Name: Norm Macdonald on America's Cardroom June 2019 Talking poker with the pros
Uploaded: 2022-02-14T06:00:16.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Norm Macdonald on America's Cardroom June 2019 Talking poker with the pros' from TickleMeNorm on Comedy Buff. Published 2022-02-14. Transcript available. Be Sad Now #normmacdonald #norm.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Norm Macdonald on America's Cardroom June 2019 Talking poker with the pros' from TickleMeNorm on Comedy Buff. Published 2022-02-14. Transcript available. Be Sad Now #normmacdonald #norm.

Norm Macdonald on America's Cardroom June 2019 Talking poker with the pros

All right, welcome. I'm here with Norm Macdonald, comedian and actor. I'm your
host, Michael Longcar.
Norm, how has your experience been playing on America's Cargum so far?
Oh, it's really been a lot of fun. You know, Black Friday was particularly
black for me because I was a little bit,
but, you know, after Internet poker went away, I had to figure out a way to
spend nine hours of my day.
So, you know, I had to get out and, you know, play with my son, things like
that. It was pretty rough.
You actually had to do other things with your life.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So when I came back, and I'll never forget when I first came
on, I was like,
oh, this looks exactly like old days, and it feels like it, you know, because I
thought it was going to be
something weird, like... Totally something you've never seen before weird.
Yeah, something totally different, and so I, because I really liked the old
paradigm, you know, so
that's great. And also, you know, I like that they don't have avatars. I just
thought about this,
but you remember the, oh, there'd be an avatar, be a sexy lady or something
like that.
Yeah.
And so, and then you pick the sexy lady, and everyone's hitting on you, and I
go, I'm not a
good woman, even. I'm a guy. I just picked this avatar. Still, they go, like,
nice rack. I'll tell
you, nice rack. You're rack of your breasts, you know.
Well, a lot of poker sites out there, they have giant teams. They're kind of, I
guess you could say,
hidden behind a curtain. America's Card Room.
Yeah, you guys aren't like that.
America's Card Room has been very out in the open.
Yeah.
The CEO of America's Card Room, Phil Nagy, is a prime example of that.
Yes. I compare it to a, to a Japanese restaurant. I feel like most, you know,
like you were saying,
you know, the hidden behind, you're not quite sure what's, it's not very
transparent. Most of
these sites, I compare that to a Chinese restaurant where you don't know what's
going on in that kitchen, but, you know,
they're going to bring you out something with some phosphorescent red sauce all
over it, and you don't want to go in
the kitchen. But America's Card Room, more like the Japanese restaurant. The
guy's right in front of you, you know,
doing everything, you know, and if it doesn't work out and you get sick, he
gets shut down because he's right
there. So that's why transparency is important. Because we know without
transparency what has happened, you know,
in the website, you know, I personally know you, and I've always known you,
obviously, as a comedian, an actor.
How did you get your start in poker originally?
Well, mostly, it was when I was very young, I played backgammon and so I played,
these are backgammon tournaments.
It's so weird now to think about, but that's all gone. And then, so the, they
moved on, those guys, you know, not me,
but they moved on to poker. Then, like, years later, I was gambling a lot. I
was in casinos a lot. And I thought, if I
play poker, I'll just bleed it slower. Yeah, because, because I was playing
limit, you know, I played limit. And so I
couldn't have one, just like at the pits, here's all my money, I'll bet, you
know, I have a hunch, you know what I mean?
That's always the worst thing. So that's where I started, was just to bleed the
money slower. And then,
uh, I really liked it because of the, uh, you know, it's funny. I like the, um,
um,
social aspect. Exactly. How do you know what I was going to say? Because you're
Norm Macdonald. Come on.
I like the social aspect, but I also like it on, uh, I think I like it on
internet even better because you
get the social aspect without having to meet anyone. Interesting. Okay. Um,
what do you think?
Yeah, no, absolutely. I, I personally love the online grind. I, I love. And you
get to know some people. Yeah. If you play
them, you know, so that's fun. Um, on that note, are there any poker players
that you model your game after? And who's your
favorite poker player out there? Um, my favorite poker player, uh, to watch is
Phil Hellmuth. Phil Hellmuth.
Cause I think, yeah, he's the most entertaining. You love the antics. Yeah. He's
definitely entertaining. It's hilarious. You can't deny that. Love him or hate
him. He's definitely entertaining. Absolutely. And just to watch a guy like, uh,
that's just never moves for five minutes with sunglasses. I'm not talking about
Phil, but you know, a big guy that's completely still. It's a camera shot of
him for 10 minutes. Yeah. I don't want to see that. No, that's not a lot of fun.
And, uh, these guys make a decision over, you know, whether the other guy is a
queen of
clubs. You know what I mean? It takes them longer to make that decision.
than it does for me to like buy a house.
You know what I mean? Like,
you know what I mean? Like,
it takes them longer to make that decision than it does for me to like buy a
house.
You know what I mean? Like,
it takes them longer to make that decision than it does for me to like buy a
house.
You know what I mean? Like,
it takes them longer to make that decision than it does for me to like buy a
house.
You know what I mean? Like,
it takes them longer to make that decision than it does for me to like buy a
house.
Like the clock is going, you know,
people are shaving, you know,
the guy's still in the tank, you know,
and then, uh,
all these, uh, uh,
calendar pages going through the wind,
you know, and then two months later.
Yeah. And then the trees turn green and then they turn yellow and then crimson,
you know,
and then I grow a long white beard shave.
And then this guy goes clock,
clock,
clock,
clock.
I have a great, uh,
old picture of them playing poker in the old west.
And, uh,
it's a cartoon.
The guy says clock.
And another guy,
fellow walks in with a grandfather clock,
you know,
um,
what, uh,
what,
what poker books have you read?
Have you read any poker books?
Um,
yeah,
I've read,
you know,
uh,
all the ones that,
uh,
uh,
make you,
uh,
an obsolete player.
I've become an expert in all of those.
By the time I cut up,
you know,
I'm like,
yeah,
I just finally finished that goddamn Harrington thing.
And none of it's right.
Okay.
All right.
Fair enough.
Well,
you're a TV guy.
What's your favorite poker TV show?
Um,
well,
I used to love,
uh,
um,
High Stakes.
That was my favorite.
High Stakes was great.
That was my favorite by far.
Gabe Kaplan.
Oh my God.
So great.
So entertaining.
I love,
Gabe Kaplan.
So cool.
That guy's got a cool life.
They should do a,
you know,
I should do a documentary on that dude.
Cause he's a fascinating.
Oh yeah.
And on the TV topic,
you've been an actor for years.
How does preparing for poker compare to preparing for TV?
Comparing,
uh,
well,
for a role.
You're supposed to always be in the moment,
you know?
And,
uh,
as I've heard with acting,
but it really is true with poker.
You know what I mean?
Because a lot of times,
right?
You,
the big mistake that you can make,
that I've made for years,
is you're playing the hand you had,
rather than the hand you have.
Right?
That's why people are so,
uh,
you know,
they don't want to fold,
in a way they don't want to fold their pocket aces,
even though they know their beat,
because they want to show the pocket aces.
you know?
Um,
so they're playing the hand they had.
You know,
the pocket aces were really good pre-flop.
But,
you know,
uh,
so I got caught doing that.
I made a terrible,
terrible mistake,
about having a tournament.
Oh no.
Yeah.
Cause I try to,
now I try to look at my mistakes that I make.
Cause,
you know,
I used to be like,
a bad beat.
But,
then I realized,
well it's good to have bad beats.
That's what you want.
You know?
Cause that means you,
you had it in.
The best,
the badder the beat,
the better.
For you.
So,
uh,
instead I just try to look at the mistakes.
I'm amazed that I still make like,
such bad mistakes under pressure.
We all do.
We all do.
And you know what I realize?
I snap,
I've got to stop doing this.
I will snap call and all in,
and think about like a,
a regular,
a little bit longer and take a second.
Yeah.
Why don't you take,
it's your whole tournament.
And I'm like,
oh yeah.
Oh,
bye.
You know what I'm walking away.
I go,
why did I do that?
Going back to the social aspect of live poker,
I'm sure you obviously have had a lot of interesting
encounters with people,
asking you questions at the table.
Do people ever ask you to give your Burt Reynolds
impression at the table or your Bob Dole impression?
Oh yeah.
That's the worst thing ever.
Why was that your next question?
The,
here's where it hurts.
It's like,
it's hard to like run a bluff because sometimes the guy will go,
I'm sure you got me,
but it'll make a good story.
And I'm like,
oh no,
you could just make up a story.
Like I'm fine.
And so then the guy calls you and you're like,
I don't know.
I don't know.
So,
but I've heard that from a lot of the,
the celebrity poker players,
even worse.
You know what I mean?
Cause they'll go like,
well,
Daniel Negrano,
if I beat him,
it'll be a huge story.
And if he beats me,
big deal.
That's a good story too.
It can be a big disadvantage.
Yeah.
It is a disadvantage.
Yeah.
So,
those superstar poker players have their advantages and disadvantages.
According to HendonMob.com,
your $44,000 of live tournament cashes rank you about 3,000th all time
for the all time Canada cash list.
Tell me about that.
How do you feel about that?
That's hilarious.
Yeah.
Because like a lot of the people that make the Canadian list,
you know,
you don't need a lot.
Like,
I mean,
my uncle made that list just from his scratch off tickets.
You know,
he does the scratch off tickets every,
every month.
So you once said the following about poker going offline due to Black Friday.
And I quote,
it kind of saved my life because I was just grinding out and couldn't even
sleep.
What's your relationship with online poker now?
And how do you go about it in a healthier way?
Well,
well,
I don't do any of those multi tables.
You know what I mean?
Like,
I don't know why.
Yeah.
Or a tournament or something that's fun.
Like,
I don't know why I thought I need to make a living.
You know what I mean?
I need to make $20 an hour for putting myself through some insane psychedelic
experiment.
You know,
like when I went to sleep,
it felt like the CIA had injected LSD into the eye of my cock.
Um,
but,
uh,
uh,
you know,
you get a,
and then I go,
why am I doing this anyway?
Cause I used to play like 16,
uh,
50 cent a dollar limit,
you know,
games.
It's just like,
uh,
ABC out of,
you know,
and you make 20 bucks an hour or something like that.
But I go,
why am I doing this?
Like,
this is not a fun life.
So,
uh,
so,
uh,
that's results oriented.
You know what I mean?
Just throw in a bunch of,
uh,
uh,
uh,
just play the,
the right way,
like a whole bunch of times and it'll all regress to the mean,
but that's not fun,
you know?
So,
uh,
the tourneys are the most fun,
you know,
because you get the,
uh,
the big decisions and stuff like that.
Definitely.
In 2018,
you had the fortune of playing on poker after dark,
a 100,
game with two of the best trash talkers in poker history,
Phil Hellmuth,
your favorite.
Yeah.
Uh,
Jean-Rubert Ballon.
Tell me about that experience.
It was funny,
because they're both great guys,
but,
um,
but mostly they're always after each other.
So,
you don't really get hurt if you just,
you know,
stay out of the way until you have a hand,
you know?
Uh,
um,
but on the last hand of that poker after dark,
uh,
Jean-Rubert,
uh,
uh,
um,
raised,
and then Phil Hellmuth went all in with aces.
I heard about it.
I saw it.
Yeah.
I saw that in.
Yeah.
It was,
uh,
but it was funny because,
uh,
Phil had sold his,
uh,
his,
uh,
he,
you know,
had sold himself to,
so he had to call,
you know,
he had to,
he didn't really want to be all in,
because it wasn't his money that,
uh,
he won.
The aces held up.
But,
but that's how sick Sean Ribeiro was,
because it was,
because there was only one hand left.
That's why.
You know what I mean?
Like,
he was like,
oh,
I have to,
I can