DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “Life involves risk. You can’t steal second base and keep your foot on first.”

I’m sitting at my desk at 8:30 at night wondering if I should go to bed, watch a movie and go to sleep.

Good Googa Mooga! What in the world has happened?  Poker games are getting to be scarce in Vegas and all the players are going to tournaments in other cities and even other countries. It’s my opinion that these tournaments may be the end of the high and medium stake poker games. Back in the 80’s, 90’s and the early years of 2000, there were games everywhere. If there wasn’t a game going, Chip Reese, Pug Pearson and myself would sit down and start games that would fill up and run for days. Now between tournaments and the internet, you could shoot a cannon through the high limit sections of Vegas cardrooms and not hit anyone.

Thank goodness for NFL football and the college bowl games. With no poker games going, they fill the time in nicely. I always bet the underdogs in the college bowls and I had a banner year as the underdogs won by a 3-1 margin. The NFL is a little trickier and you have to be lucky to pick the winners.

The Brunson family has a tradition of making Kentucky Colonel Bourbon candy for the holidays. We haven’t done it for a couple of years, so our family, Todd and his wife Anjela and my daughter Pam joined Louise and I to start making the candy again. We made the best tasting candy you ever ate. It was so good I made another batch the next day that was even better. Maybe I’ll join the Food Network on TV.

I took some of my candy down to my doctor and he showed me the results of my last checkup. I’m one lucky guy! All my blood levels were in the normal range and on an echocardiogram they made, everything about my heart was perfect. I know it sounds crazy, but I’ve always felt that  a poker player’s heart pumps so hard it keeps your arteries clean. After all the chit I’ve been through, mine are completely clear. You probably shouldn’t quote me on that . On the flip side of that, seems like we are losing a lot of poker players in the past few years. We lost Amir Vahedi a few days ago with complications from his diabetes. Amir was in the Iranian army before coming to America and becoming one of the more popular poker players. Amir represented DoylesRoom.com for a year and always did anything that was asked of him. He did everything with an infectious laugh that made everybody love him. I hope they put a box of his trademark cigars in his coffin because I know how much he liked them. RIP my friend.

-DB

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on!”

The 2009 WSOP is history except for the November 9. Each player at the final table gets over a million, all the way to the 1st place 9 million. Jeff Shulman and Phil Ivey are the only names I recognize and I’m going to be there to cheer them on. I’m a fan of the Shulman family. Jeff and Barry are both fine poker players (Jeff is the best ) and Barry’s wife is a respected attorney. I’m a little unsure how I feel about Jeff’s remark that he would throw the bracelet in the garbage can if he won it. I understand his concerns and agree with most of them, but to throw away the bracelet? Pretty strong statement!

The poker games are out of control at the Bellagio. I’ve never seen games where so much money is won and lost each night. I’ve only played in the game twice because it is PLO, which I consider my worst game. I won both times but have been content to play in the “baby games”, 2-4k and 4-8k mixed games. The Chinese Poker has been even bigger. We played $15,000 a point last night, 4 handed and 2 waiting. I had a 2.1 million dollar swing in less than an hour. Now that is gambling!

I get asked how in the world do you handle the ups and downs. The first thing you have to learn is how to endure disappointments. Sometimes I feel like a salmon swimming upstream to spawn. I always try to remember what my personal hero, Jim Valvano, said.

Valvano was the coach when North Carolina State beat Houston for the NCAA Championship. A few years later he contracted terminal cancer and gave an unforgettable speech on national TV. I remember he said, “This cancer can kill my body, but it can’t kill my spirit. Always remember, don’t give up, don’t ever give up.”

I try to do just that.

-DB

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “Poker don’t make the world go round, but it makes the ride worthwhile.”

Every year about this time, some sicko feels the need to spread the news that I died. Doug Dalton was the first to call and I had several calls after that. I was tweeting on twitter and Howard Lederer spread the word that if I was dead, someone was twittering on my account. When I do die, hopefully years from now, everybody will have to check to see if it’s true.

Speaking of Twittering, I told Louise, who has been in Hawaii for two months, asked what I was doing. When I told her I was tweeting on my twitter she thought it was a sexual innuendo. I laughed at her and she told me the same thing my sister told me. “Doyle, I think you are going crazy.” Actually, I’ve always suspected I might be a little crazy, so they could be right.

Looks like the guys are playing golf every day. Daniel tweeted me that Ivey, Patrick, E-Dog and him were out every day. Man, am I jealous. The most fun I’ve ever had is when 15-20 guys gather at a good golf course and everybody tries to play high and make fair games. With the WSOP so close there is no reason to try to join them because everyone will be in the poker room next week. It looks like if Eli Elezra and I don’t start the poker games at Bobby’s Room, they don’t get started. I’ll never understand why players are reluctant to sit down and start, the games almost always fill up.

Mike Caro and I are doing 6 seminars during the WSOP.  They are on May 30/31, June 13/14 and June 27/28. Mike does all the hard work with his bullet points and presentation. He is the best at these things, he really does a good job. I do a 20 minute Q&A at the end of each one which is really pretty easy.  Everyone should come if they can make it.

I signed on with Poker Royalty yesterday. Poker Royalty represents quite a few poker players in making deals for their endorsements, etc. I’ve heard nothing but good things about them. I’m a terrible businessman and deal maker so I’m glad to be able to turn over all that stuff to them. As I recall, they have a suite right outside the tournament area that will be handy for bathroom breaks. That will be cool because it’s hard to get to the bathroom during the WSOP. All the fans want pictures and autographs and you seem like a jerk if you don’t talk to them.

It’s been weeks since I’ve played poker. If it hadn’t been for the NBA playoffs, I would really be climbing up the wall. Louise has been gone for 2 months now due to her allergy problems and I’ve been babysitting Cutie and Casper. I haven’t even been to the golf course. I’ll say one thing, because of this I’ve got a fire in my belly I haven’t felt for years. I’m really anxious to get to the poker table and I’m going to see if there are any wins left in this old man. I’m going to win a bracelet this year!

-DB

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “In the valley of the blind, the one eyed man is king.”

The Celebrity Apprentice is over. What a joke! If Donald Trump was really hiring someone, who do you think he would pick? I think that when Joan Rivers threatened to not come back, Trump assured her she would be the winner. That’s just my opinion, but they certainly got great ratings for the show. I thought it was impossible for anyone to outtalk Annie, but Joan started screaming everytime Annie tried to say anything and Trump allowed it. As to the remark about Annie’s friends being in the Mafia, I’m from Texas and we have possums, raccoons and skunks. There is no such animal as Mafia down there. I like everyone on the show (even Melissa) except the winner. But it goes back to the old saying, “That’s why they make chocolate and vanilla.”

The month before the WSOP is the slowest time of the year for poker. Everyone is home preparing for the long grind that’s coming. It will be interesting to see how the recession affects the number of players in each event. Because of the internet poker sites sending players, I feel it won’t be down more than 10-20 percent from last year. I’ve always said the best barometer of the economy is the poker players. If they have money, the economy is ok, if they don’t, look out because hard times are coming.

I’m completely lost on what is going on in the gambling world. Since I had this sinus lift by the dentist, I’ve hardly gone out of the house. I don’t know if there is any golf action but I’m pretty sure there hasn’t been any poker games. Mostly because of boredom, I’ve been betting on the NBA playoffs with terrible results. I thought the Lakers would be the champion but now I can’t see anyone beating Cleveland. But the way I’m going you should bet against that.

We have two bounty tournaments at DoylesRoom, Doyle’s Bounty and Beat The Brunsons. It is a pleasant break to play in those every week. I don’t do too well in these tourneys but my daughter Pam is smoking. I think I probably get too impatient.

I also was supposed to go to Montana for Todd’s tournament. My face is so black and blue and sore, I’ve decided to stay home. I was really looking forward to going because that is my favorite place in the whole world. It reminds me of Texas when I was growing up. Everybody knows everybody and folks will help you in any way they can. Great place and the temperature was 44 degrees last night.

-DB

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “Opportunity is a bird that never perches.”

While the cash games aren’t as big as they were in Las Vegas, there are still plenty of low- and medium-stake games. I found a one hundred dollar ante, three hundred/six hundred blinds, 2-7 lowball game that was really gambling. The six players had between $20,000 and $100,000 each in front of them. I’ve always said that chips are preferable to cash in poker games. That is because most players find it easier to put chips in the pot than cash money. However, the flip side of that is that the players like to win money that they can see.

So, I sat down with $50,000 in cash and it was like putting new meat in front of Old Yeller. Every time I put a bundle of $100 bills in the pot it stimulated the action unbelievably. I played a few hours and had a $34,000 win. It would have been closer to $100,000 but Johnny Chan beat a pot eight for me. It was a good game and I intend to visit the 2-7 low ball game regularly.

I’ve decided to miss the WPT event at the Commerce Casino in Las Angeles. I had a meeting at the Venetian Hotel about a major TV poker show that will be starting in a few months. I will be involved along with nine other top pros. The people who are putting it together are big time players in the television business. I can’t tell you about it right now but it is going to be an exciting event (or I should say events).

If you are fortunate enough to make the final table at the Commerce you would have to break your neck getting back to Las Vegas for the preliminary party for the NBC Heads-Up tournament. It looks like they could schedule these poker tournaments where they don’t overlap. Now it is totally impossible to play in the celebrity tournament right after the WPT tournament.

It looks like it is going to be Obama vs. McCain for President. I think Obama is a cinch to beat McCain where if Hillary was the candidate, it would have been a coin flip. Obama’s base is too strong for McCain which is a good thing. God help the internet gambling business if McCain does happen to win – DB