DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “Reputation is a bubble which bursts when a man tries to blow it up for himself.”

I’m getting lots of calls and emails about the Poker Hall of Fame induction in November and my opinion of the candidates. For those of you who don’t know this, this is the first year that the public votes for who they think should be nominated. Then the top 10 players from their vote are sent to the 15 living members of the HOF and to 15 media people. We each have 2 votes so here are my thoughts. Remember, these are my thoughts. If you don’t agree with me, please don’t start a civil war about it.

The criteria for selection is:
(1) Must have played against top competition.
(2) Played for high stakes.
(3) Played consistently well, gaining respect of their peers.
(4) Stood the test of time.
(5) Contributed to the overall growth and success of poker with positive and lasting results.

Here are the players in alphabetical order and my opinions about each one.

(1) Tom Dwan – It’s really an honor for Tom to be a nominee at the age of 22. Obviously, he can’t meet the criteria that are listed. I think he is a fine player and barring something unforeseen, his picture will be on the wall someday.

(2) Barry Greenstein – Barry meets all the requirements. I think he was a much better choice when he was a cash game player only. He is in my top 3 or 4 choices.

(3) Dan Harrington – “Action Dan” as he is known would be a good representative of the poker world.  He has a lot of interests outside poker, which will go against him.

(4) Phil Ivey – This is where I’ll get a lot of heat, because I think the Halls of Fame for any sport is for players whose careers have more to look back at than look forward to. Phil isn’t even at the height of his career yet but is a 100% cinch to be inducted soon. I’ve got a feeling I’m going to lose this argument which is OK if I do.

(5) Tom McEvoy – Tom is a long time ambassador of poker and is one of the old guys that I favor. I understand that playing for high stakes is different for everybody. You have to be a little bit crazy to play the stakes some of us play for, but Tom has put his time in at the tables.

(6) Men Nguyen – I’ve admired Men’s work ethic for years. Nobody has played and supported tournaments as much as Men. He has several player of the year awards as proof of that.

(7) Scotty Nguyen – Anybody that is called “The Prince of Poker” has to be a viable candidate. He is one of the best all-around players and he certainly meets the criteria well.

(8) Daniel Negreanu – What can I say here? go back and read what I said about Phil Ivey and pretend it’s here. Daniel is my choice to outlast any of the “young guns” people keep talking about Daniel and Phil both meet all 5 criteria.

(9) Eric Seidel – Eric is definitely one of my top choices. I think he is the consummate gambler. Besides being a great player, he has the best all-around disposition of anyone. He reminds me of Chip Reese, which is the highest compliment I can pay anyone.

(10) Mike Sexton – In my opinion, here is the #1 choice. Mike paid his dues at the table for years, gambled as high as his bankroll allowed and meets all the requirements for induction. Mostly, go back and read #5 in the criteria. Nobody and I mean nobody has contributed more to the success of poker than Mike Sexton. If he isn’t one of the people selected, something is wrong. I know of 3 votes from the living members at the HOF that Mike will get. Binion and Crandell Addington both assure me Mike will be their 1st choice, also.

So there you have it. It would be impossible to make a bad choice from this list of players. It will be interesting, to say the least, who the two inductees will be. Kudos to Harrah’s for changing the process!

-DB

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “Criticizing someone else’s garden doesn’t keep the weeds out of your own.”

This 700 billion dollar bailout doesn’t seem to be changing anything.  The stock market keeps going down and banks keep going under.  The culprits are being rewarded at the taxpayer’s expense.  Lehman Brothers went under after awarding 50 billion dollars in options and bonus money to their top executives last year. Why can’t the government step in and reclaim that money?  The banks that tried to be prudent and make good loans are being punished along with the banks that knew they were making terrible loans.  I taught Money and Banking at a University in Texas when I was a graduate student.  I remember in our textbook a quote, “Bankers are someone who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining but wants it back the minute it starts to rain.” Now, nobody has money to loan to the business people that need it.  I don’t know what the government is going to do now.

CNN says that Senator Obama is already measuring the drapes in the White House.  It does look like he is a shoo-in for the presidency even though there is lots of talk about his association with terrorists, him being a Muslim and some folks saying he is the Anti-Christ.  While all these things are taken to the extreme, we shouldn’t ignore that Obama didn’t use good judgment about his professor, his friends and his spiritual advisors.  As far as him being the Anti-Christ, forget that because he doesn’t fit the prophecies.  The Anti-Christ is coming out of the old Roman Empire which includes Iran, Iraq, Germany, Turkey and other countries in the Middle East.  I still haven’t made up my mind who to vote for but I’m tempted to vote for McCain.  After listening to my poker pals about me supporting George W. Bush in a big way and how bad he has been; if Obama turns out to be a lousy president, I can tell them, “I told you so!”  Whatever happens, I hope our country can recover and gain some respect back for all of us.

I went to the Venetian and went through a rehearsal for the “Real Deal”, a show that starts October 21st.  It went very well with Scotty Nguyen and myself playing poker with six members of the audience.  All the rest of the audience can play along with handheld devices that can call or fold.  Prizes are given all through the show to the top scorers.  Merv Adelson is the producer of the show and has a very professional team out of Los Angeles. The pros that will be in these bi-weekly shows are Scotty, Jennifer Harman, Eli Elezra, Todd Brunson, Gavin Smith, Phil Laak, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu and myself.  Kenna James and Lacey Jones introduce each show and pick the folks out of the audience to play.  We are going to have a lot of fun with this.

I saw where Daniel was bragging about some of the young poker players’ accomplishments.  A lot has been made about the number of entries in the old days and some of the older guys’ records can’t mean as much. Well, a final table is a final table and in the “old days” the field was thinner but tougher.  So when you judge from that, John Moss was at 22 WSOP final tables, won eight with two seconds.  How about this one, Billy Baxter has been at 11 WSOP final tables, won 7 times with one second.  I’ve been at 21 final WSOP tables, won 10 and have two seconds and three thirds.  Some of us dinosaurs could close the deal also.

Caddie: Sir, why do you play so much golf?

Daniel: There is absolutely nothing else to do in Las Vegas.

-DB

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “The One thing you can give and still keep is…your word.”

Looks like everything is winding down now in the poker world.  The WSOP is over for now and the Bellagio WPT is over.  Most of the cash game players are leaving town and so I am finally going to get to Montana for a much needed rest.  I guess I will drive for two days where I can take my dogs; plus loading the Escalade down with stuff I’m going to need.  I’ve hired a house sitter to take care of things while I am gone.

Congratulations to the WPT winners.  I was pulling for David Benyamine to win but his second place finish along with Ralph Perry’s fourth place upholds ‘The Big Game’s’ honor.  I saw when David lost a couple of tough hands in the heads-up.  I’m sure Mike Watson is a worthy champion even though I haven’t played with him that I can remember.

I see where the WPT has been signed on by Fox Sports Network.  That is probably a good move for them even though I have some personal problems with the Network.  They went back on their word on an issue a few years back.  I didn’t understand it at the time and still don’t.  Their excuse was ‘business is business’.  Most folks don’t put the same value on keeping their word as I do.  I might not play in any more WPT tournaments but that would probably be stupid on my part.  I remember the old saying, “Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face.”

If you haven’t played online poker at DoylesRoom you haven’t lived.  We have a rabbit cam that flashes what the next card would have been after you or your opponent folds; just another way to torture yourself and second guess what you should have done.  Just go to options and check ‘show rabbit cam cards’ and you will see how much fun it is to see what would have happened.  Just another improvement on what I believe is the best poker software in the poker sites.

I’m pretty sure we are going to have another golf tournament on ESPN in early October.  High Stakes Entertainment secured a golf course near Orlando, Florida for the event.  That is a good choice because the players can bring their families for a nice vacation.  There are many theme parks, including Disney World, nearby.  There has to be at least a Two Million Dollar prize pool so it will be interesting to say the least.

My autobiography has been put on hold for another year.  My publisher didn’t think the book was ready yet.  It wasn’t my decision but I feel badly for my co-author, Mike Cochran, who has put a lot of time and effort into getting the book written.  Mike is an old friend from way back in college but there is really nothing I can do about it.  Actually it will be easier on me to wait because my plate is full for the next few months and I couldn’t promote the book like they want me to.

I’ve been watching the Maverick Marathon I tivoed during the WSOP.   The Starz Network had a 24 hour showing from the Western Channel on DSS.  They had a lot of poker players giving their remembrances of the series starring James Garner and Jack Kelley.  They had more shots of me than anyone else because I was the only one old enough to remember when Maverick first came on in 1957.  Scotty Nguyen, Hoyt Corkins, Mike Caro, Vanessa Russo, and T. J. Cloutier all had spots on the promos.  What I don’t understand is not one person has ever mentioned seeing it on T.V.  So many folks come up and say, “I watch you on T.V. all the time.”  Could it be that I am the only cowboy left?