	4th
Howard Lederer		Poker player, co-founder of Full Tilt Poker	1	5
Erick Lindgren		Poker player	2	2-3
Minh Ly		Poker player	1	2
Mike Matusow		Poker player	4th	2-4, 6
Alan Meltzer		Entrepreneur	1	5
Jason Mercier		Poker player	2	6-7
Dario Minieri		Poker player	2	5-6
Michael Mizrachi		Poker player	1	2
Amir Nasseri		Physicist, poker player	1	1
Daniel Negreanu		Poker player	7th	1-7
David Peat		Poker player	2	5, 7
Dennis Phillips		Accountant, poker player	1	6th
Victor Ramdin		Poker player	1	3
Andrew Robl		Poker player	2	6-7
Phil Ruffin		Entrepreneur	1	7th
Bob Safai		Real estate partner	1	4th
Ilari Sahamies		Poker player	1	5
Antonio Salorio		Poker player	1	4th
Vanessa herself		Poker player	1	7th
Dan Shak		Hedge fund manager, poker player	1	3
Nicolette Shea		Poker player	1	3
Shawn Sheikhan		Poker player	3	1-3
Sam Simon		Television producer	1	5
Bob Stupak		Casino owners, poker players	1	1
Brian Townsend		Poker player	1	3
Mimi Tran		Poker player	1	1
Ilya Trincher		Poker player	1	3
Haralabos Voulgaris		Sports bettor, poker player	2	4, 7
Lex Veldhuis		Poker player	1	6th
Paul Wasicka		Poker player	1	3
David Williams		Poker player	1	3
Cory Zeidman		Poker player	1	2

Web links

• Fifth and sixth seasons on Donkpedia
• 3rd season on pokertube.com (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Jeff Haney on High Stakes Poker on lasvegassun.com ( Memento from September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (English).
2. ↑ The rules on gsn.com (English).
3. ^ Statements by Daniel Negreanu about the "hourly wages" of the players on fullcontactpoker.com ( Memento from March 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
4. ↑ Best of High Stakes Poker Vol. 1
5. ↑ ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: GSN program ) (English).
6. ↑ Announcement for the fourth season on gsn.com ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (English).
7. ↑ Phil Galfonds Blog on pokerontv.blogspot.com ( Memento from June 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (English).
8. ↑ Brian Townsend's blog on cardrunners.com (entry no longer available) (English).
9. ↑ Announcement of the fifth season on poker-prop.net (English).
10. ↑ Official advertising logo on gsn.com (English).
11. ↑ GSN announces fourth Season of High Stakes Poker on gsn.com ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (English).
12. ↑ Game Over for Cronin on Game Over for Cronin multichannel.com ( Memento from August 16, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (English).
13. ↑ Four of a Kind in the fourth season of High Stakes Poker on lasvegassun.com ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (English).
14. ↑ The eternal money list on thehendonmob.com (as of August 26, 2007).