DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “He who buries his talent is making a grave mistake.”

Well, I thought I would be pulling for Phil Ivey and Jeff Shulman at the WSOP final table. But when Daniel wanted to bet Ivey over Moon, I had to take Moon who has 5 times the chips of Ivey. It is a must-win bet so probably we won’t have action. Sorry Phil, I won’t be rooting for you now. Business is business.

The game is going every night at Bobby’s Room. It’s really great to get up and know there will be somewhere to go. I’ve been breaking almost even every night and I was worrying that I might be playing bad. I try to analyze the hands I play every night before I go to sleep and I couldn’t see that I was doing anything wrong. Finally, I made a nice win last night so maybe there is still some gas in my tank.

I try to slow down, but things just keep piling up on me. I have to do an interview with the Associated Press, meet ESPN for my thoughts on the WSOP final table (what thoughts), go to dinner with the winner of the Vegas Experience from DoylesRoom.com and then the CEO and marketing staff are coming in for all kinds of meetings. The Hall of Fame dinner is also this week and I’m supposed to do the “shuffle up and deal” for the final table, followed by a book signing. My dentist is waiting with some implants that are overdue and my wife tells me that I should move to the Bellagio because I never spend any time with her. Oh well, nobody ever said life was easy.

This Twitter business is getting out of hand. My followers are going up close to 3,000 a day. Don’t know why but with 115,000 following, I’ve starting blocking all the negative and name calling tweeters. I’ve got enough problems without folks taking their frustrations out on me.

I just finished another interview with a national magazine. They asked me what I attributed my success and longevity to. I had never thought about it but I came up with a pretty good answer. I told them I never let self-made limitations happen. I’ve always pushed the envelope in everything I do. Actually, that’s pretty profound, I surprise myself sometimes!

-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

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: “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: “A bad decision is when you know what to do and you don’t do it.”

I guess I owe an explanation as to why I didn’t play in the WPT Championship at the Bellagio. It’s my favorite tournament of the year but i didn’t feel up to it.  No, I’m not sick, as evidenced by the fact I’ve been playing 10-12 hours a day in the cash games.  But after attending two funerals last week, along with my wife being out of town for six weeks, I just felt like I wouldn’t have the discipline or patience to sit through a long tournament.  At least in the cash games you can quit when you need to be somewhere else.

I never realized how much I depend on my wife to take care of the pets, run the house, pay the bills, keep food in the house, etc. Louise has allergy problems which led into asthma, which triggered a heart condition known as A-Fib. Her doctor told her she had to stay out of town until the pollen level subsides. I know there is lots of pollen in the air because I’ve been sneezing all month and I usually don’t have a problem. I sure hope Louise gets home soon.

I never expected to become part of the Twitter craze, but DoylesRoom started my page www.twitter.com/texdolly and now I’m posting on it.  I don’t think my old-fashioned cell phone will work so I have to do it from my computer each day.  What will they think of next!

I headed over to my CPA to get my taxes done and ran into a traffic jam.  Hundreds of people were blocking the streets having what they called a “tea party”.  I think they were protesting the current financial crisis our nation is going through, but some of the signs were ridiculous.  “Impeach Obama”, “What comes after trillions”, “Stop spending our money” and other statements blaming our president.  For Pete’s sake, let’s give the guy a chance to straighten this mess up.  I got a lot of heat for voting for McCain, but I knew when I cast a late vote, John didn’t have a chance to win. I was just being loyal to the Republican Party.  But now that the nation has spoken that they wanted Obama, we should all support him.

-DB