DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “Man is a creature made at the end of a week’s work when God was tired.”

Congratulations to Joe Cada for winning the WSOP final table. Joe is the youngest player to win and I met him at the party in the ESPN Zone. He seemed to be a very likable 21 year old and I believe he will do his best to promote poker. I hear the new poker term is when you lose with AK vs. AQ will be you got “moon’ed”. Of course they will be referencing the hand Darvin Moon knocked Phil Ivey out with.

“Go die under a deck of cards” is what Joan Rivers told me to do. Unknowingly, a Miami radio station scheduled Joan and myself for interviews the same day. One of the announcers on the show had read my blog where I said f someone gave Joan Rivers a penny for her intelligence, she would have to give a refund. I was trashing Mrs. Rivers for her comments about poker players on the TV show, “The Apprentice”. Joan was mad at Annie Duke, who was winning the game hands down, but included the entire poker world, calling us “trash, gangsters and morons”. So until Joan apologizes to all the poker world, I’ll continue to insult her at every opportunity. She also bragged about having an IQ of 135, Annie Duke must have one of 270 because she was twice as smart as Joan on the TV show.

I guess my autobiography hit the bookstores yesterday. I had telephone calls from radio stations across America for interviews but I’m going to curtail those, also.

Things are finally winding down now where I can get some much needed rest. Since I got food poisoning 10 days ago, I’ve been groggy. I play in the HSP this Friday and then it’s clear sailing on my schedule. I’m going for 17 straight wins on TV cash games. I wonder if Friday the 13th is a bad omen? Nah, I don’t believe in that stuff. Still…..

-DB

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “It’s better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid, than to open it and remove any doubt.”

Annie Duke is kicking butt on the Celebrity Apprentice. She is definitely manipulating everyone but that’s the game, right? Annie should be the winner which I think speaks well for the poker community. I think Joan Rivers is really out of line with her comments, not only about Annie, but the entire poker world. Joan looks like she is losing it and probably will be able to hide her own Easter eggs next year. And by the way Miss Rivers, my last name is Brunson.

I guess when you get older, you aren’t allowed to have an opinion. These young poker players are jumping down my throat because I said I thought Stu Ungar would beat Phil Ivey in a heads up tournament-style poker game. If it was for real money, I would make Phil a huge favorite, but where all you can lose is your buy-in, Stu has so much imagination, I think he would win. I’ve talked about this before, Stu was the best winning player I’ve ever seen. He was also one of the worst losing players. Stu isn’t in my top 20 best all-time players, while Phil definitely is.

What people don’t seem to understand is that there is much more than talent and knowledge that is required to be a great poker player. You have to be able to handle adversity without going off the deep end. You have to have the character to handle the pitfalls fo life. Also there is the ability to implement the things you do know. That is probably the biggest difference between good poker players and great poker players. Anyway, a freezeout between good poker players is usually a coin flip.

I just got my dog back from the eye doctor. She has been bumping into things lately and I thought she might have cataracts or glaucoma but the doctor said she is just getting old. I had a blind dog for 7 years and it is really tough to care for them. I’m a dog person, I would hate to choose between them and my kids

-DB

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”

After all of my complaining about how bad I was feeling, I found the cure.  I’ve been staying at home for the past 2-3 months because there haven’t been any cash games to speak of and I’m really cutting down on my traveling to poker tournaments.  I’ve decided the tournaments have to come to me, here in Vegas, so I won’t be in very many away.

Anyways, I went down to the NBC Heads Up Championship, got beat my first match and went home.  Next day, there was a nice cash game.  I went and played and again the next day. Now I feel like a 30-year-old again.  I need to keep playing and remember an old Texas saying,  “Burn brightly but don’t burn out.”

Congrats to Huck Seed for winning the NBC Heads Up.  Huck has the best record of anyone in that tournament at 18-4.  Huck was the next “great player” 20 years ago but had some personal problems and was overlooked the past few years.  He is a cool guy and I hope he continues to keep his head on straight and wins.  The Heads Up Tournament is fast paced and I don’t think it is a good barometer of how people play, but 18-4 is pretty impressive.  Eric Seidel is 0-5 in the tournament.  Does that mean Huck is better?  I’ll let you answer that.

Huck beat Vanessa Rousso in the finals and I don’t understand all the negative comments about Vanessa.  Anybody can beat anybody else but that don’t take away from the fact she beat five pros who are considered to be pretty good.  I thought she played well against me.  Vanessa is obviously very smart and I think she should command everyone’s respect for what she did.

I would never have believed that I would watch of the programs I have been watching on TV. I’m now into season 8 of Dallas DVDs.  I watched The Celebrity Apprentice because Annie Duke is on it. She kicked butt in the 2nd episode; she is a cinch to go a long way because she outclasses her competition.  Louise even had me watching The Bachelor, which I believe is the dumbest thing I’ve ever watched.  She likes it, and I guess that’s why they make chocolate and vanilla.

In our weekly Bounty Tournament at DoylesRoom, we often have celebrity bounties.  This week is Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Broadway star and Tony’s daughter Meadow in the hit TV show, The Sopranos. I’ve met her three times and she is really a down to earth lady, not to mention gorgeous.  We had Nicky Hilton last week and both of these girls are pretty darn good poker players.  Come play with us.

-DB

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “Time is more valuable than money because time is irreplaceable.”

Back from Texas!  I had forgotten what wide open spaces are like.  I flew into Midland, Texas about an hour away from my home.  Midland is where George Bush made his fortune, mostly in oil.  I remember Midland had more millionaires per capita than any place in America.  As I drove toward Sweetwater, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

If you have never seen a wind farm, you wouldn’t believe it.  Giant windmills about 200 feet high were everywhere.  These windmills produce electricity, enough to furnish several large cities.  T. Boone Pickens, noted oil man and conservationist is behind these wind farms and Sweetwater is his model city.  I know we never lack having a wind in West Texas, so they should do well.

On a good note, the declining economy hasn’t affected the towns in West Texas.  Because of the wind farms and oil wells, there are plenty of jobs and houses are still being built.  Unfortunately, the people that are retired and on fixed incomes are feeling the crunch.  My older sister and brother-in-law have lost almost a third of their assets because of the declining stock market.  Where is it going to end?  Vegas is hit harder than any other town in America.  I watched our Congresswoman Shelley Berkley tell about our troubles.  Things don’t look good for Nevada right now.  I’ve got confidence in America and I think we will turn things around.

Congrats to Freddie Deeb for winning the WPT Celebrity Invitational.  I always pull for the pro players in those events and Freddie is an appropriate champion.

I never thought I would watch a TV show like the Celebrity Apprentice but because I knew Annie Duke was on it, I was interested to see it.  I missed the program but watched it on NBC.com.  That’s even better because you can watch deleted scenes and video interviews with the contestants.  I’ve certainly had my battles with Annie but I’m pro-Annie because I think she contributes much more than she takes away from the poker world.  One thing is obviously clear; all the women on the show really dislike Annie because she takes charge and bosses the ladies around.  But hey, that’s the Annie we all know.  It was entertaining and one other thing was obvious, she is the smartest woman on the show.  I hope to see the next show, it should be exciting.

-DB