Heads Up with Remko - Norm Macdonald

On this very special episode of Heads Up with Remko, Norm Macdonald joins the show to talk about his struggle with gambling and his love for poker.

• 3:15 – The start of the interview with Norm Macdonald, setting the scene for a conversation that dives deep into gambling, poker, and golf.
• 4:52 – The relationship between Norm Macdonald and Las Vegas, and his time playing 20 tables of online poker at the same time.
• 6:00 – Getting into poker as a kid in New York City and playing in the Mayfair club with the characters that were the inspiration for Rounders.
• 8:25 – To Norm’s surprise No Limit Hold’em became the most popular poker game, and how poorly poker is usually portrayed in Hollywood movies.
• 10:40 – The first time Norm Macdonald went to Las Vegas, and how he lost a few thousand dollars before he was even checked-in to the hotel.
• 11:45 – How Norm won more than $100,000 playing craps at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City.
• 14:35 – Norm opens up about going broke three different times due to gambling.
• 15:55 – How gambling is only fun when it hurts and why Norm played so much online poker and was he actually a good player?
• 18:50 – How to combine a busy lifestyle in entertainment with gambling, and how he got really deep into sports betting.
• 20:52 – The rush of adrenaline that comes with going on stage, and how it compares to gambling.
• 23:30 – What can go wrong when going on stage, and the vices of Norm’s colleagues in the entertainment business.
• 25:50 – The motivation behind Norm’s creative process, and the lack of evolution in stand-up comedy.
• 28:20 – The challenges in stand-up comedy, and how to get a laugh.
• 30:58 – Doing commentary on High Stakes Poker, and how there’s little room for comedy in poker commentary.
• 33:05 – Following Scott Blumstein’s 2017 WSOP Main Event run through social media, and why Norm prefers playing Single Table Satellites over the bigger events.
• 36:05 – What makes poker so exciting?
• 37:36 – Playing in the Super High Roller Celebrity Poker Shootout with Hank Azaria, Jason Alexander, Kevin Pollak and Brad Garrett.
• 39:15 – Playing small stakes poker with friends, and high stakes home games in Hollywood.
• 43:05 – The fun and joy of playing live poker and having interesting conversations.
• 44:45 – Retiring jokes, upcoming shows, and the Main Event.

Watch Norm Macdonald play poker on PokerGO in the Super High Roller Celebrity Shootout now. Subscribe right now and enjoy more than 100 days of live poker action every single year, as well as an extensive on-demand library. Get in touch with the podcast by e-mailing us on [email protected].