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.

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “The One thing you can give and still keep is…your word.”

Looks like everything is winding down now in the poker world.  The WSOP is over for now and the Bellagio WPT is over.  Most of the cash game players are leaving town and so I am finally going to get to Montana for a much needed rest.  I guess I will drive for two days where I can take my dogs; plus loading the Escalade down with stuff I’m going to need.  I’ve hired a house sitter to take care of things while I am gone.

Congratulations to the WPT winners.  I was pulling for David Benyamine to win but his second place finish along with Ralph Perry’s fourth place upholds ‘The Big Game’s’ honor.  I saw when David lost a couple of tough hands in the heads-up.  I’m sure Mike Watson is a worthy champion even though I haven’t played with him that I can remember.

I see where the WPT has been signed on by Fox Sports Network.  That is probably a good move for them even though I have some personal problems with the Network.  They went back on their word on an issue a few years back.  I didn’t understand it at the time and still don’t.  Their excuse was ‘business is business’.  Most folks don’t put the same value on keeping their word as I do.  I might not play in any more WPT tournaments but that would probably be stupid on my part.  I remember the old saying, “Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face.”

If you haven’t played online poker at DoylesRoom you haven’t lived.  We have a rabbit cam that flashes what the next card would have been after you or your opponent folds; just another way to torture yourself and second guess what you should have done.  Just go to options and check ‘show rabbit cam cards’ and you will see how much fun it is to see what would have happened.  Just another improvement on what I believe is the best poker software in the poker sites.

I’m pretty sure we are going to have another golf tournament on ESPN in early October.  High Stakes Entertainment secured a golf course near Orlando, Florida for the event.  That is a good choice because the players can bring their families for a nice vacation.  There are many theme parks, including Disney World, nearby.  There has to be at least a Two Million Dollar prize pool so it will be interesting to say the least.

My autobiography has been put on hold for another year.  My publisher didn’t think the book was ready yet.  It wasn’t my decision but I feel badly for my co-author, Mike Cochran, who has put a lot of time and effort into getting the book written.  Mike is an old friend from way back in college but there is really nothing I can do about it.  Actually it will be easier on me to wait because my plate is full for the next few months and I couldn’t promote the book like they want me to.

I’ve been watching the Maverick Marathon I tivoed during the WSOP.   The Starz Network had a 24 hour showing from the Western Channel on DSS.  They had a lot of poker players giving their remembrances of the series starring James Garner and Jack Kelley.  They had more shots of me than anyone else because I was the only one old enough to remember when Maverick first came on in 1957.  Scotty Nguyen, Hoyt Corkins, Mike Caro, Vanessa Russo, and T. J. Cloutier all had spots on the promos.  What I don’t understand is not one person has ever mentioned seeing it on T.V.  So many folks come up and say, “I watch you on T.V. all the time.”  Could it be that I am the only cowboy left? 

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “You can’t fly with the eagles if you squawk like a chicken.”

After two days of playing, I went out twenty-first in the mixed games event. I think I played as well as I possibly could have but when the antes and blinds keep going up, you have to have a sustained rush and I went card dead. Of course I won’t mention the one-outer Hold’Em pot I lost and the K-K-K I caught in a huge razz hand. But that’s poker and just because you have pains, you don’t have to be one.

Just to show you the difference, I played 17 hours in two days and got back $16,000 for beating 170 players. Take back my $10,000 buy-in and that means I made $400 an hour. That’s not much when you see the money flowing through the cash games that are around during the WSOP. Of course, the flip side is I had a good shot at my eleventh bracelet and a good payday. The tournaments are good for poker and you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to throw something back.

The side bets are really popping around the WSOP. Phil Ivey is making lots of wagers he will win a bracelet. I laid him 3-1 he wouldn’t and he wound up taking less than 2-1 which made me feel like an idiot. But I think he is finding out the further he goes the tougher it is to win one of those bracelets. I also took Daniel Negreanu, Lee Watkinson and Lee Markholt over Phil and Allen Cunningham for a big bet. I’ll have action on that one because one of the five will probably win a bracelet.

This is a spoof of Gus Hansen’s blog:

My status check (1 = poor. 5 = outstanding)

Level of Play: 5
Confidence Level: 5
Mood: 1
Physical Condition: 0

Just kidding… Gus has a great blog.

I left one out: Sex Drive: -100
DB

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “If I had observed all the rules, I would never have gotten anywhere.”

I’ve been swimming all my life. As a kid growing up in Longworth, Texas, me and my two best friends ran to a dirt tank about seven miles from where we lived. We would run there and back and over to our small ranch to ride calves and horses. No wonder I turned out to be the State champion in the mile run. When I went off to college, I was a lifeguard in the summer so it is great to now have a heated pool in my back yard and I try to swim every day. It seems as though I do my best thinking when I am in the pool. So, here are some of my thoughts from my morning swim.

I started reflecting on how much effort I am going to put into the WSOP this year. I played in the first event yesterday, the $10,000 buy in Pot Limit Hold’em. I played really good until the hand I was eliminated on which I’ll discuss later. If you try to play in every tournament that is available it is really physically tiring. I am blessed to still have pretty good endurance left, but lets face it…I’ll turn 75 this summer so I have to face the fact that I am not a kid and I need to start pacing myself. As much as I would love to win my eleventh bracelet this year, I’ve got a lot going on so I don’t want to wear myself out playing too many tournaments so I am going to be selective about which ones I play. I feel good, so I might knock off a bracelet anyway.

I don’t like to put too much about poker hands and strategy in my Blog, but I wonder sometimes if my tournament strategy is correct. I read and hear these professional tournament players talk about playing ‘small ball’ pots. That just isn’t and never has been my style. I like to gamble and play big pots. I feel it gives the best player a better chance to win as opposed to just trying to chip away in small pots.

The blinds were 250-500 and I was first to act. I picked up A Clubs, K Clubs and raised to $1800. I got three callers because everybody always wants to beat me, which can be a two-edged sword. Lyle Berman, who I’ve played countless hours with in cash games called and raised $7800 more. I had $48,000 which was more than average chips. I have a mini-tell on Lyle and I was almost sure he had a pair smaller than aces or kings. I tried to play conservatively and only called. If I had raised I probably would have won there, but Lyle likes to gamble and may have called if he had a pair bigger than 10s. The flop came Jd, 7c, 2c and Lyle bet $17,000. Now I have to move all my chips in, and Lyle turned over three jacks. No clubs came and I was out. When I asked Eric Seidel what he would have done he said he probably would have thrown his hand away when Lyle raised. Another top pro said he would have re-raised before the flop. Take me back to the cash games and I can feel what is the right thing to do!

I’ll bet I didn’t know more than 20% of the players in the tournament. There are more and more youngsters coming in to the WSOP. I’m used to being the oldest player at the table but I felt absolutely ancient when I saw my opponents. Lyle was the only player I really knew even if some of the faces looked familiar. Listening to the table talk I correctly assumed these kids were on the tournament circuit when they talked about going to foreign countries to enter tournaments.
Sure enough, they all played very well and it’s going to be tough to win a bracelet but all you can do is try. I’ve got today off and I’ll try to decide what’s next. Please bring back the cash games.

Team Brunson didn’t fare too well. Shannon Elizabeth got Aces beat back to back and was the first player out. Todd, Hoyt, Dewey, Mike Wattel, and I were all eliminated on the first day.

My nephew, Ken, has a cap on it that says Chicken Ranch. As I recall, that’s a house of ill repute somewhere around Pahrump. I told him it wasn’t a good idea to wear something like that and he told me I should see the T-shirt he bought his nephew. It says, “Freshly Laid At The Chicken Ranch”. I’d like to be a fly on the wall when his mother sees that! – DB

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging.”

Every time I think I am going on a vacation something stops me! I was minding my own business, paying bills and taking care of day-to-day stuff I was behind on. My phone rang and a friend of mine called and said Sammy Farha, Gus Hanson, David Benyamine, and some amateur had been playing in Bobby’s Room for 36 hours. I made a mad dash for my car, broke every traffic law getting to the Bellagio, and proceeded to play ten hours and lose over $400,000. That wiped out my eight game winning streak and put me in a bad, bad mood. The games were 2-7 Triple Draw, Omaha Hi-Lo, and Pot Limit Omaha, and I was tortured all night long. Finally, at 12:30 a.m. I just picked my chips up and spent a restless almost sleepless night in my bed. I know a professional poker player has to handle a lot of pressure and things don’t usually bother me, but sheer frustration took over in this game. Welcome to my world!

Right before I quit, Patrik Antonius came in and began playing. I didn’t know he was in town and I didn’t have a chance to talk to him but I know his friends read my blog. Now would be a good time to warm up for our “Doyle Sez” match with a 4-8 thousand game. I’m a hot sucker and ready to play! Maybe I had better drink a glass of wine, go to bed, and cool off J

60 Minutes called and wants to interview me on the passing of the UIGEA bill. I hope it doesn’t get me into trouble because I am going to speak my piece about it. Will it get me into trouble with the DOJ? Hopefully not. They know everything about everything anyway.

Anyway, my face and name are on a online poker site so I’m pretty sure they know me. America needs to know about this bill and this seems like a good platform to get on my soap box. It seems like we are picking up a lot of support on legalizing internet poker.

I finalized the plans for my college basketball team reunion. We are going to get together the first part of August at my place in Montana. This is probably the last time we will ever get together because a lot of these friends are older than I am. Any player that played at my University in Texas from 1950 to 1955 is invited. There were 25 guys that we contacted for our last reunion here in Vegas four years ago. Twenty-two of them came and we had a great time. This time, seventeen have committed to come. Three teammates died since then and two of them can’t come down because of health problems.

An interesting note…there hasn’t been a single divorce from any teammate. That is some record and as I told Louise, “When us Texans make a commitment, we mean it.”

As an afterthought, if Gus Hanson and Patrik Antonius stick their heads out of the same window at the same time, would they be arrested for mooning? J – DB

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