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

[Norman Chad]

Norman, who does your $1.75 go out to in this thread?

1. It's $1.25, not $1.75.

2. I have to save all my $1.25s to play the $1,500 stud/8 WSOP event in one week.

[Norman Chad]

- Who is your favorite player to comment on? (Please don't say Hellmuth.)

- What do you do outside of talking about people playing terrible poker?

- You're given $100 Billion. After you take all your vacations, buy all the fun toys, etc. What do you spend your time doing?

1. You won't let me save Hellmuth, so I won't.

2. Outside of talking about people playing terrible poker, I like to play terrible poker and bowl 142 games.

3. After all the vacations and fun toys, I would spend the remaining $99.98 billion on an alarm clock that never wakes me and a lifetime supply of Ben & Jerry's Super Fudge Chunk ice cream.

[Norman Chad]

Do you travel a lot? Where is your favorite destination for work purposes? What about for leisure?

Do you think online poker will ever be managed by the federal government in the US? Do you think the feds are just waiting for the states to get things going before they step in and take the industry over? Do you think online poker is in better hands with individual states or the government?

I'm in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Washington, D.C. most of the year.
My favorite places to go are San Francisco, Paris, New York City and any bowling alley offering a buck-a-game promotion.

[Norman Chad]

Have you ever agreed to a prop bet? If so, what were the terms and who was it with? Did you win?

I believe my second marriage was the result of a losing prop bet (for her).

[Norman Chad]

Where do you think the Mayans went wrong when calculating the day the world was supposed to end?

The Mayans did not take into consideration 'reverse pot odds.'

[Norman Chad]

How often do you play poker? Do you every play in home games just for fun?

If the government asked you to secretly reveal personal information about some of the high profile poker players that you know, would you do it?

Have you ever thought about running for public office?

1. When I'm home in Los Angeles, I play poker at Hollywood Park or the Bicycle Casino probably twice a week.

2. When the government calls, I always let it go to voice mail. If it happens to be the Internal Revenue Service, it goes straight to SPAM.

3. Yes, I wanted to run for public office a number of years ago, but then the old Soviet Union split up.

[Norman Chad]

Hi Norman Chad.

What would be your dream job?

My dream job would be to chase runaway mercury from broken thermometers at a well-paying hospital.

[Norman Chad]

I know you're a huge fan of Stud and Omaha, but why do you prefer those games over Texas Holdem?

For some reason, I don't have a Texas hold 'em "muscle." Hold em's a lot about reading people; heck, I have trouble reading a menu.
I just have a better feel of "where I'm at" in stud and Omaha, particularly the split-pot versions.

[Norman Chad]

You, sir, have done an enormous service to the game of poker and the poker community in general - I don't think the game would be where it's at today if you were not one of the commentators during these past WSOP's (sorry Gabe) - so thank you.

My question is do you write all your own material? And how much is ad libbed vs scripted? Thank you for doing this Mr. Chad!

I write (or create off the top of my head) at least 95 percent of my stuff.

In the early years of the broadcasts, I used to wing it more. As I've gotten older (and my mind has grown wearier), I now think about stuff and prepare more than I ad-lib.

In either case, it helps that I was raised outdoors.

[Norman Chad]

Hey Mr Chad,

As a budding poker journalist with aspirations to do both more interviews with top pros, and to provide live (and pre recorded) voice over commentary to Poker Events, I was wondering what you would suggest as a route to this?

Also, Congrats on the WSOP cash this year!

Well, I slept my way to the top, but I can't recommend this in general -- bad hours, and you're always playing out of position.

That's a wrap, folks!
This has been a lot of fun, but it's time for me to go watch all my "Mary Tyler Moore Shows" on DVR; I'm back up, like, 85 episodes.

Thanks for the great questions and thanks for all the kind words.

[mrickett]

Once again, a HUGE thank you for joining us today, Norman!! You made us laugh, dropped some knowledge on us, and it was simply a ton of fun to get your perspective on things! We would love to have you back one day.

Good luck in your marriage and all your other endeavors, we'll be rooting for you!

lol, and enjoy that Mary Tyler Moore!

[givememyleg]

Thanks for logging in and answering our questions, Norman! I was a kid with a dream and now that dream has become a reality.

[ttanaka]

Thank you Norman for this amazing AMA!!!

[ChipEaterMan]

Thank you Norman
I'm a fan of yours

[drmcboy]

thanks norm!