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

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “Life is one sweet song. Enjoy the music.”

I hope this football season gets through soon.  I only leave my desk and TV to go play poker when there is a game.  I thought I had the football needle out of my arm but it’s so much fun to bet and watch, I can’t help myself.  Anyway, in the NFL I think Pitt and Carolina will be in the Super Bowl.  And if Florida doesn’t beat Oklahoma by more than 3 points, I may be in the bread line.

It looks like golf may be the favorite gambling game among the poker players.  David Benyamine, Patrik Antonius, Phil Ivey and Daniel Negreanu are all playing and willing to play for big money if they think the games are close.  David and Patrik are amazing the way they have improved.  A year ago, neither one was much of a golfer but both being ex-tennis players, are great athletes.  Also, they have had good instructors and both guys are going to be able to break 80 before this summer is over.

I saw on the news last night that President elect Obama, who is an avid poker player, may introduce a new bill to legalize internet poker after he takes office.  Our country could certainly use the revenue in taxes that would be raised.  Obama faces the greatest challenge a President could imagine with the economy and terrorist threat.  I know Ivey and Negreanu both met Obama and he knew them by name so he for sure has an interest in poker.

There is a 15-year-old young lady named Margaret Hussman, a niece of a longtime friend, who has untreatable cancer and has less than 90 days to live.  My ex-roomate in college, Ray Hibler, called and asked me to write her an encouraging letter recounting my “terminal” battle with cancer 55 years ago.  Margaret is a poker enthusiast and I’m certainly going to call.  She is trying to spend her remaining days doing something new and enjoyable.  Send Margaret an e-mail at anne@ddgoose.com  I know she will appreciate it.  For all of us, there is no promise for tomorrow.  Happy New Year and lets all have a great 2009!

DOYLISM OF THE DAY:”No is one of the few words that can never be misunderstood.”

Another one of my longtime friends passed a few days ago.  Sammy Baugh, arguably the greatest quarterback in football history, died at age 94.  Baugh was the last surviving member of the inaugural Pro Football Hall of Fame.  If you are too young to remember “Slinging Sammy”, he played for the Washington Redskins for 15 years.  One season, he led the league in passing, defensive interceptions and punting.  He still owns the NFL single season punting record with a 51.4 yards per kick.

Baugh was the football coach at my University when I was in school.  I saw him in practice one day punt the ball from the 50 yard line out of bounds inside the seven yard line 6 times in a row.  Sammy and I had a lot in common as we grew up 20 miles apart and went to the same high school.  He was a fine man and wanted to be remembered as a great rancher instead of a great football player.

I’ve lived in Las Vegas since 1973 and I have never seen as much snow as we had this week.  Most people were complaining, but I actually liked it because I’ve never been around much snow.  There were lots of “fender benders” because Nevada drivers aren’t used to driving on slick streets.  I saw a terrible accident on Tropicana as a kid on a motorcycle got hit and I’m afraid it was a fatal collision.  I hate motorcycles and would never allow any of my children to ride them.

I played in the first filming of GSN’s High Stakes Poker last night.  I really enjoy playing in these cash games and had a 12 game winning streak going into the game.  We had a good lineup with Eli Elezra, Phil Laak, Tom “Durr” Dwan, Mike Baxter, Alan Meltzer, Dario Minieri and David Peat.  We can’t give any details but I will tell you, I play again tomorrow night and I’ll be going for win #14 in my cash games.

Congratulations to Chino Rheem for winning the Doyle Brunson Classic Championship at the Bellagio.  It comes on top of a final table finish at the WSOP for Chino.

Caddy:  Sir, you aren’t addressing the ball properly.
Daniel:  I’ve been polite to the damn thing long enough.