PODCAST: Poker Stories With Norman Chad

Norman Chad has been a familiar sight on World Series of Poker broadcasts since 2003, half of the iconic commentary duo along with Lon McEachern that helped to spark the poker boom with ESPN’s main event coverage. “This is beyond fairy tale, it’s inconceivable,” Chad exclaimed as Chris Moneymaker secured the title.

In the years since, Chad has become a fan favorite, adding in catch phrases such as ‘whamboozled’ or ‘squadoosh’ while cracking jokes about his past failed marriages. His contributions to growing the game were recognized in 2020, when he and McEachern were jointly nominated for the Poker Hall of Fame.

Outside of poker, Chad has worked as a sportswriter for The Washington Post and Sports Illustrated and appeared on ESPN’s Pardon The Interruption and as the host of Reel Classics. He also wrote the book Hold On, Honey, I’ll Take You To The Hospital At Halftime (Confessions Of A TV Sports Junkie), and was credited on episodes for the TV shows Arliss and Coach.

Highlights from this interview include being more of a watcher, the university of poker, stand up comedy and a premeditated egg, winning awards with Ed Asner, why he quit betting sports in 1984, how poker paid for someone else’s law school, sleeping with angels, the secret Lon, a short-lived blackjack card counting team, being starstruck by George McGovern, Sam Simon’s home game, getting angled by Norm Macdonald, Wallace Shawn, and Paul Giamatti, the Hellmuth of bowling, and the final table setting of his third wedding.

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