DOYLEISM OF THE DAY: “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”

I’ve never sat around the house doing nothing constructive. Since the 1st of the year, I sit at my desk all day with no plans for travel or even looking for cash games. I work on projects that I’ve been postponing for years, play online at DoylesRoom.com, read, watch TV and DVD’s. I read blogs, go to twitter several times a day, and spend a lot of time reflecting on past and future events. It is a pretty boring life but you do pick up new insights about lots of things.

For example, I guess I never really understood that people regard me as one of the ancient and old-time players. Really!  I don’t do a lot of time studying spreadsheets and trying to figure out my opponents patterns, etc. That stuff may work online against players you are unfamiliar with but I still believe poker is a “people game”. If you can look a player in the eye, you can learn more in a fraction of a second than a month’s worth of analyzing his play on paper. I’m not saying the paperwork has no value, but for Pete’s sake, don’t these genius youngsters understand the changing gears concept of poker? I may have certain trends in my play that can be monitored but I challenge anyone to figure out what I’m going to do in a poker game. How can they when I don’t know myself what I’m going to do until I do it? I’m always aware of certain things I do while playing a pot and I try to vary different things. That is an “old fashioned” thing called tells.

Speaking of tells, all the top poker players develop what we call mini-tells on every player we play with. How? By the way a newcomer handles his chips, his table talk, plus physical tells that almost everyone has. The older pros are aware of this and try to change several times in each session how they bet, etc. Even the great players sometimes are unaware of some things. For example, Stu Ungar did something that was 100% accurate. When we were playing lowball draw, it is common to pretend to look and then bet out. Stu would sometimes look at his card and bluff knowing for sure what he had. He would always make a point of being sure I saw him looking back so it would eliminate my thinking it was a “dark semi bluff”. That was golden and over the years I’ve picked up things like that on almost all the players I’ve played with. The tells have to be in the right situation always, but my point is, how do you learn things like that online?

I feel I’m rambling quite a bit now but when you are doing nothing day after day, your mind gets active. Anyway, I’ve never pretended to be a bonafide online poker player so I might not know or understand some of the more complex problems. When I hear people talking about tracking devices, statkeeping software, etc. I just think WTF. So maybe it is a different world when you play online and perhaps I’m a dinosaur and don’t understand the ins and outs.  But poker to me is a group of players sitting down and trying to figure out how to get the opponent’s chips.

I might as well keep rambling while I’m at it. After I read blogs, forums and different poker discussions, I see where I’m perceived to be a “nit” at the poker table now. Old style, new style, doesn’t make any difference. The object of the game is to win your opponent’s chips. It’s not to make “star” plays and try to entertain an audience. I thought I was doing ok when I won 15 straight times in the TV cash games. But that doesn’t please the poker critics who want to watch spectacular plays, big pots, etc. If you want to watch poker on TV objectively, you have to realize that the way the other players play dictate the way you should play. So yes, I sit back and wait for the young guys to make mistakes. And they always do. Call me crazy, but I only see 5 or 6 players that I can think are fundamentally sound. You can get away with it sometimes but if you don’t observe some simple fundamentals, they are going to bite you in the ass. There must really be a big difference in the online play because most of the youngsters from the internet don’t have a clue. One of these days I might just twist off and show these kids how Doyle Brunson used to play. Actually, that would be stupid because right now, it’s hard to lose when these young guys are trying to make their star plays.

Being an ex-basketball player, I think a good analogy is basketball at every level. Today against yesterday. The players are certainly different, but in a physical sense. Today’s players are bigger, stronger and can do things no player in my era could do. But the object of the game is the same. You try to score and keep the other team from scoring. Bottom line, you try to win. Poker isn’t a physical thing and the main thing is to win more chips than you lose. So it’s pretty difficult for me to say today’s players are better than the old-time players. You can only judge the quality by who wins and who has the staying power. Lots of room for debate here.

-DB

Budapest

I don’t know what I expected Budapest to be, but it was entirely different.  The city is absolutely gorgeous with the Danube River flowing right through the center.  Budapest is two cities – Buda and Pest, the oldest being Pest.  There are ten or more beautiful bridges across the Danube and most of them are breathtaking.  During World War II the Germans bombed all the bridges but they have been restored.  The people were nice and seemed to be genuinely very friendly.

When I went to Manila and Macau I was surprised that so many people knew who I was; but it seemed that in Hungary not only did lots of folks know me, it seemed everyone had a translated SuperSystem and wanted an autograph.  Ok, I finally get it.  Poker players are rock stars!  LOL The truth is we are a bunch of lucky people that came along at the right time.  I don’t see any reason to think we are celebs.  I just hope everybody remembers who they are and where they came from.  I guess this is just the power of television.

I was surprised again in Budapest when a 1960 Cadillac convertible picked us up at the airport, courtesy of the Doyle Brunson Poker Klub.  I remember  a couple of years ago some poker players from Hungary had asked permission to use the name but I had forgotten about it.  The Klub had a party for us with a small tournament, gave us 24-hour car service, took us on a helicopter tour and a river cruise.  The Klub was one of the nicest ones in Budapest and the management team went the extra mile to be sure our stay was an enjoyable one.  It was!

We also went to Buda Castle to a wine tasting festival and afterwards to an old-style Hungarian restaurant for a great meal.  Then we went to a night club called Bed and Beach where we ran into friends Sigmund from Finland and Karim from RaketheRake.  I thought the XS at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas was big but this was acres and acres of people dancing.

This was one of my most memorable trips and I just wish my family could have been with me.  Hopefully next year!

-DB

DoylesRoom.com Launches Online Poker Qualifiers for WPT’s Doyle Brunson 5 Diamond World Poker Classic

DoylesRoom.com Launches Online Poker Qualifiers for WPT’s Doyle Brunson 5 Diamond World Poker Classic

$15,000+400 seats now up for grabs for as little as $0.22 through DoylesRoom.com’s step series

San Jose, Costa Rica – September 14, 2009 – Whether you want to play with Doyle Brunson at the online tables or chat with the legend in one of the biggest WPT tournaments, DoylesRoom.com will make it happen. Players can win a seat in the Doyle Brunson 5 Diamond World Poker Classic through an exclusive steps. The WPT event takes place at Bellagio in Las Vegas from December 13-19, 2009.

Last year’s 5 Diamond World Poker Classic featured a $9.6 million prize pool. The winner of the tournament earned $2.4 million.

This year, poker players at DoylesRoom.com will be playing for much more than a $15,000+400 seat. Those who win a seat in the WPT tournament named in honor of Doyle Brunson will also win Doyle Brunson’s Vegas Experience and get to spend the weekend before the tournament living the dream on the Las Vegas strip with Doyle Brunson. The experience includes access to the hottest clubs, restaurants and bars, tickets to a show, dinner with Doyle and full VIP treatment.

Those who think that winning a $15,000+400 seat in a major WPT event would be an expensive undertaking are in for another surprise. From September 4 to December 4, 2009, DoylesRoom.com will be hosting step tournaments for as low as $0.22. A complete step schedule for the Doyle Brunson 5 Diamond World Poker Classic is available online at DoylesRoom.com.

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “Frame every disaster with these words: In five years, will it matter?”

I’ve been getting all kinds of feedback on my blog and twitter. I guess I had better be careful what I write and twitter about. It’s hard to believe how widespread these things have become. I usually just say what’s on my mind and sometimes it isn’t received well. I supposed I’ll just say that if you dislike what I write, don’t read it.

I just got back from New Orleans where I played in a tournament for VIPs of National Table Games. They are putting out a casino game called Doyle Brunson Hold’Em. It’s a fun game and already in some southern casinos.

The people in New Orleans must watch a lot of poker shows because I was recognized everywhere I went. The highlight of my trip was the charbroiled oysters. Drago’s Seafood Restaurant is famous for fixing big Gulf oysters loaded with butter and garlic. Delicious!

I went to the dentist today and have to have a root canal on one of my teeth. Like everyone, I really dislike sitting in a chair having my teeth drilled on. Later this year, I’m going to have some implants. That will be fun

It looks like the next month or so is going to be pretty packed for me. I’m doing a commercial for the M Casino so I’m not going to have time to go back up to Montana. Then, I leave for Budapest in early September to meet folks and speak at the Budapest Affiliate Conference for DoylesRoom.com. After that, I’m off to Nottingham for the English Poker Open and then back to Birmingham for the Caesar’s Cup.  I then go to London for a televised cash game and right after that the WSOP Europe begins’ where I’ll be playing in the main event.  I’ll finally make it back home to Vegas in early October.  That’s a lot of traveling for an old man and this may be the last time I cross the big pond.

We’re going to be shooting new videos for the Brunson 10 on DoylesRoom.  I’m anxious to meet these young men.  I’m particularly glad that Chip Reese’s nephew, Zach Clark, is one of the 10.  Everywhere I went in Montana made me think of Chip and what a great friend he was.

I hear they are playing incredible high limits at Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio. I’m going to check it out now that I’m back; but if what I hear is true, these guys have gone insane. I don’t feel like losing 4 or 5 million in one night!
-DB

DoylesRoom.com Brings Back Wednesday Bounty

Doubles Prize Money to $50,000

$50,000 in bounty prize money, a $5,000 10-2 challenge and free seats for new players will make the new DoylesRoom.com Bounty Tournament a player favorite

San Jose, Costa Rica – August 17, 2009 – Bounty-hungry, poker-playing gunslingers rejoice. Beginning Wednesday, August 19th, Doyle’s Bounty Tournament returns to DoylesRoom.com with an enhanced $50,000 bonus that goes to the player who can take down Brunson and his friends. The $50,000 bounty prize pool is twice as big as the original $25,000 bounty and will be a weekly fixture at DoylesRoom.com.

For just $27.50, bounty hunters can buy into Doyle’s Bounty Tournament at 9:30pm ET and play for a prize pool that includes up to $50,000 in bounty money. Any player who knocks out one pro will win $1,000 in bounty money. Two pro knockouts will earn the bounty hunter $10,000 and three pro knockouts will earn the successful player $50,000.

On August 19th, the marked men will include Doyle Brunson, Mike Caro, Hoyt Corkins and guest player LDM72.

In addition to up to $50,000 in bounty money, the Wednesday Bounty Tournament features an additional $5,000 10/2 challenge. If a player knocks out Doyle Brunson with 10/2, they’ll win a $5,000 bonus.

To make the Wednesday Bounty Tournament even more accessible, the poker room manager is giving away seats to those who have never played the game before. All first time players will receive a full refund upon conclusion of the tournament whether they win or lose.

The Wednesday Bounty Tournament returns to DoylesRoom at 9:30pm ET on August 19, 2009. For terms and conditions, please click on www.DoylesRoom.com.

About DoylesRoom.com:

Online since 2004, DoylesRoom (www.DoylesRoom.com) is the only online poker site to proudly bear the legendary Doyle Brunson name. The newest addition to the Cake Poker Network, DoylesRoom offers its players access to unequaled poker promotions, fast action, and countless opportunities to play with Doyle Brunson and other legends of the game. Poker players from North America and around the world can compete for the biggest stakes on the web or sharpen their poker skills while playing Texas Hold‘em and other popular games for free. With free poker software, lessons, tournaments, nonstop Sit-and-Go tournaments and ring games available at all limits, DoylesRoom is the preeminent poker destination for real live game play—online or anywhere.

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