Poker News

Norm MacDonald replaces Gabe Kaplan as High Stakes Poker Host

In a move that shocked poker TV fans, High Stakes Poker producers announced that comedian Norm MacDonald will replace Gabe Kaplan as host in the show’s seventh season.

Most people recognize MacDonald from his stint on Saturday Night Live from 1993 to 1997. MacDonald ran the “Weekend Update” segment for three years, and he played a recurring character named Stan Hooper. In addition to his SNL work, MacDonald has also appeared on numerous movies and TV shows including The Drew Carey Show, Billy Madison, Dirty Work, Dr. Doolittle, Family Guy, Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo and Funny People.

Of course, MacDonald didn’t earn the High Stakes Poker gig on his comedic and acting abilities alone since he’s also a player. MacDonald had two live cashes in 2006 when he earned $5,238 in an LA Poker Classic side event and $20,915 in a weekly Bellagio tournament. He was also a regular on the Playboy TV poker show called Sam’s Game.

The big story in all of this is that High Stakes Poker decided to make their second big move in as many years by dropping Kaplan in favor of MacDonald. The previous year, they replaced Kaplan’s popular co-host A.J. Benza with Party Poker representative Kara Scott. Speaking of which, you can get a 100% bonus up to $500 at Party Poker by signing up with the code “POKERSENSE”.

Another interesting change in Season 7 of High Stakes Poker is that no Full Tilt Poker players will be playing. And while it’s not been confirmed, most people believe that this has to do with High Stakes Poker’s new sponsor - PokerStars. Since PokerStars and Full Tilt are constantly competing for supremacy over the online poker world, don’t expect to see Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan, or Patrik Antonius taking part in a PokerStars-sponsored show anytime soon.

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