AMA with Norman Chad, WSOP Announcer, Author and All-Around Funny Man!

[JKDS]

How did you get to be a WSOP announcer, and is that something you've aspired to do or just kind of fell into?

[Norman Chad]

How did you get to be a WSOP announcer, and is that something you've aspired to do or just kind of fell into?

It was an accident that I began broadcasting the WSOP. It was like a piano falling out of the sky, and instead of crushing me to death, it landed right next to me -- and, lo and behold, I can play the piano! I had been doing some other work for ESPN in 2002, when they decided to expand its WSOP coverage for the first time. They were bringing in an outside production company with no poker background to do the WSOP, and ESPN -- thinking I had more poker experience than I did -- asked me to consult with the company to help them figure out how to show poker. After several months of conference caklls and e-mails and the like, a producer then called and asked, "Ever consider doing poker commentary on TV? Because you make us laugh on the phone all the time." And I said, sure, I'll do it, figuring it was a one-and-out deal. Then -- boom!!! -- Chris Moneymaker wins, online poker takes off simultaneously and suddenly everyone's watching poker on TV.