DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “Whatever you give to life, life gives you back.”

All you see on the TV news channels are about the earthquakes in Haiti. It is a real disaster area and America is trying to help and the online poker sites are no exception. DoylesRoom has a weekly bounty tournament and is not only donating all the proceeds, but is matching them. As usual, all new players will have their buy-ins rebated for free plus a chance to win $50,000 by knocking out 3 bounties, $10,000 for 2 and $1,000 for each one. This week’s bounties include myself, Mickey Rourke and other guests are going to be announced soon. The tournament is Wednesday night and starts at 6:30pm Pacific time. Come play with us and help some unfortunate people.

I can’t help noticing where Daniel Negreanu is being accused of “taking a shot” in a recent poker tournament. While the video does look bad for Daniel, everyone who knows him believes it was unintentional and an innocent act. Daniel is one of our best ambassadors and shouldn’t be subjected to undeserved criticism.

I’m glad football season is about over. Besides being very time consuming, it is really aggravating when you lose betting on your favorite teams. Being from Texas, I always pull for the Dallas Cowboys and the fans are in a drought. I hope Dallas gets rid of Tony Romo because he is simply not a top quarterback, especially against quality teams.

I’m off to London for an affiliate convention. The year is just getting started and I’m already breaking my resolution about not traveling as much. But, what do you do when the poker site you represent asks you to go?  I say, “OK DoylesRoom, I’ll be there.”

-DB

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “Everyone has a gift, let it take you as far as it can.”

I enjoy reading other poker player’s blogs. I like reading the thoughts of the younger guys and their problems because I’ve been through just about all of what they say. So when I read Daniel Negreanu’s blog about the fact that he was unsure of what he wanted to do with his life. I thought to myself it’s too late for that little buddy. You are a poker player and it’s too late in life to do anything else. I went through the same struggles and then one day woke up that nobody has as good a life as poker players. I particularly like Lee Watkinson’s blog as he says what he thinks. Everybody likes Lee’s controversial remarks as evidenced by all the comments at the bottom of his page. Enjoy being poker players guys.

December is right around the corner and that month has lots of bad memories for me, but also some great Christmas times. Chip Reese and Benny Binion both died in December along with a host of high school and college friends. Also, Dec. 7th is when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor where my Dad’s brother was killed. I’ve lived through lots of wars, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm and the latest wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and I lost family and friends in the 1st three. We still have our freedom and have a lot to be thankful as Thanksgiving approaches for all the sacrifices our military forces have made.

I look like I’ve been in a fight. The dermatologist took off nine spots on my face. He froze eight and removed a skin cancer off my lip. Now I can enjoy the fun stuff this week. I go to the dentist for some implants and later I get a colonoscopy. Can’t wait!

Time marches on. That’s something every poker player has to be aware of. I try to monitor my play regularly because of my age. I’m lucky to still be hanging in there but as I’ve always said, poker players tend to lose at least part of their game after reaching the age of 50. Even though I won 16 straight in TV cash games, I seem to have reverted to a defensive style of play that I’m not comfortable with. Even though the way your opponent plays dictates the way you play, I’ve found myself not following my instincts as I’ve always done. The truth is some of these “pros” play so bad in these games it’s hard to lose. More importantly, it seems I’m almost breaking even in the big cash games at the Bellagio.

Are today’s players better than the old timers? Nah, different but not better. I’ve always advised people to play at the level you can win at. I’m not sure I can move down and play in the smaller games. I’m going to give myself plenty of time, but if I don’t win in 2010, I’m gonna do it.

-DB

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: “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: “Some poker players drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.”

I’m flattered so many people read my blog.  I’ve had tons of e-mails, phone calls (mostly anonymous), talk on the different forums, etc.  There seems to be some confusion so I’ll clarify a few things.

First, unless I specify it, any comments I make about poker don’t include internet poker.  So when I said I never saw a poker game that I couldn’t beat, I meant 6 or more players sitting down at a table.  I don’t mean on the internet where players might be talking on the phone or sending IMs.  I don’t care if you find the top 6 or 7 NLH in the world; I believe I can find a way to win.  Also, I don’t care if I can beat anyone heads up.  Why?….I don’t play heads up for a living, only ring games.  I’ve never gone around “bragging” about being the greatest player, only that I’ve played high-stakes poker longer than anyone.

Aggression?  Anyone who has read Super System knows I invented that way back in the 70’s.  These young kids have taken it to a new level.  So you have to keep changing your game, just as I had to do after S/S came out.  Nowdays, you have to pick your spots to bluff and you try to trap the over aggressive players.  Everyone keeps talking about how tight I play on the TV cash games.  If you watch these games closely, you’ll see a lot of the guys, kids mostly, making plays strictly because they are on TV.  Any professional poker player would certainly be wrong to shoot it out with the maniac players.

It amazes me.  I’ve won 14 or 15 straight times in the TV cash games.  I love them and I love playing against the young “superstars”.  The main idea of playing is to win, right? Watch Barry G and notice how he plays on these shows.  Entirely different than when he plays in a tough cash game.  The older players certainly know how to make plays but we won’t make a lot because we know how to adapt to any situation.

Another thing that pisses me off is when these “know-it-alls” talk about the old time poker players not being any good.  I’d like to see any of the “greats” go back and play Johnny Moss, Pat Renfro, Sailor Roberts, James Roy, Doc Ramsey and a host of other guys that made their living playing NLH.  Of course that can’t happen so we’ll never know. I’ve played against both worlds and I think the old guys would chew up these young guns.

I’m getting old, there is nothing I can do about that, but I’m still willing to play anybody “Doyle Sez”, where I can name the game and change to another game when I want to.  If any of the internet stars, that don’t play live, want to play, I’ll give them half their money back if they lose if they play 8 hours a day for a week.

Everyone also asks about the match between Patrik Antonius and myself and what happened.  First, I want to say I’m not interested in playing Patrik because he is a weak player. On the contrary, I think he is a great player and I make him and Daniel Negreanu the favorites over anyone to still be playing 30 years from now.  Patrik wants a list of the games, which I’ll provide him.

I just feel I can find a game against anyone that I can beat them at. I know this means I’ll have to play heads up, which I hate, but I can’t back down now.

-DB

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