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

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.

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “The biggest problem you will ever have watches you from the mirror every day.”

The Main Event is still going on at the WSOP. The pros are getting fewer and fewer but that’s what makes a great tournament, anyone can get lucky and win.
I did my very best to at least go deep but just couldn’t hang on. I understand only too well that survival is the key for the first two days in a big field like the WSOP. But as day 1 wound down, I was sitting on a little under $30,000 and flopped a set against a player who had re-raised. To my surprise, my opponent didn’t just bet, he moved in on me. There was no straight or flush possible, so I had to call. Turns out he was drawing at a straight and made it and the board didn’t pair. Out the first day for the 3rd year in a row. How do you play “small ball” poker when that happens?

The good news is that the cash games at the Bellagio are really, really good. In fact, I haven’t seen games like the ones going on for years. There are millions of dollars on the two tables in Bobby’s Room every night. The high action games have even moved out into the main poker rooms because there are so many of them. I saw two 4-8 thousand mixed games, a 3-6k mixed game, a 2-4 mixed and a 2-4k blind pot limit Omaha going at the same time. There are lots of Europeans playing with the local players and huge amounts of money are being won and lost. A French business man seems to be the big winner but it’s hard to be accurate on winners and losers. I know myself that I’m small winner but have played 3 pots with a million dollars in the middle. I won one, lost one, and split a huge pot with Patrik Antonius when we dealt the turn + river 4 times. I had a set against 2 pair bigger than my set and a flush draw. But the biggest disappointment was when Gus Hansen hit runner-runner with all the cash in on the flop. Oh well, the games are good and will be there for another week or so.

If you like Chinese poker, the games have accelerated to 10K a point. That is the biggest Chinese games I’ve seen with half a million or more swings every night. I played a couple of time with not much of a result but I’ve played Chinese poker hundreds of hours, so I’m a very good player. The secret is how you play your bad hands; everyone plays the good hands properly.

I’m amazed at how well I’ve held up this past 6 weeks. I did lots of interviews, played several tournaments, did 4 seminars with Mike Caro, took care of everyday problems at home with Louise being out of the country and played a few cash games before I was knocked out of the WSOP. Then I caught the “flu” or whatever was going around at the tournament but just kept going because the cash games were so good. I even changed my sleeping hours where I could stay up all night. I’ve averaged playing 12-14 hours a day and have completely recovered from the illness. I feel strong and thank God I inherited the stamina from the Brunson genes.

Speaking of the genes, Pam Brunson, my daughter, outlasted Todd and I in the Main Event to win the “Last Brunson Standing” for the 3rd year in a row. I can’t remember the last tournament she didn’t outlast both of us (and Hoyt Corkins). Now Todd and I have to listen to her for another year. Just kidding Pam, nice going, I know you are getting better and better.

I saw the list of nominees for the Poker Hall of Fame. There are some great players, 10 were nominated, but my vote has to go to Mike Sexton or Barry Greenstein. Some of the others are too young and some don’t fit the criteria that are required for being elected. Phil Ivey is one that is a cinch to be inducted, but not this year because of his young age. Of course he is still alive in the Main Event and if he somehow wins, I’ll vote for him now.

-DB

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “Common sense is genius dressed up in work clothes.”

The WSOP makes my schedule a living hell. I try to play as many tournaments as possible but with all the other stuff I have to do, I have to be pretty selective.

I’m trying to do an update on SS/2, getting ready for the seminars with Mike Caro, keeping up with the NBA Finals, taking care of my dogs, keeping dental and doctor appointments, trying to keep the bills caught up, remembering to tweet each day, and trying to get to the cash games! Pretty hectic and would be a lot easier if Louise ever comes home. She must have a boyfriend in Hawaii for her to stay away this long.

I’m pushing Eric Drache to be put in the Poker Hall of Fame. He came in second in the 7 Card Stud this year. I was really pulling for him (besides the fact that he owes me money) so hard, I almost ruptured myself. Eric is one of the reasons poker is honest today in Las Vegas. He was my partner in the cardroom at the old Silver Bird Casino and he wouldn’t allow anything questionable in the room. We had a lot of problems I won’t go into here but organized crime was still in Vegas and we had threats on our lives if we insisted on keeping our room honest. But we did and it carried over into other poker rooms and we got rid of a very undesirable element in the poker world. Eric also was the tournament director of the early WSOP years. He also invented the satellites for the tournaments and Eric is the most popular guy in poker so let’s vote him into the WSOP Poker Hall of Fame.

My date for my colonoscopy gets closer and as I promised last blog, here are six things I’m going to say to the doctor.

1. “If your hand doesn’t fit, you must quit.”
2. “God, now I know why I’m not gay.”
3. “You put your left hand in, you take your left hand out,…”
4. “Hey! now I know how a muppet feels!”
5. “You used to be an executive at Enron, didn’t you?”
6.  My favorite- “Could you write a note for my wife saying that my head is not up there?”

–DB

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “Playing poker is one grand sweet song, so start the music.”

The WSOP is off to a roaring start. If the economy is affecting the poker players, the numbers don’t show it. There have been three events so far and each event has set a record for the number of players entered. I’ve always said that poker players are a great barometer of the economy and this is a positive sign. Let’s hope so anyway.

I’ve played one event, the $40K. I made it through the 1st day and had above average chips but never won a pot the second day. Out of 208 entries, I was #78. Annoying to beat almost 2/3 of the field and wind up $40,000 loser. It was a good event however with the winner getting almost $2 million.

Mike Caro and I are giving poker seminars at the Rio.  Mike is very good with the strategy and tips and I do a Q&A at the end.  They are free to the public and lots of folks are coming so you should get there early if you want to attend.

The Table of Champions is tomorrow. It looks like all of the living winners of the main event with the exception of Russ Hamilton will be there to play for the 1st Binion Cup, a new car and bragging rights. It should be a lot of fun and lots of ribbing going on.

Lots of tweeting going on the Twitter. I’m really surprised at all the information you get from the thousands of people that follow you. I truthfully think Twitter is just a fad that will soon fade away. Maybe not, it is a lot of fun. Louise will be home in two weeks and I’ll teach her how to tweet.

-DB

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