DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “Winning is not everything – but making the effort to win is.”

Back from Montana! I’ll never complain about hot weather again. It was 3 degrees on the mountain my grandson lives on, along with 8 inches of snow. That cold cut through me like a knife. We had talked about having the Brunson Christmas at my place on the Flathead Lake but they can scratch that!

There are so many deer in upper Montana that you to be super careful not to hit one while driving. I saw 6 bodies on the side of the road on a 20 mile trip. There is all kind of wildlife. My friend has a large pond stocked with fish. He told me the eagles and osprey take 60-70 fish a day out of it. I had better be careful letting Casper run around outside because one of those big eagles could pick him up and fly away with him. I’ll bet Casper would get one good bite of that eagle if that happened.

I was there for the Todd Brunson Montana Challenge poker tournament. The weather was so bad we had less than 100 players but everyone had a good time. I told Todd to have his next on in the summertime. Of course, my daughter Pam was the “Last Brunson Standing.”

No disrespect intended, but these poker shows are awful. Full Tilt’s “Face the Ace” and Poker Stars “Million Dollar Challenge” are so bad, it’s embarrassing. There is no skill involved in either show and I can’t imagine getting an audience that will watch the shows. As I travel around, the High Stakes cash games are the ones all the fans talk about and I agree with them that they are by far the most interesting. Speaking of that, I read where A.J. Benza is being replaced on GSN’s High Stakes Poker show. That’s too bad, I like A.J.’s subtle sense of humor. Vanessa Rousso is named as his likely replacement. I’m pro-Vanessa so I think she will fit in nicely with the old comic Gabe Kaplan.

The golf-poker tournament in Orlando with David Leadbetter has been postponed because of some complications. I’m glad because along with Mike Caro, Daniel Negreanu, Todd Brunson and Dewey Tomko, I was one of the poker instructors. To tell you the truth, I’m traveled out! I look forward to staying home for a while. Harrah’s has asked me to do a few things in conjunction with the WSOP final table that I’m glad to do, but it would have been a tight fit to be back from Orland in time to do them.

My autobiography is supposed to be out November 10th and I’m doing a book signing right after the final table is completed. I’m having a special edition that I’m going to give to the final  nine. Also, at the book signing, or right afterwards, we are having a press conference to announce the signing of the 5th player to the Brunson 10 at DoylesRoom.com  I’m really pleased at the selection of this young man, as I am with the previous four.

I’ve started reading blogs. Again, I find the blogs about poker hands extremely boring. The same thing with the tweets on Twitter; does anyone really care about the hand by hand update of a poker tournament? If it was a real poker game and someone tweeted they had just won a million dollar pot, it would interest me.  But I guess some folks like the updates, that’s why they make chocolate and vanilla – different tastes.

After saying I want to stay home, I’m leaving in the morning for Abilene, Texas. My University is inducting me into their athletic Hall of Fame. After being turned down for 40 years I have mixed feelings, but all my old teammates will be there, so I’m going down and will be on my best behavior.

-DB

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “The only person you are with your entire life is yourself. Be alive while you are alive!”

I can’t believe the interest the Brunson 10 is getting. For the ones who aren’t familiar with this, DoylesRoom is in the process of selecting 10 of the most qualified online poker players to sign up and represent us. The requirements are pretty simple. Not only do the members of the 10 have to be good players, they have to be well mannered and personable. I’m not ready to pass the torch quite yet, but these guys will be the future of DoylesRoom. We have signed three of the 10 already: Amit Makhija, Alec Torelli and Zach Clark. Two more will be signed this month and two more in October. They need three remaining players to finish the 10. If any of you young internet players are interested, join the already long list of prospects at DoylesRoom. Contact will@dbpn.com. These players don’t want to be just another pro at the bigger sites. With DoylesRoom, they will get better exposure. I can’t wait to meet all of them.

The Brunson house has four new pets. A stray cat had kittens up on our rock waterfall and they have made their home in the bushes and trees surrounding the pool. In spite of ourselves, Louise and I are growing attached to them and put food up on the rocks. We can’t make house pets out of them because Casper, my toy poodle, has a fit everytime he sees them and chases them off. It’s too bad, the cats are cute and we love animals.

I’ve been working on my autobiography for the last week. We started this book five years ago, then stopped. At my family’s urging, we finished it and it will be in the stores the first week of November. I still have my reservations about putting this out.

This will be my last blog for 3-4 weeks. I’m going to Budapest for an affiliate convention then to Nottingham, then to Birmingham, then London. I guess I’ll play the WSOP Europe while I’m there plus the Caesar’s Cup and English Open. I come back to Vegas in early Oct. and go to Montana for Todd’s tournament. Then in the middle of Oct., I go to Abilene, Texas where my University is inducting me into their athletic Hall of Fame. It’s about time, after snubbing me for 40 years because I chose to be a gambler. I guess times do change. Then, in early November I go to Orlando for the High Stakes Entertainment poker-golf school. You should go if possible. Check it out on www.pokergolfacademy.com.

Here I am, three-quarters of a century old and traveling the world like some kid. I’ve always suspected I might be a little crazy and this confirms it. When I get back from Orlando, the farthest I’m going is the city limits of Las Vegas. Uh-oh, maybe Montana.

-DB

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “The most valuable gift you can give another is a good example.”

One thing for sure, Anurag Dikshit is appropriately named!  Dikshit was one of the owners of Party Poker and became a multi-billionaire when Party went public.  It looks like he would feel a sense of obligation to online poker, the industry that made him a rich man.  Instead, he folded up like an accordion and plead guilty to breaking some kind of mystery law and is paying a 300 million dollar fine and a possible 2-year jail term.  It certainly created some ill will from the other online poker sites.  I personally can’t imagine what was going through his mind when he made his decision.

The Brunson family had a great Christmas, but as usual, everyone had way too many gifts.  My wife and I gave specific instructions to our children and relatives to not give us any presents.  We threatened to give any gifts that were given to us to the Salvation Army.  At least we slowed down the gifts, but there were stacks of presents for the rest of the family.  I got one present I’m not giving away, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th seasons of “Two and a Half Men”.  That show cracks me up.

I’ve already got a “football headache”.  Even Casper won’t stay in the same room with me when the games are going.  I can’t believe how dumb some of the football coaches are.  They need to have a gambler on their staff to advise them.  After all the pro games and bowl games I’ll be lucky if Louise doesn’t throw me out of the house.

Speaking of my dog Casper, he charges the front door every time the bell rings.  He sleeps on my desk and jumps off when he hears someone at the door.  He has dislocated a front leg and a back leg landing on the hard floor.  I’ve got to put some padding on the floor where that won’t happen again.

We had another cash game on High Stakes Poker.  Again, I can’t talk about it but I will say I’ll be going for my 15th straight win on the TV cash games next time I play.  I read somewhere that I play too tight in the games.  Hello!  I thought the object was to win the money, not put on a show to please the viewers.

Daniel:  Did I hear a Mexican golfer got shot yesterday?
Caddy:  Yes sir, They call it a hole in Juan.

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “Don’t be afraid to take a big step if one is required. You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps.”

If you have ever driven over 1,000 miles in two days, you know the exact same feeling you have experienced with jet lag. I’ve been sitting around the past few days just chilling out and enjoying the slow paced life here in Montana.

Reflecting on the drive up here, it was pretty boring driving out of Vegas on Interstate 15 North. Mesquite was a nice break in the scenery but when I got to St George, Utah things really changed. The mountains and deep passes were breathtaking with their change of colors. I guess whatever ore was present gave a different hue to the land. There were blue, black, gold and red streaks running through the mountains and all of them were nice.

I had a bittersweet memory as I drove through St George. There is a health spa a few miles outside of town, and my pal the late Chip Reese and I were determined to stay there a few weeks until we lost some weight. It was an expensive spa and we paid a month in advance, about 6,000 dollars each. It was baseball season and we were betting a lot of games so we put a 4,000 dollar satellite system in our rooms where we could sweat the games. We felt it was well worth it. The next day we went to all their exercise classes, even the swimming classes. We ate all our meals at the cafeteria where the diet food was reasonably good. The second night Chip asked me if I had noticed the Sizzler Restaurant where we turned off the highway. When I said yes, he suggested we go eat our last meal there before we really got into this diet. Naturally I said yes, let’s go, so we went there and knocked a hole in their salad bar along with 2 or 3 entrees each. When we finished Chip looked at me, and I looked at him. Without a word being said, we got in his new BMW and drove 120 miles an hour back to Las Vegas. We laughed about that many times afterward because we never attempted to recover any of our money from the spa.

As we drove into the upper part of Utah, I was surprised to see the landscape change from mountains to plains and rolling hills. It looked like a scene from a Western movie with mesas on the hills and the ridges were almost crying for an Indian or a Cowboy riding across the skyline.

When I was a kid I used to read all of Zane Grey’s books about the old west. I always wondered what he was talking about when he talked about the purple mountains. When I got into Idaho it was obvious because the mountains had a deep purplish color. They were gorgeous and the farms were everywhere and the crops, mostly Alfalfa, were in full bloom. Each farmhouse had trees planted on the north side of their houses to keep the cold winter winds from blowing directly on the house.

We saw every kind of animal on our trip. We saw all kinds of cows and horses, lamas, buffalo, sheep, elk, deer and believe it or not, we saw a camel farm near Butte, Montana. I saw an old Texas Longhorn Steer as we came into Montana and I couldn’t help wondering if his ancestors came from Lonesome Dove with the old Texas Rangers Gus McRae and Woodrow Call.

Don’t be surprised if Obama or McCain neither one win Montana in the upcoming presidential election. There are Ron Paul billboards and posters everywhere. All the locals are talking Paul up and encouraging everyone to write him in when they vote. I kinda wish some other states would do the same because he is pro gambling.

Louise Brunson worked her way through the University Of Kentucky and pharmacy school at the University Of Georgia. She was the number 1 pharmacist at a chain of 150 drugstores. She gave birth to 4 great children and she has been a terrific wife and companion to me for 46 years. I say all this so you can see the good far, far outweighs the bad. But she had me captive in an automobile for two long days and she talked my ears off. My eardrums felt like Sitting Bull was having his tom-toms send out messages to all his tribes and I was the messenger. I’m sure some of you guys out there know what I’m talking about! 

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “Experience teaches only the teachable.”

I can’t help getting feedback from some of the forums and conversations around poker tables I’m not playing at.  A person should be able to take criticism because the Good Book says:  “I had rather be criticized by a wise man than praised by a fool.”  Still, if I write things that offend you, don’t read my blog.  I just say what I think and what I do and neither might be right.

One thing I would like to clear up is about Johnny Moss and Nick ‘the Greek’ Dandolos.  They most definitely did play in 1949-50.  Des Wilson wrote Ghosts at the Table and did a ton of research but he missed it when he said the match never happened.  I talked to my friend, Jack Binion, and he told me they did play and the stories might be exaggerated a little but Moss beat Nick and made him quit.  Des wrote a good, entertaining book but no one can always be right about what happened in the past.

We can talk about The Real Deal now that the press release has gone out.  It is a new poker show that is starting October 1st at the Venetian Hotel.  It is an audience participation show with chances to win big prizes.  I’ve been approached many times about new ventures and have done some of them but most of them fail.  But, when I found out Merv Adelson was the lead person in this show I was happy to be included.  I knew of Merv through his former partner and my good friend, Irwin Molasky.  So, I knew he would have all his ducks in a row with adequate financing and competent people working.  Sure enough, he has put together an amazing team and we are going to have a ball with this show.

I’m off to Montana in the morning, so it may be a few days before I update my blog. I’m as excited as a rookie playing in his first WSOP.  I hope I don’t hurt myself in those mountains! 

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