John Bonetti Reports to the Seniors Hall of Fame

Good ol' John Bonetti (Bono), my best friend and dinner companion … oh, did I mention that he can play some poker? Imagine starting to play poker at age 56, and winning three World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets and finishing third twice in the WSOP championship event! Imagine being 67 years old and winning three tournaments at the Four Queens, which helped him become the all-time leading money winner there! Imagine being 71 years old at the U.S. Poker Championship (Taj Mahal) and winning three events, including the championship $4,000 buy-in seven-card stud tournament, and finishing second in the $7,500 buy-in no-limit hold'em championship when Daniel Negreanu made a flush on the last card (not to mention a fifth-place finish that trip, as well)! That's right, three firsts, a second, and a fifth at the Taj at age 71! John Bonetti has done it all. He has won poker tournaments all over the United States (including the championship events at the Four Queens and Foxwoods), and he even finished in the money when I dragged him out of the country to play in Amsterdam with me when he was 70 (it was Bono's first time out of the country).

I was incredibly pleased to see Bono inducted into the Seniors Hall of Fame in front of a roomful of players at the WSOP this year. It was exciting to witness, although I wasn't able to do the induction speech as was originally planned. I was playing the deuce-to-seven event at the same time that the induction was happening – as if I really cared if I missed some deuce-to-seven hands in order to induct my best friend into the Seniors Hall of Fame! Anyway, Vince Burgio and Bono handled themselves well during the induction. And how about the event that followed the ceremony? Who would have ever expected in their wildest dreams that more than 350 people would show up to play in the Seniors World Championship of Poker? Nice job, Oklahoma Johnny Hale, on that one. I believe they will move the Seniors World Championship of Poker to Saturday (two days before the "big one") next year. Wow, is the Seniors good for poker, or what?

This year in the $5,000 buy-in Omaha eight-or-better event, Bono and I had a "close call" in regard to something that we have been thinking would happen for a long time. Many times over sushi, John and I have talked about the fact that we thought we'd end up "heads up" in a major championship event someday. With three people left in the Omaha eight-or-better event – John, Scotty Nguyen, and I – we thought it was finally going to happen. Unfortunately, John finished third, and then, although I had $480,000 to Scotty's $60,000, I ended up finishing second. I give Scotty credit for being a great player and a good man!

I've talked about John Bonetti being a great player, but there is more to him than that. I love and respect Bono as an honorable businessman. In the past when I have done business with him, I have handed him up to $50,000 and known that it would be used and accounted for in the right way. I've never even thought twice about handing John any amount of money, and that's what we call honor! John has earned that honor in the poker world by always doing the right thing for many years, and believe me, poker players have long memories! There is also the funny side to John. Have you ever heard him on an Internet poker broadcast? Go to philhellmuth.com and listen to John at the 2001 Tunica tournament; I guarantee that you will just laugh and laugh. And, we certainly can't forget about John Bonetti the family man. When I talk to John, two subjects continually come up – Nastassia (Nastash), his granddaughter, and Michael, his son. For 10 years I have heard about Nastash, and I feel as though she is a relative of mine! (Right now, Nastash is turning 16 years old, and she expects Johnny to buy her a car.) John also speaks a lot of his son, Michael who just quit his job and started a limousine service in Manhattan. I love it when people talk about their families. I mean, "shop talk" (poker talk) can be awfully boring. I think that it says something good about someone when they are into their families, and John sure is into Nastash and Michael. Of course, let's not forget John's wife, Jean, who, he likes to say in an old-fashioned way, is a "pain in the butt!" Of course, John always tells me in private how lucky he has been to have Jean by his side all of these years. (Oops. Sorry, John, I wasn't supposed to say that.) John might be old-fashioned, but you should see who really wears the pants in that family! When I am on the road and make it to the final table, I can always count on Jean Bonetti being there "sweating me." (Thanks, Jean; it's nice to have "family" there rooting for me.)

At any rate, as I was saying at the beginning of this column, good ol' John Bonetti – my best friend and dinner companion … what's that, John? Yes, I know, it's my turn to pick up the bill!