DOYLEISM OF THE DAY: “Life is not a sprint. It’s a marathon.”

After all my complaining about feeling bad, I went to my doctor and got a complete physical. I thought that perhaps I was anemic or low blood sugar was the cause of my lack of energy. But no, the doctor’s word he used as he reviewed my test results was superb. My cholesterol was 170 and all the blood work was perfect. I had an EKG, Cat scans, X-rays and other tests and all had good results for me. Finally, I got a colonoscopy and if I lived in Arkansas, the doc and I would be legally married. I also asked him to tell my son Todd that he didn’t find my head up there.

The best news of all was that I had very little plaque in my arteries and the heart doctor said, barring some unforeseen complication or disease, I should live into my 90’s so no more excuses, I’m going to have a big year in poker for 2010.

DoylesRoom had the Brunson Beer Pong Tournament at Hogs & Heifers biker bar in downtown Las Vegas. The place was completely packed and we had a ball. Zach Clark, one of the Brunson 10, was my partner and we got to the Elite Eight before losing by one cup. Ty Stewart from Harrahs and Brian Balsbaugh from Poker Royalty came in fourth, confirming our belief the Eastern guys spend all their time in bars. Tony Dunst and Leo Murphy were the winners. Ex football star from Oklahoma, Brian (The Boz) Bosworth was there along with lots of poker playing friends.

I got my special edition copies of my autobiography back from a specialist book shop in CA. They are handwoven with gold binding, special engravings and gold leaf paper. I only got 15 for special friends and family with their name engraved in gold on the front. They are beautiful and cost $800 each. I’m trying to get them reproduced at a lower price for other friends.

At least I’m no longer a bachelor. Louise got back from a 2 month stay in Hawaii because of her allergies here. It’s hard to live alone after 48 years of marriage. My dogs Casper and Cutie were almost as glad to see her as I was. Online poker.

I’ll say one thing, Daniel Negreanu is very vocal about his dislike of UB and the Cereus poker network. I think that he is right about everything that happened, but I’m not sure we should completely throw them under the bus. It seems they are trying to do the right thing now and keep things under control, but how on earth could they allow something like this breach of security? I know some of the former owners are still in the office at UB so they have to go the extra mile with their security. It is a mystery to me how poker players keep going there and that brings me to my next subject.

I hope Nevada watched the Mike Huckabee TV show with his guest being the Las Vegas mayor, Oscar Goodman. I remember everyone was on my case for voting for McCain when Obama was supposedly pro-poker. I knew the election was over when I voted and I was just being a loyal Republican. If I thought my vote would have mattered, I probably would have voted for Obama. But forget about pro-poker, bailouts, immigration, apologizing to other countries for America, budget deficit and all the other problems of this administration. Oscar had the statistics of what happened after Obama’s 2 remarks about “not going to Vegas.” According to Goodman, a gigantic dip in canceled conventions after our President’s first comment and a sharp decline in visitors immediately after his 2nd “stay away from Vegas.” Our mayor said Obama was directly responsible for Vegas being the hardest hit city from the recession. I don’t see how any resident in Nevada could ever vote for Obama after this.

Vegas may never recover.

Besides that, how do you like this quote from Obama’s book, “Audacity of Hope”? “I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in a ugly direction.” If that doesn’t scare Americans, what will?

The WSOP has started and my 1st event, the $50k mixed games, was the ultimate nightmare. I went deep, 30 players were left when I busted, 14 away from cashing. Two 12-hour days back to back and then 10 hours the 3rd day. I played well and my endurance was good so I’m not discouraged. I had to make the opening speech and the “shuffle up and deal.” We were honoring my old pal Chip Reese and it made me realize how much I still miss him. Internet poker.

I’m going to rest until the 7 Card Stud tournament on the 4th. I’ve got to get more focused than I have been. My 1st tip that I needed to concentrate more was when I started brushing my teeth with Preparation H this morning 

-DB