DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “There are 3 rules for success. 1st, keep going. 2nd, keep going. 3rd, keep going.”

I never dreamed I would get the reaction I got from my last blog about torture, nuclear war, etc.  Not to stir the pot any further but the Geneva Convention our country signed was about conventional war.  Terrorism isn’t war.  Enough said.

I guess I’m getting a lot of my ideas from watching too much TV.  That’s what you do when you have too much time on your hands.  I’m breaking out of my slump next week by going down to Texas for a few days.  I’ll come back for the NBC Heads Up Tournament.  That’s always fun, it’s in Vegas and I’ve already posted my $20,000 buy-in to be sure I can’t back out.  I’ve got to start playing!

During one of my recent exciting days of watching TV, I noticed the State of Pennsylvania put up their Mount Rushmore of Sports.  I’ve been to the real Mt. Rushmore and it is an impressive place that attracts more than 3 million visitors annually.  There are 60 foot high sculptures of the faces of 4 famous presidents carved on a mountainside.  George Washington, Abe Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson and Teddy Roosevelt stare down at you from the mountain.

On their mountain, Penn put Joe Paterno, the winningest coach in college football history, Roberto Clemente the Hall of Fame right fielder of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Mario Lemieux the hockey great and Wilt “The Stilt” Chamberlain, who averaged 50 points a game one season for the Philadelphia 76′ers.  They left out some pretty good athletes; including Joe Frazier, Honus Wagner, Mike Schmidt and the golfer who contributed so much to his sport, Arnold Palmer.

Anyway, it inspired me to make my own Mt. Rushmore of Poker Players.  I left out the youngsters.  They can make their own in 20 or 30 years.  There are lots of great oldtimers but it is pretty clear to me who should go up on “Poker Mountain”.  I’m not going to number them, so in no particular order…here goes. Johnny Moss has to be one of the faces because he contributed so much.  Poker would have died out down in Texas without him.  If it had died, poker as we know it today would have never got to Vegas.  After we did get poker to Las Vegas, Walter “Puggy” Pearson was the catalyst for all the action in Vegas for 20 years.  Pug had more animal instinct than anyone I’ve known.  He kept poker going until the WSOP finally got poker recognized, so he definitely has to be up there.  Of course, David “Chip” Reese has to be one of the faces.  Chip was simply the best all-around player I’ve ever known.  He was also one of the greatest ambassadors of poker because of his overall attitude.  He would play anybody, anytime and nobody has a bad thing to say about Chip.  A lot of folks won’t agree with my last choice, Bryan “Sailor” Roberts.  If you weren’t around when he was a young man, you can’t imagine the talent he had.  He played all the games, but was particularly adept at no-limit. I actually think he could have been the greatest player of all time if he had the dedication.  He succumbed to the temptations of the world and never got the accolades he deserved.  With the exception of Chip, today’s players remember these guys when they were old and past their prime.  But believe me, they were tigers!

I know I left out a lot of great oldtimers.  You could make an argument for Ferris, Addington, Straus, Alto, Barnes, Hooks, Ungar, Cloutier and Baldwin.  But, there can be only 4 faces up there, and after all, it is my mountain.

-DB

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “Experience teaches only the teachable.”

I can’t help getting feedback from some of the forums and conversations around poker tables I’m not playing at.  A person should be able to take criticism because the Good Book says:  “I had rather be criticized by a wise man than praised by a fool.”  Still, if I write things that offend you, don’t read my blog.  I just say what I think and what I do and neither might be right.

One thing I would like to clear up is about Johnny Moss and Nick ‘the Greek’ Dandolos.  They most definitely did play in 1949-50.  Des Wilson wrote Ghosts at the Table and did a ton of research but he missed it when he said the match never happened.  I talked to my friend, Jack Binion, and he told me they did play and the stories might be exaggerated a little but Moss beat Nick and made him quit.  Des wrote a good, entertaining book but no one can always be right about what happened in the past.

We can talk about The Real Deal now that the press release has gone out.  It is a new poker show that is starting October 1st at the Venetian Hotel.  It is an audience participation show with chances to win big prizes.  I’ve been approached many times about new ventures and have done some of them but most of them fail.  But, when I found out Merv Adelson was the lead person in this show I was happy to be included.  I knew of Merv through his former partner and my good friend, Irwin Molasky.  So, I knew he would have all his ducks in a row with adequate financing and competent people working.  Sure enough, he has put together an amazing team and we are going to have a ball with this show.

I’m off to Montana in the morning, so it may be a few days before I update my blog. I’m as excited as a rookie playing in his first WSOP.  I hope I don’t hurt myself in those mountains!