GSN Declines WPT Season VII Option

It appears as if the World Poker Tour will be one-and-done on the Game Show Network (GSN).  The WPT’s parent company, World Poker Tour Enterprises, Inc. (WPTE), announced Monday that GSN will not be picking it up for another season, after only one – WPT Season VI – on the network.  The Travel Channel was the home of the WPT for its first five seasons.

Nobody is exactly sure why this decision was made.  A Reuters article says two possibilities are that poker shows are too expensive to produces and that CEO David Goldhill wants to steer the network more towards traditional game shows.

Goldhill did say that WPTE and GSN are in talks about continuing to work together, even if it’s only to broadcast a partial slate of WPT Season VII events.  The WPTE is currently speaking with other networks about partnering for the coming WPT season, which begins July 11. 

In the meantime, WPT fans can still catch new episodes of Season VI on GSN through August 25 and old episodes on the Travel Channel.