As 2025 turns into 2026, we’re talking to some of the biggest names in the game, and reflecting on the year’s most interesting stories and events.
Norman Chad is one of the true iconic poker commentators (lawsuits were threatened if we didn’t use the word ‘iconic’ ) that launched the poker boom with ESPN’s extensive coverage of Chris Moneymaker’s historic win. Norman is a rare bird; never shy, always truly himself. Love him or hate him, he’s always worth a listen or a read; but don’t tell him that.
What’s the best thing that happened to you in poker in 2025?
Canceling my subscription to PokerGO.
And the worst?
Well, as I told my current wife Toni more than once… when I am having a better poker year on the felt than in the booth, that is a bad sign.
I did have my best year ever playing cash (a modest number), but that was more than nullified by a largely inactive year on the announcing end.
Benched by my coaches for almost the entirety of the WSOP for the second straight summer, it was hard to ride the pine while bound-and-gagged in the locker room. I then listened to the industry turn more and more to street-by-street hand analysis ad nauseum. At least I found out I have been under-sizing my bets for years on end.
Did you fulfill your New Year’s resolutions?
I have not made a new year’s resolution since I was 12 years old. I think that pledge had something to do with filterless Camel cigarettes, and I broke that resolution before the Rose Bowl was over.
What are your resolutions for 2026?
I JUST TOLD YOU I HAVEN’T MADE A NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION IN MORE THAN HALF-A-CENTURY, AND YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT I AM RESOLVING FOR 2026? Fine.
I resolve… I will never drink a Coke Zero before 6am, I will never drink a Fresca before 8:15am and I will never check-raise all in against a Sicilian before 12 noon when death is on the line.
What are you most looking forward to in poker in 2026?
As the years go by, I find it is always better to sweat players you like rather than anti-sweat players you don’t like.
So this past year I put together an elite stable of pros that I spiritually back and publicly promote – a quality trio of high-level horses – and I am adding a fourth colt in January.
The original three: WSOP circuit wiz Ari Engel, high-roller hoss Jesse Lonis and mixed-game master Benny Glaser. That’s a great collection of brainpower and bracelets.
And they will be joined by Felipe Ramos – Felipe doesn’t have any bracelets yet, but I sense he will break through in 2026, plus it’s nice to have a Portuguese speaker if the five of us are ever stranded on Praia do Sancho.
What’s your wish for poker in 2026?
I just hope poker continues to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative and don’t mess with Mister In Between (or Mister Keating, for that matter).
We need to build on the good in the industry and sweep away the bad. The second half of this is important; we can’t ignore the damaging elements and hope they go away, we have to actively identify the harmful stuff and stamp it out.
Also, I wish the best for Lon McEachern, and if that requires finding a new partner who isn't halfway to madness, then so be it.
Do you ever wish the rebuy MTTs would slow down and we go back to the good ol’ freezeout's more often as a test of skills?
The genie is out of the bottle on multiple re-entry and late late late reg, but with today’s advanced technology, I believe we can put most of the genie back into the bottle.
There are a lot of good ol things I’d like to return to – like train travel and phone booths and typewriters and milk delivery and drive-in theaters and ice cream trucks and Johnny Carson and newspapers and, of course, poker tournaments that are now called ‘freezeouts.’
I know we’re not returning to all freezeouts all the time, but we should have a healthy mix of them included in tournament series. The runaway re-entry MTTs – coupled with late late late reg – give the regs too big of an edge on the recs. And can I speak for some of the fish in the tank, for a moment? IT’S DRIVING US AWAY.
Where’s the skill in piling in all your chips in NLHE again and again and again, until you finally double up for a workable stack? If someone can afford two or four or six bullets, that is a monumental advantage over most of the players who are playing a single entry.
And don’t get me started on the overwhelming EV benefit of late late late late late late late late late late late late late late late reg. That’s right – I just said 'late' 15 times; the only reason I didn’t say it 1,500 times is because I’m in the final third of my life and don’t want to waste any more precious moments on such an obvious miscarriage of gaming justice.
P.S. My biggest wish is for everyone to experience the thrill of a razz rush.
Follow Norman, if you dare, on X and catch his podcast Gambling Mad on YouTube.
