A little more than a decade ago, Norman Chad left the Washington, D.C., area for Los Angeles, seeking fame and fortune as a television writer. Well, that didn’t exactly happen. However, Chad found success in a number of other areas. A best-selling author and syndicated columnist, Chad is perhaps best known in his role as co-host and analyst for ESPN’s “World Series of Poker,” which on Tuesday begins its 2005 competition on television. While taping the show, Chad discussed, among other things, his role in the poker craze, card-playing celebrities and bucking the odds in an entirely different game.
Anthony Cotton: What’s up?
Norman Chad: I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it, but I think I’ll be dead in four or five years from secondhand smoke.
AC: You’ve been in Vegas for seven straight weeks?
NC: That’s a long time here. They expanded the show this year from five weeks. There’s a tournament every day until the real big one that everyone watches that people think of as the World Series. I love Vegas, but being here in a casino for 14 hours a day has removed every inclination I have to gamble. I haven’t sat down at a blackjack or poker table to play at all. I love doing that, but when you’re done, all you want to do is get out.
AC: Are you the man responsible for the poker craze in America? Is that safe to say?
NC: No, it’s not safe to say. I simply happened to be in the back of the truck when it left wherever it left, and it took off at 90 miles an hour across America. I’m just riding the wave. I did not create the wave.
AC: Do you get calls or e-mails from parents complaining that you’re corrupting the youth of America?
NC: I didn’t get calls from my own parents about corrupting the youth of America – I’m not responsible for others. The gambling issue … I get e-mails from anti-gambling groups. There’s a pretty big divide there. Do you want your kid at home playing poker, practicing social skills and interacting with friends, or do you want him out drinking into the middle of the night? Gambling can be an addiction. If you get started early and it’s an addiction, you have to have someone watching you. Like any other vice, when it’s done to excess, it’s really bad news.
AC: Is part of the success (2003 World Series champion) Chris Moneymaker, and the thought that anybody can do this?
NC: There are probably two elements that created the boom: television and the Internet. You couldn’t play poker on the Internet 10 years ago. The idea that you could sit at home at any hour of the day and gamble on your computer, and television, is what created the boom. But if you’re looking for one individual, I don’t think the boom would have been as big, as soon, if (famous pro poker player) John Henderson had won. It was this guy, Chris Moneymaker, an accountant, who won a $40 tournament online to win his seat, and then turned that into $2.5 million. That was a lightning rod for everybody. If a guy off the streets can win this, then why can’t I?
AC: I can’t even remember who won last year’s event.
NC: Before, if you asked someone to name a professional poker player, they might say Johnny Chan or Amarillo Slim. If you asked someone to name a poker player right now, they could probably name more because of TV, but Chris Moneymaker would be on the very short list.
AC: You can’t change a channel without running into a televised poker event.
NC: The boom must go bust; I don’t know when. There’s not room for all of this. All we’re doing is showing what used to be a bunch of middle-aged men throwing chips into the middle of a table playing cards. It’s not exactly “Roots” or “Dynasty.” The characters are interesting, but there’s too much of it on. I guess eventually, it will shake itself out like any other cultural phenomenon.
AC: You always hear about Ben Affleck playing. Who is the best celebrity player?
NC: He won a big tournament in Los Angeles earlier this year, and he has been schooled by one of the better professional players, Annie Duke, who’s part of the brother-sister combination of Howard Lederer and Annie Duke, who are very good players. (Affleck is) a very good player. There are other actors who played at the World Series – Tobey Maguire played, James Woods played, Gabe Kaplan played. They’re all pretty good. This year there was an all-women’s event and Jennifer Tilly, the actress, won it. Maybe it will jump-start her career. (Los Angeles Lakers owner) Jerry Buss plays.
AC: He’s a mathematician.
NC: The thing about that is, there are people who like to play. Celine Dion’s husband, Rene Angelil, plays in the biggest cash game in the world here at the Bellagio. They’re all pretty good, but the problem is, when they sit down at these big games, it’s like the old saying, “I’m the ninth-best player in the world; why am I losing all the time?” Because the other people at the table are the eight best players in the world. They’re sitting down against the best, so they’re going to lose to them most of the time.
AC: When you initially went out to L.A., you were going to become one of the all-time great television writers.
NC: I don’t know if those were my exact words when I left on that Southwest flight, sitting in coach.
AC: Pretty darn close.
NC: My intent was to write sitcoms. I thought I’d stay two years and leave, but I’ve ended up staying there forever. I failed in my intent. I never got on staff with any show. I had four or five scripts that made it on air – a couple for “Coach” on ABC and three for “Arli$$” on HBO. But that don’t feed the bulldog.
AC: When you look at what does make it on the air, do you get angry?
NC: I stopped watching because it’s the same thing all the time. There are a few exceptions – a “Seinfeld” comes along, an “Arrested Development” comes along, but I stopped. I thought I’d have to leave because you can become immersed in the trade weeklies, and you get depressed reading about all this work that’s going around, and you don’t get any of it. If you watch, and you turn on a “Yes, Dear,” that was created by one of (Washington Post sports columnist and radio star) Tony Kornheiser’s former producers, or “Listen Up,” which was based on Kornheiser’s life, I immediately go for the Rolling Rock, or I can’t make it through the 30 minutes.
AC: Have you at least found the next Mrs. Chad out of all of this?
NC: Unfortunately for her. She called me first – someone I knew from D.C. reconnected with me. We didn’t get along the first time, which was 10 or 15 years ago, but she’s moving to Los Angeles with her two small kids next year. I haven’t told her what a gamble that is, speaking of gambling. She’s definitely a 3-to-1 underdog as we go to the river. It’s more than likely that we’ll be married as we get to the end of next year – and then, based on my history, it’s likely that we’ll be divorced by the end of the following year. But I’m hoping that doesn’t happen.
Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-820-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
