Life Outside Poker is a podcast for PokerNews hosted by Connor Richards that seeks to pull back the curtain on poker players and allow viewers and listeners to get to know them on a personal level.

In the 33rd episode, Connor talks with comedian and poker commentator Joe Stapleton about growing up in Albany, New York, first seeing Rounders while visiting a college campus, working at MADtv, getting his start in the poker industry and his favorite memories from PokerStars The Big Game.

Stapleton also talked about his friendship with late comedian Norm Macdonald, the European Poker Tour (EPT), doing commentary at the 2025 WSOP and making the "worst mistake I ever made in my entire life" by attempting to make a documentary about a stand-up comedy tour.

This interview was filmed at the 2025 WSOP at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.

The Life Outside Poker podcast is available on major streaming platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud and iHeartRadio. You can also watch the interview with Joe Stapleton by heading to the PokerNews YouTube channel.

Be sure to follow Joe Stapleton and Connor Richards on X.

Learn More About Life Outside Poker!

Timestamps TIME TOPIC 0:00 Intro 0:23 Meeting Joe at RunGood Poker Series 2:00 Growing up in Albany, New York 3:53 Seeing Rounders & getting into poker 7:10 Early comedy influences 12:48 Moving to Los Angeles & MADtv 16:33 Comedian stories 19:45 First poker job interning at Card Player Magazine 21:29 PokerRoad 25:41 UIGEA & Black Friday 27:04 European Poker Tour 31:42 Favorite Big Game moments 34:48 Phil Hellmuth & Daniel Negreanu 37:00 PokerStars & EPT 39:18 Broadcasting & commentary 41:54 WSOP 44:12 Trapped comic book 50:39 Consulting on The Card Counter 54:02 Stand-Up Documentary Tour 57:27 Norm MacDonald 1:01:09 Steve Albini 1:04:38 Book recommendation 1:06:12 Advice for younger self 1:07:38 Favorite life lesson from poker