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: “One generation opens the road upon which another generation travels.”

Home at last! I’ve still got pretty good endurance but 3 1/2 weeks in Europe got the best of me. In the main event at the WSOPE we were down to seventeen players at the dinner break. I was a little short stacked with $200,000 and I could see it was going to be a long night to get to the final table and it would be another long day after it was down to the final nine, so I decided to play very fast and to accumulate a lot of chips or go out. I moved in the first hand after the dinner break and was eliminated.

I had hurt my left hip and left knee somewhere and with my bad right leg I was in a lot of pain. These long hours in the tournaments may be a little too much for me. But as I always say, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”

Congrats to Barry Shulman for winning the tournament. Wouldn’t it be something if his son Jeff, who is at the final table of the WSOP, could win. That would be a record that would never be broken and what a great thing for poker. I read where day 4, which was when I went broke, lasted 15 hours and the final table lasted 17 hours. That would have been tough if I could have been lucky enough to have won.

Betting on the NFL is suicidal. I lose every close game besides wasting my time watching. Gone are the days when you could determine the winners. I’ll spend my spare time playing poker at DoylesRoom.

I’ve got to jump on a plane for Todd’s tournament in Montana this weekend. That’s the last thing I need after 3 1/2 weeks in Europe but I’ve got to support my son. Layne Flack and Gavin Smith were supposed to be there to play but both are now doubtful. So, my daughter Pam, Hoyt Corkins, Todd, Ed Brogden, Ken Hale and myself will be the pros playing. We should have a good time even though the weather is below freezing and there are fires and storms going on right now. The waves got so high on the Flathead Lake it wrecked my dock, my jetski and my pontoon boat. The wind blew 50 to 60 miles per hour for a day and a half. That’ s a scary lake when storms hit.

After watching a TV show featuring a handicapped preacher, I feel pretty bad about complaining about pain, injuries, or anything else. This young man was born with no arms or legs; only two small feet attached to his body. What a dynamic speaker! Just listening to him makes all your problems seem insignificant. He has written a book called, “No Limbs, No Limit.” I can’t wait to read it.

-DB