Ali Nejad is the announcer for NBC’s Poker After Dark as well as the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. He joins us from The Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles, where he talks about poker, his career and where he is hoping to branch out to in the future. He attended the World Poker Tour’s recent “Raw Deal” open auditions which were held on August 19th, 2010. Nejad stated he felt he was a great fit for the segment because he knows poker and has a great sense of comedy.
Nejad is also a commentator on ESPN’s Pro-Am Poker Equalizer series and has done work with Ultimate Poker Challenge and on PCA 2009 episodes, working alongside poker pros Chad Brown and Daniel Negreanu along the way. Nejad was able to participate during an episode of Poker After Dark and was the first player knocked out as his flopped set of 4s were beaten by Gabe Kaplan’s flopped set of 10s. Nejad is a sponsored red pro over at Full Tilt Poker and has done work with Poker Road Radio.
In this interview, Nejad jokes around and shows off his comedic side on many different levels. He also talks some smack about some fellow poker players that auditioned for the part including Clownie Gowen and close friend Joe Sebok. This interview is a rare inside look into one of poker broadcasting’s rising stars.
