This is the Greatest Tournament in the World

With the debut of the 2009 World Series of Poker on ESPN tonight, it also signals the return of my favorite color commentator in any sport, Norman Chad.
From his witty aphorisms, to his catchphrases (an ace and an ace only, wamboozled, swagglefoosed) to his ex-wife jokes, few things are more enjoyable than listening to Chad's self-deprecating humor and insightful commentary.

Note: my favorite Chad-ism of all-time occurred during the 2005 Main Event. Bing Wang was late returning to his table and Andy Black asked his table to stall so wang wouldn't be blinded out. When they refused Black became so upset he was moved to tears.
That's when Chad said "Look, I like Bing Wang as much as the next guy but if he's not here he's not here."

I am a little disappointed with ESPN's decision to scale their coverage back this year. They are only showing the 40k anniversary event, a special event for only Main Event champs and the Ante Up for Africa charity tournament. No bracelet events, not even the 50k HORSE which is too bad because it was a doozy this year even though the finalists were relatively unknown.

Coverage of the Main Event begins on August 18th, and leads up until November, when the final 9 will battle it out.

Whether you already know who is in the November Nine (like me) or you are desperately hoping SCZA won't spoil it for you (like Jems), enjoy Norman Chad for the next 3 1/2 months.