DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “Take risks. Tomorrow you may not be able to do what you can today.”

When I played poker every day for seven straight weeks, I felt strong as a lion. Now after 3 days of not playing, I feel like a truck just ran over me. I bet a psychiatrist would have a field day trying to analyze poker players. Maybe we are addicted and we actually have withdrawal symptoms when we have no action. Of course the last three plays I made at Bobby’s Room, I lost 600K, 700K and 600K again. And yes, I was that much winner. I broke out almost exactly even. I’m sure those losses contributed to the blah feeling I’m now experiencing.

I just re-read the paragraph I just wrote and went to laughing. If you can’t handle the ups & downs, you better not get into the poker business. After 50 years of playing professionally, I should know that better than anyone. The sun is still going to come up in the east in the morning and a new day will begin. Hopefully, it will be a good one.

It’s almost time to vote for the 2009 inductees into the Poker Hall Of Fame and I’m unsure of who my choices will be. I’m leaning toward the older guys with my first choice being Mike Sexton. We have to pick two and I’m thinking hard about my other vote. Phil Ivey is the best player on the list, but he is only 33 years old. Chip Reese is the youngest player to be inducted at the age of 40. Phil is great, but he still isn’t Chip. Give Phil a few more years and he will certainly be elected. I’ll be cheering for him and Jeff Shulman in November at the WSOP final table.

I’m doing my best to get my work done for updating SS/2 along with editing my autobiography. I got a lot done but it’s really tough to sit at a desk all day long. My hat is off to the folks that do stuff like this for a living.

After going down to take care of the ticket I got in my new Escalade, I tried to figure out all the gadgets on it. After finding where the windshield wipers were, how to work the Onstar and how to turn the lift package off, I gave up. I think time has passed me by.

I had a great dinner last night at my son Todd’s house. Todd can really cook and goes to a lot of trouble to be sure it’s good. He should get a job as a chef somewhere. Jack Binion and his wife were there and we got to telling stories about the old days and really had lots of laughs. Everyone there said we should write a book about the Jack Struass, Jimmy Chagra, Sailor Roberts and Benny Binion tales we told.

I’ll tell you one of the Chagra stories. Jimmy Chagra was a big time dope dealer 30 years ago. He also allegedly hired Charles Harrelson (Woody’s dad) to kill a federal judge. Jimmy loved to gamble with us playing poker and golf, but he got sent to prison. He got out after 30 years and walked into Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio. He was watching us play and sweet little Jennifer Harman was loser. She turned around, cursed him and made him move. Then she lost another hand, called the floorman and demanded he be removed from the room. After he left, I told Jennifer who and what he was. She said she didn’t care if he was Al Capone, she didn’t want him watching anymore. That confirmed what I already knew. Don’t spit into the wind, don’t fool with Superman’s cape and don’t fool with Jennifer when she is losing

-DB

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you are the pilot.”

I went to Chip Reese’s son Casey’s funeral today and I’m in a very somber and reflective mood.  It was a nice service with every seat filled but I felt more people from the poker world should have been there. There were four speakers who talked about the 20 years Casey was with us. Two of his best friends spoke and I thought it was cool that they spoke out against drugs and cautioned everyone about fooling around with them.  Casey was cremated and put in a family plot alongside his father. I feel terrible for his family, his aunts and uncles and cousins. Everyone says nothing could have helped Casey, but I still have guilty feelings. Maybe I should have kidnapped him and not let him out of my sight, but I know that was impossible. The truth is that nobody can help unless people want to be helped. Such a sad waste of life. What a great kid when he was straight.

I went to the funeral with my best friend Jack Binion. As we drove home we talked about all the friends we have lost and we were a little surprised that there are only a few of our generation left. Doc Holliday and Wild Bill Hickok might have started the book on poker, but the group known as the Texas Rounders certainly turned the page of poker history.

It’s amazing how many of these guys died from substance abuse. I can kind of understand how kids get to partying and start experimenting with drugs, but how do men over 50, who never fooled with drugs, start? As addictive a person that I am, I’m glad I never tried these things or I’m sure I wouldn’t be here today.

Everybody should have the privilege of growing old. I feel really lucky to have my hair start to turn gray and to have life experiences forever etched in deep wrinkles and grooves in my face. My heart has been broken but that is what gives us strength, understanding and compassion. So, as I get older, I care less what people think because if I’m wrong, I’ve earned the right to be wrong. And believe me, I’ve earned every gray hair and every wrinkle I’ve got.

My doctors tell me I’m lucky, that I can expect to live many more years.  But as we all know, life is just a thin trickle of blood and there are no promises for tomorrow.  So I intend to spend my remaining time doing what I want and I intend to tell my family how much I love them every day. I’ve also decided that when I want a double-double from In N Out, I’m going to have one.

-DB

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “It’s choice, not chance, that determines our destiny.”

The most I had ever paid for a hamburger was $10, which I thought was foolish.  Yesterday, I went to Red Rock Casino to go to a movie with my pal Jack Binion.  We stopped in a gourmet hamburger place in the Red Rock and got a $14.75 burger.  It was a big restaurant but almost completely empty.  The way the economy is right now, this is going to be tough for them to survive.  The first thing people cut out is going out for lunch and dinner.  I personally would rather have a whopper from Burger King, anyway.

The election is finally over and I’m glad.  Martin Luther King said that someday, men would be judged by the content of their character, not by the color of their skin.  Looks like that day has come; with Obama being our first African-American president.  I voted for McCain because of some personal beliefs, but now that America has spoken, Obama is my president and I’ll support him in any way that I can.  I can only hope he will be able to turn our country around.  President Obama is one of the best speakers I’ve ever heard.

I get asked a lot where I get the Doylisms I use to start my blog.  A few of them are from me, but most of them are from things that I have read.  They come from all walks of life and from different folks.  I read a lot when I have time and I’ve taken the thoughts of a lot of authors, all the way from Will Rogers to Winston Churchill.  There is a lot of wisdom in books if we take the time to find it.

I didn’t go to Foxwoods for their WPT tournament.  Besides the fact I’m trying to stop traveling so much, my plate is so full now I don’t have any time.  I have to do a book signing at the Rio that I committed to and also have to appear in their “pro pit”.  The Hall of Fame induction is Sunday and I have to make the introduction speech for my pal Dewey Tomko.  I also have to do two shows for the Real Deal because most of their pros are out of town.  I’m also addressing some issues with Microgaming, DoylesRoom’s software provider.  Everything will work out, but it takes time and effort.

Daniel:  What do I do wrong?

Caddie: Sir, you spend so much time in bunkers, you get mail addressed to Hitler!

-DB

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “Don’t be afraid of pressure. Remember pressure is what turns a lump of coal into a diamond.”

After two days of being back from China, I’m having the worst jet lag of my life.  All I want to do is sleep, but the trip was worth it.

After visiting Hong Kong, Todd and I took a helicopter to Macau.  It was a breathtaking view as we went over the big buildings of Hong Kong and hundreds, maybe thousands, of small islands.  I must have walked more than a mile to get to the heliport and my bad leg was throbbing on the ride.  Jack Binion stayed in Hong Kong on business, but came over the next day to join us. 

After reaching Macau, we went to the Galaxy Hotel and met with our hosts, Tom Hall and Chris Parker.  Our accommodations were great and the book signings and interviews went well.  George Barahona from DoylesRoom  was there and had everything ready.  The APT tournament was a little disappointing because of the number of entries.  Matt Savage was the tournament director and did his usual terrific job.  There were lots of familiar faces including Huck Seed, J.C. Tran, Liz Lieu, John Chan and several more.  I guess the flight over affected me also, because I felt really bad and went out early the 1st day.  I played pitifully and was embarrassed but just didn’t have the energy and discipline it takes to play tournament poker.

After Jack Binion got there, we visited some of the other casinos.  They are much bigger than our Las Vegas ones and there are customers on every table, sometimes standing in line betting on seated player’s hands.  We went to the Venetian, Sands, Wynn and several others.  It seemed as though Sheldon Adelson owns most of the real estate in Macau and he is making megabucks over there.  We went to dinner at the Wynn with my friend from the Philippines, Tim Shirrer and some of his business associates.  The food was great as you would expect from a Steve Wynn hotel and casino.  Again, I had to walk a long ways because the casinos are so huge, you can’t believe them.  Maybe this trip will make me go get this leg fixed.

I was supposed to play in a big cash game but because I felt so bad, Jack and I decided we would leave Todd to play and we would come on home.  So we left and took a turbojet back to the Hong Kong airport.  Our flight was delayed for an hour before takeoff.  That meant we couldn’t make our connection to Vegas from San Francisco.  No problem when you are traveling with a billionaire like Jack Binion, you will have a private G4 waiting at another airport.  Nice way to travel!

Todd is still in Hong Kong because he was late for his flight.  I felt bad about leaving him over there, but he had plenty of friends to hang out with.  I’m not sure how he did in the cash game, but I think he won.  I’m grateful for him being there because he helped promote DoylesRoom online poker tournaments in the interviews.

Everybody thinks Obama is going to bury McCain in the debates.  They should watch the Saddleback forum where each candidate is asked the same question separately.  McCain won hands down and answered each question in a positive manner while Obama beat around the bush a couple of times.

David Benyamine – “You’ve got to be the worst caddy in the world.”
Caddy – “No sir, that would be too much of a coincidence.” 

-DB

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “If a man has done his best, what else is there?”

While it’s nice to be back in Vegas from Montana, I’ll barely get unpacked before it’s time for Todd and I to go to Macau for 9 or 10 days.  We are going to play in the APT and look things over.  I’ve heard a lot about China but have never been.  We’ll be taking a helicopter tour of Hong Kong before we settle in Macau. It’s a long flight to China but worth it since it might be a while before we can go back.  My pal Jack Binion is going with us and he knows his way around because he worked there with Steve Wynn for 6 months.

My toy poodle, Casper, injured himself in Montana.  He was chasing the golf cart I was driving and ran into a hidden hole, dislocating his left shoulder.  We have to do our best to keep him inactive, but it is impossible.  When he gets excited, he is as quick as that Jamaican runner, “Lightning” Bolt.  I hope he doesn’t hurt himself again.  He did add two more victims to his “bite list” while we were in Montana.

The Olympics have really slowed down the poker games, both live and online poker tournaments.  Everyone watches NBC every night instead of playing poker.  I don’t blame them because I get goosebumps watching the great athletes compete.  I even found myself cheering for Misty May and her partner in the beach volleyball finals.  That was the first time I had ever seen that sport and it was cool.  I can’t wait until the distance races start but I’m afraid I’ll miss them on this trip to China.

I hate to miss the Bike tournament because that is where I won my only WPT event.  I’ve always been partial to the Bicycle Club from the old days when George Hardy ran it.  I won lots of money there so that probably makes me fonder of it.

I heard Daniel N. got all the money in his golf matches.  I don’t know how, because his caddy talked to me and said Daniel asked him if he could get to the green with a 5-iron.  His caddy told him “Eventually”.

-DB

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