DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “We can’t direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.”

Since everyone is wondering who is going into the Poker Hall of Fame this year, I thought it would be interesting to have a Poker Hall of Shame. This would consist of poker players who abuse dealers, players, or both. The only other criteria to make the Hall would be you gotta be dead. We all know living players who deserve to be in, but we don’t want to make too many enemies.

Maybe this will inspire some of us living players to be ore courteous to the dealers and our fellow players. I know I could be a lot better even though I do try to keep control of my temper. I never saw Chip Reese lose control, nor have I seen Barry Greenstein be abusive to anyone. We should learn from them. The Poker Hall of Fame started with six inductees the first year so I’ll start with the same number. Perhaps more will be added later.

In no particular order:

1. Puggy Pearson – a great poker player who vented his frustrations to both dealers and players. I once saw a lady Chinese dealer take a high heeled shoe and hit Pug repeatedly after he pushed her when he lost a pot.
2. John “Doc” Holliday – “I’m your huckleberry”, words uttered by Doc Holliday in the movie Tombstone. There are written accounts Doc killed at least nine men, mostly at the poker table. I guess you could call that abusive!
3. Nick “Shoeshine” Simpson – He was abusive on to the dealers. Nick was the head man in the cheating rings in the 60’s and 70’s. I once saw him urinate under the table on a dealer’s leg after a bad beat. Bill Boyd, former card room manager at the Golden Nugget once shot Nick in the butt after warning Nick not to cheat. I always admired Bill for that.
4. “Nigger Nate” Lanette – Please, no racist comments about his name. That is what everybody called him before he died in the early 70’s. He bit a dealer’s ear off in the Stardust then returned the next day and gave the dealer $5,000. Nate was questioned in the shooting death of mobster Arnold Rothstein after an argument about a poker game.
5. Stu Ungar – Stu “The Kid” Ungar was the most volatile person I’ve ever seen at a poker table. It was like some demon possessed person you see in horror movies. He would just erupt and use the most foul language you can imagine. I saw Stu spit on bad cards and throw them back to the dealer. Away from poker, he was a likeable person.
6. Nick Vacchiano – “Nicky Vach”, everybody called this handsome player. He was a ladies man, everywhere except the poker table. He would try to get in the one or eight seat where he could talk in a low voice to the dealers, particularly women. I saw him make a young dealer at the Flamingo actually cry.

This blog is the result of having too much time on your hands. I remember writing something like this a year or so ago. I’m in Montana, it’s too cold to go on the lake and after 4 days, I’m ready to go back to Vegas and find some action

-DB

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “Reputation is a bubble which bursts when a man tries to blow it up for himself.”

I’m getting lots of calls and emails about the Poker Hall of Fame induction in November and my opinion of the candidates. For those of you who don’t know this, this is the first year that the public votes for who they think should be nominated. Then the top 10 players from their vote are sent to the 15 living members of the HOF and to 15 media people. We each have 2 votes so here are my thoughts. Remember, these are my thoughts. If you don’t agree with me, please don’t start a civil war about it.

The criteria for selection is:
(1) Must have played against top competition.
(2) Played for high stakes.
(3) Played consistently well, gaining respect of their peers.
(4) Stood the test of time.
(5) Contributed to the overall growth and success of poker with positive and lasting results.

Here are the players in alphabetical order and my opinions about each one.

(1) Tom Dwan – It’s really an honor for Tom to be a nominee at the age of 22. Obviously, he can’t meet the criteria that are listed. I think he is a fine player and barring something unforeseen, his picture will be on the wall someday.

(2) Barry Greenstein – Barry meets all the requirements. I think he was a much better choice when he was a cash game player only. He is in my top 3 or 4 choices.

(3) Dan Harrington – “Action Dan” as he is known would be a good representative of the poker world.  He has a lot of interests outside poker, which will go against him.

(4) Phil Ivey – This is where I’ll get a lot of heat, because I think the Halls of Fame for any sport is for players whose careers have more to look back at than look forward to. Phil isn’t even at the height of his career yet but is a 100% cinch to be inducted soon. I’ve got a feeling I’m going to lose this argument which is OK if I do.

(5) Tom McEvoy – Tom is a long time ambassador of poker and is one of the old guys that I favor. I understand that playing for high stakes is different for everybody. You have to be a little bit crazy to play the stakes some of us play for, but Tom has put his time in at the tables.

(6) Men Nguyen – I’ve admired Men’s work ethic for years. Nobody has played and supported tournaments as much as Men. He has several player of the year awards as proof of that.

(7) Scotty Nguyen – Anybody that is called “The Prince of Poker” has to be a viable candidate. He is one of the best all-around players and he certainly meets the criteria well.

(8) Daniel Negreanu – What can I say here? go back and read what I said about Phil Ivey and pretend it’s here. Daniel is my choice to outlast any of the “young guns” people keep talking about Daniel and Phil both meet all 5 criteria.

(9) Eric Seidel – Eric is definitely one of my top choices. I think he is the consummate gambler. Besides being a great player, he has the best all-around disposition of anyone. He reminds me of Chip Reese, which is the highest compliment I can pay anyone.

(10) Mike Sexton – In my opinion, here is the #1 choice. Mike paid his dues at the table for years, gambled as high as his bankroll allowed and meets all the requirements for induction. Mostly, go back and read #5 in the criteria. Nobody and I mean nobody has contributed more to the success of poker than Mike Sexton. If he isn’t one of the people selected, something is wrong. I know of 3 votes from the living members at the HOF that Mike will get. Binion and Crandell Addington both assure me Mike will be their 1st choice, also.

So there you have it. It would be impossible to make a bad choice from this list of players. It will be interesting, to say the least, who the two inductees will be. Kudos to Harrah’s for changing the process!

-DB

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “The biggest problem you will ever have watches you from the mirror every day.”

The Main Event is still going on at the WSOP. The pros are getting fewer and fewer but that’s what makes a great tournament, anyone can get lucky and win.
I did my very best to at least go deep but just couldn’t hang on. I understand only too well that survival is the key for the first two days in a big field like the WSOP. But as day 1 wound down, I was sitting on a little under $30,000 and flopped a set against a player who had re-raised. To my surprise, my opponent didn’t just bet, he moved in on me. There was no straight or flush possible, so I had to call. Turns out he was drawing at a straight and made it and the board didn’t pair. Out the first day for the 3rd year in a row. How do you play “small ball” poker when that happens?

The good news is that the cash games at the Bellagio are really, really good. In fact, I haven’t seen games like the ones going on for years. There are millions of dollars on the two tables in Bobby’s Room every night. The high action games have even moved out into the main poker rooms because there are so many of them. I saw two 4-8 thousand mixed games, a 3-6k mixed game, a 2-4 mixed and a 2-4k blind pot limit Omaha going at the same time. There are lots of Europeans playing with the local players and huge amounts of money are being won and lost. A French business man seems to be the big winner but it’s hard to be accurate on winners and losers. I know myself that I’m small winner but have played 3 pots with a million dollars in the middle. I won one, lost one, and split a huge pot with Patrik Antonius when we dealt the turn + river 4 times. I had a set against 2 pair bigger than my set and a flush draw. But the biggest disappointment was when Gus Hansen hit runner-runner with all the cash in on the flop. Oh well, the games are good and will be there for another week or so.

If you like Chinese poker, the games have accelerated to 10K a point. That is the biggest Chinese games I’ve seen with half a million or more swings every night. I played a couple of time with not much of a result but I’ve played Chinese poker hundreds of hours, so I’m a very good player. The secret is how you play your bad hands; everyone plays the good hands properly.

I’m amazed at how well I’ve held up this past 6 weeks. I did lots of interviews, played several tournaments, did 4 seminars with Mike Caro, took care of everyday problems at home with Louise being out of the country and played a few cash games before I was knocked out of the WSOP. Then I caught the “flu” or whatever was going around at the tournament but just kept going because the cash games were so good. I even changed my sleeping hours where I could stay up all night. I’ve averaged playing 12-14 hours a day and have completely recovered from the illness. I feel strong and thank God I inherited the stamina from the Brunson genes.

Speaking of the genes, Pam Brunson, my daughter, outlasted Todd and I in the Main Event to win the “Last Brunson Standing” for the 3rd year in a row. I can’t remember the last tournament she didn’t outlast both of us (and Hoyt Corkins). Now Todd and I have to listen to her for another year. Just kidding Pam, nice going, I know you are getting better and better.

I saw the list of nominees for the Poker Hall of Fame. There are some great players, 10 were nominated, but my vote has to go to Mike Sexton or Barry Greenstein. Some of the others are too young and some don’t fit the criteria that are required for being elected. Phil Ivey is one that is a cinch to be inducted, but not this year because of his young age. Of course he is still alive in the Main Event and if he somehow wins, I’ll vote for him now.

-DB

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “Make failure your teacher, not your undertaker.”

I didn’t have a very good result in my return to poker, after a few months off. In the NBC Heads Up Championship, I lost in the 1st round to Vanessa Rousso.  I’ve got no excuses, she held the best hands and I never really had a chance.  I made two hidden pair twice and she beat both hands.  It’s hard to overcome a bad start and she played very well and now I’m on the rail.  Vanessa is the GoDaddy representative and is going to be in the poker world for a long time.

At least maybe we will be able to have a few cash games down at Bobby’s Room. Out of the 64 entries in the Heads Up Tournament, there are a dozen or so high limit cash game players.  The eliminations come very quickly so everyone will be looking for a game.  I know I’m ready and I feel much better just getting out of the house.  I guess I just need action.

I got a call from Eli Elezra and the boys and girl (Jen Harman), are gathering at the Bellagio.  I can’t wait to get there.  I’ve waited in the house until I’m going nuts.

I noticed this morning that Vanessa Rousso is down to the final four in the NBC Heads Up Tournament.  She beat me, Phil Ivey, Paul Wasicka and Daniel Negreanu.  That’s pretty impressive and it shows how many good players that are out there that aren’t really recognized. Vanessa probably isn’t ready for the high stakes cash games but she is certainly good enough for the tournaments.  I hope she wins, it would be really good for poker.

I saw Barry Greenstein at the tournament and he told me about the thread on a forum that questioned if I could beat a 1k NL game.  For the record, and you can say this is written in stone, I’ve never seen a poker game that I can’t beat.  I am going to exclude PLO because, even though I’ve had good results playing it, I have never felt comfortable.  Why?  I don’t know for sure, but I always go with my gut feeling.  Can I win multi-tabling?  No, I wouldn’t even try because that is something I know nothing about. I’m certainly not trying to win a spot on the great internet players, but if anyone wants to play real poker, come on down to where everyone knows the big games are. And as I’ve always said, the best players in the world are playing in the biggest games in the world.  How do you think we got there?  Almost every high limit player, including me, came up through the ranks.  I played 1-2-5 NL Hold’em for years and years and worked my way up.  I realize there are good players at the lower levels and some could make the grade, but my question is why haven’t they moved up?  Don’t like money?  Water seeks its own level and so do poker players!
-DB

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “Accept the fact that sometimes you are the pigeon and somedays you are the statue.”

I don’t know if everybody is following this extortion attempt that is going on in Kentucky.  The out of state attorneys that started this attempt to seize the urls of internet gaming sites are making ridiculous claims that internet gaming is hurting Kentucky’s citizens and prevents them from having money for horse racing.

I’m not going to go into all the legal issues but Kentucky is in for a hell of a battle and every legal opinion I’ve heard says they don’t have a chance of winning.  I’m sure all the poker sites have backup domain names in reserve.  The judge has taken 7 days to give a verdict and I certainly hope he gives a just and favorable decision.

I’ve been home from London for a week now and while I’ve recovered physically, I still feel it would be hard to focus enough to play high stakes poker.  I can’t get caught up with my e-mails, snail mail, phone calls, and appointments.  Chip Reese and I used to laugh about the fact we can never get our desk cleaned up.  A real gambler just isn’t programmed to take care of business matters.  It seems like I have to take all my time with different business opportunities, my obligations to DoylesRoom online poker, and worrying about what to do and when to do it.  When I look back ten years at what my life was like and then look at what it is now, I get sick.  There is no life that is as good as being a pro poker player with no other concerns.  I could play when I wanted to and didn’t have to answer to anyone or anything.  You might not get mega rich but a good poker player would always make plenty of money.  I wish I could get a time machine to take me back in time, I would do a lot of things differently.  One thing I know for sure, if I could do that, I would leave myself time to play the game that I love.

I watched the debate between McCain and Obama tonight and it appeared to me that McCain won.  That is in stark contrast to what everybody thought earlier in the campaign.  Obama was supposed to destroy McCain but it looks like McCain was underestimated.  I’m still not sure who I am going to vote for because to tell you the truth, I don’t like to think of either one of them being my president.  I will vote however and if you don’t do the same, don’t complain about the economy, the war, or anything else.  Nevada is a tossup state and a few votes might be the difference.  It looks like Obama has 13 states, McCain 23 with the rest undecided.  Obama has the important electoral lead and is probably going to be our next president.

Barry Greenstein started his own debate about an Omaha 8 or better hand on Poker Road.  It seems I had a different opinion then most of the other pros but i feel they all followed Phil Ivey’s lead of three betting a hand.  I’m a real bottom line guy and I only know I’ve lasted 50 years following my gut feelings.  So until some of these players come to the cash games for a few years, I’ll reserve judgment.

I get more comments about the jokes about Daniel’s golf games.  It’s amazing, all the way to Macau and back to London, lots of people comment how much they like them.

Daniel – Please stop checking your watch all the time.  It’s really a distraction.

Caddy – It’s not a watch – it’s a compass.