DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “People who try to whittle you down are only trying to reduce you to their size.”
December 10, 2008 by Doyle Brunson
Filed under Doyle's Blog
As a rule, I don’t say anything about things people say in interviews. But I can’t help being deeply offended by the article in CardPlayer where Layne Flack says, “You want to talk about buying a bracelet? Let’s talk about Doyle’s bracelet when there were 8 people in the tournament. The critics should look back in history and see where a bracelet has been bought.”
I thought this man was a friend of mine. Back in the early days of the WSOP, I certainly didn’t even consider that a bracelet would have any value. I only played in 2 or 3 events a year because Jack Binion expected me to. I actually didn’t pick up two bracelets in the 70’s-80’s because I already had a couple. I never won a tournament that had 8 people in it. There were only 14 entries in a mixed double tournament that Starla Brodie and I won. If I could find that bracelet, I would sent it to Layne and tell him to stick it where the sun doesn’t shine.
The “bracelet race” has become Harrahs and ESPN’s way of making poker interesting and exciting. It is a form of competition and I love anything that is competitive, but winning bracelets has never been high on my priority list. I still play poker because it energizes me and keeps me thinking young. I like playing real poker for real money and tournament poker for me is a second choice.
It’s Jimmy V week on ESPN. We need to listen to Jimmy Valvano’s speech as it would put us back to what is important in life. Jim was dying with cancer and gave an awesome speech when he was presented the Arthur Ashe award. The Jimmy V foundation raises money for cancer research and we should all support it because 1 out of every 4 persons will have to deal with having cancer in their lifetime.
The Real Deal at the Venetian is moving along well. This is the slowest time of the year in Vegas and we had a big turnout last night. Everyone seems to love the show and it’s a lot of fun to do.
Caddie: Sir, do you know what golf and sex have in common?
Daniel: Of course, there’s two things you can enjoy even if you are bad at both of them.
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Doyle,
You know you are the most respected man in poker. Don’t let comments like that upset you. His remarks were made out of insecurity. He was offended when they suggested his winning a rebuy wasn’t worthy of a bracelet. He used you as an example because you are the greatest player of all time. Yes, it sounded offensive, but it may have been taken out of context.
Perhaps the writer paraphrased him or something?
morning doyle…
maybe mr. flack was in one of his drunken stupors when he made that remark!!
hope to make it to the venetian and watch the show sometime soon!!
mary in vegas
Doyle – Layne’s comment was wayyy out-of-line, extremely disrespectful, and downright incorrect. I suppose he makes comments like that because his last name is Flack and thinks he has permission to give it, but that doesn’t make it right. I hope he will retract what he said and provide you a sincere apology. On a different note, us true fans have great admiration of you and your background and what you’ve been through in life. In fact in these difficult economic times, I really look forward to and enjoy your blog entries each week – they are very inspiring. Keep on truckin’ Doyle! Brian
Really enjoy your blog and to the point comments. Wish you all the best, keep on goin on.