DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “The time to win a fight is before it starts.”

After seeing all the robberies on TV along with home invasions, I decided to get a concealed weapon permit. I’ve always kept a pistol in every vehicle I own and that is legal in Nevada. It’s also legal to have weapons in your home. With this new permit, it’s legal to carry a gun you have qualified with on your person. So my daughter Pam and I sat through a 4 hour class on what you could and could not do with a permit. Then we went shooting. I qualified with a Kimber .45 caliber automatic and a .357 magnum revolver. 53 years ago, I qualified as a marksman with a pistol at Camp Polk, LA. I blacked my bullseye out on my target, close to my shooting ability long ago. Pam also qualified with a revolver.

There is a lot of speculation about what effect the swine flu will have on the World Series of Poker. Hopefully it will be contained by then but it’s impossible to not be concerned. Personal hygiene should be observed and if anyone is sick, they should stay away from the crowds.

I’m having some dental implants Tuesday. It’s something I am really not looking forward to but I’ve got a lot of confidence in my dentist and he recommends it. I hope it doesn’t knock me out of going to Montana to Todd’s poker tournament. If I do get to go, I’ve got to take my dogs because I don’t want to leave them with the house sitter. I need a little rest before the WSOP starts and there is no place like Montana to get away from everything. Louise is still in Hawaii having trouble with her asthma.

My publisher tells me my autobiography will be out in October. I haven’t seen the finished book yet, but I have high hopes for it. I’m also putting out a revised Super System. I hear most book sales that pertain to gambling are down but my books are doing well. We also give away a lot of them on special offers at DoylesRoom.

This Twitter craze is something else. My sister called and asked what I was doing. When I told her I was tweeting on Twitter, she told me I was going crazy.

-DB

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “Some poker players drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.”

I’m flattered so many people read my blog.  I’ve had tons of e-mails, phone calls (mostly anonymous), talk on the different forums, etc.  There seems to be some confusion so I’ll clarify a few things.

First, unless I specify it, any comments I make about poker don’t include internet poker.  So when I said I never saw a poker game that I couldn’t beat, I meant 6 or more players sitting down at a table.  I don’t mean on the internet where players might be talking on the phone or sending IMs.  I don’t care if you find the top 6 or 7 NLH in the world; I believe I can find a way to win.  Also, I don’t care if I can beat anyone heads up.  Why?….I don’t play heads up for a living, only ring games.  I’ve never gone around “bragging” about being the greatest player, only that I’ve played high-stakes poker longer than anyone.

Aggression?  Anyone who has read Super System knows I invented that way back in the 70’s.  These young kids have taken it to a new level.  So you have to keep changing your game, just as I had to do after S/S came out.  Nowdays, you have to pick your spots to bluff and you try to trap the over aggressive players.  Everyone keeps talking about how tight I play on the TV cash games.  If you watch these games closely, you’ll see a lot of the guys, kids mostly, making plays strictly because they are on TV.  Any professional poker player would certainly be wrong to shoot it out with the maniac players.

It amazes me.  I’ve won 14 or 15 straight times in the TV cash games.  I love them and I love playing against the young “superstars”.  The main idea of playing is to win, right? Watch Barry G and notice how he plays on these shows.  Entirely different than when he plays in a tough cash game.  The older players certainly know how to make plays but we won’t make a lot because we know how to adapt to any situation.

Another thing that pisses me off is when these “know-it-alls” talk about the old time poker players not being any good.  I’d like to see any of the “greats” go back and play Johnny Moss, Pat Renfro, Sailor Roberts, James Roy, Doc Ramsey and a host of other guys that made their living playing NLH.  Of course that can’t happen so we’ll never know. I’ve played against both worlds and I think the old guys would chew up these young guns.

I’m getting old, there is nothing I can do about that, but I’m still willing to play anybody “Doyle Sez”, where I can name the game and change to another game when I want to.  If any of the internet stars, that don’t play live, want to play, I’ll give them half their money back if they lose if they play 8 hours a day for a week.

Everyone also asks about the match between Patrik Antonius and myself and what happened.  First, I want to say I’m not interested in playing Patrik because he is a weak player. On the contrary, I think he is a great player and I make him and Daniel Negreanu the favorites over anyone to still be playing 30 years from now.  Patrik wants a list of the games, which I’ll provide him.

I just feel I can find a game against anyone that I can beat them at. I know this means I’ll have to play heads up, which I hate, but I can’t back down now.

-DB

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “The art of being a good guest is knowing when to leave.”

What a great feeling it must be to be 23 years old and on top of the world.  I had dinner last night with Michael Phelps, the 8 gold medal winner from the Olympics.  What a nice kid!  He had a bunch of his friends from home with him and they were the guests of the Palms Hotel and Casino.  I got a call that he was an avid poker fan and wanted to meet me, Todd, and Hoyt Corkins.  Jennifer Harman and her husband Marco were also there.  Todd and Big Mike, Joe Montana’s manager, eat all the time at the Nine Steakhouse at the Palms.  Chef Barry is a good friend of Todd’s and Mike’s and put out an elegant meal.  We had seafood, salad, steak, chicken, lamb and vegetables.  If you have never eaten there, you should try it.

Phelps and some of his friends wanted books so I took Super System 1 and 2 to them and they asked all kinds of poker questions.  Michael said all he wanted to do in life, was to eat, swim and play poker.  We went up to his suite to hang out for a while.  His suite had a basketball court, swimming pool, workout room, multiple bedrooms and bathrooms.  It must have been 15-20 thousand square feet, the nicest one I’ve ever seen.

After I had a few beers, I faded away at about 3 in the morning.  The party was going strong and I think Michael left two things off what he likes to do.  He should add girls and partying.  Why not?  He deserves to celebrate.  Imagine how hard he has to train to be the best swimmer in the world.  They invited me back for dinner tonight, but I’m going to pass.  Michael is trying to outdrink Todd and he is going to find out what defeat feels like.  I asked Michael’s agent if he would like to come to the opening of The Real Deal at the Venetian.  After I told him it would be in the middle of October, he said he would try to make it.  There’s going to be lots of celebrities along with the 10 pros at the opening.  I’m sure everyone will have a good time.

It looks like I’m going to have to go to the WSOP Europe after all.  There have been lots of things already set up for me and I really want to be there to promote DoylesRoom online poker.  I think I’m supposed to play a heads up match with Annette Obrestad.  I know that she is a good player, but it will be embarrassing to lose to an 18 year old girl.  But if I do, I won’t have any excuse because I have almost completely recovered from the trip to Asia.  The human body is an amazing thing; I thought it would be weeks before I felt good again.

Daniel N. – “How do you like my game?”
Caddy – “Very good sir, but personally, I prefer golf.”

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “Yesterday is the wind at your back.”

I went out on Flathead Lake in my pontoon boat today with some friends. We rode around and went around Wild Horse Island. The name comes from the wild mustangs that are on the Island. Nobody seems to know how the horses or the other wildlife got out there because the shoreline is at least a mile away. We also saw big horn sheep and lots of white tail deer and goats. Bald-headed eagles were around along with some other big birds I didn’t know.

We went all the way to the end of the lake and had lunch. I can’t believe how many good restaurants there are here. Maybe the food just tastes better in the country.

I forgot to mention in my last blog that I saw Brent Musburger, an old friend that I hadn’t seen in thirty years. Brent is the lead sportscaster for CBS and has been as long as I can remember. Brent covered the WSOP in 1976, the first year I won the main event. Jimmy ‘the Greek’ Snyder, Brent’s co-anchor on NFL football was also helping cover the series.

I remember Brent made a bet on me to win. He also told me he still had the 1st edition S/S book I gave him that year. Brent and his wife found the Montana magic and have a place down in Hamilton. He looked the same, just a little older. One of the nicer men I’ve ever met.

My friend Lara called me on my cell while I was driving to Whitefish. She asked “what happened?” I had no idea what she was talking about and told her so. Lara is an agent and has lots of media contacts. She said four reporters had called and informed her they had reports I had died last night. I told her to tell them the rumors that I was dead were greatly exaggerated. It seems every year somebody starts untrue stories about me. My favorite is that I was caught cheating in the Bellagio and carried out in handcuffs. That story went around two different years. Someone has a very vivid imagination.

I went out with my next door neighbors fishing. We didn’t start until late afternoon but it doesn’t get dark here until 10 0′clock. There are 25 species of fish in the Flathead including Cutthroat Trout, Pygmy Whitefish, Yellow Perch, and lots of Lake Trout. The record Montana Lake Trout is 44 inches long and 42 lbs. It was caught on the Flathead in 1979. We didn’t catch anything close to that, but we caught 4 nice Lake Trout with the biggest one just over 21 lbs.

I got my first traffic ticket since college in Lakeside yesterday. There were two stop signs about ten yards apart and I missed the second one so I guess I deserved it but the officer was the first rude person I’ve met in Montana. Most of the locals are not only extremely friendly, but they are eager to help if you need it. Casper let me down because he was in the car when I got stopped and even though he made a charge and tried, he didn’t bite the officer. Good thing he didn’t because that jerk probably would have thrown me under the jail. 85 bucks for the ticket, things have gone up since 1955. -DB