I don't know if you watched High Stakes Entertainment's Golf Tournament that ESPN ...

I don't know if you watched High Stakes Entertainment's Golf Tournament that ESPN broadcast but it was really well received. They named it the Doyle Brunson-Dewey Tomko Invitational. The tournament was up against NFL Football and still went into over 400,000 households which is a better rating than the ESPN poker shows. It will be re-aired on November 21, 3-5 a.m. and November 22, 3-5 a.m. and then again on February 6th and 7th, 3-5 a.m.

Dewey and I are both golf fanatics and we remembered the old gamblers golf tournament that Jack Binion had in the 80's and 90's. They were some of the most fun times I ever had and with all these young poker players making all this money, it seemed like it would be a slam dunk. Sure enough, everyone we talked to was enthusiastic about the idea so we decided to have two events - a three man scramble team and a two man best ball.

In the three man scramble each player put up $1,000,000. We played nine holes with $1,000,000 going to the winner of each hole. This isn't as high as it first sounds because if one team ties another for the best score on that hole there is no payout and no carryover. In the two man team one team would put up $250,000 and 1st would get approximately $1,000,000, 2nd $500,000; 3rd $300,000; and 4th $200,000.

We had three teams on the three man scramble. They were: Dewey, Vince Van Patton, and myself; Russ Hamilton, Phil Hellmuth, and Billy Walters, and lastly Jack Aris, Daniel Negreanu, and Eric Lindgren. We played at Bali Hi which is owned by Billy Walters. The two man teams were Dewey and me, Phil Ivey and David Oppenheim, Billy Walters and Hilbert Shirey, Russ Hamilton and Phil Hellmuth, John Lawson and Mickey Appleman, Butch Holmes and Al DeCarlo, Janet Jones (Wayne Gretzky's wife) and Vince Van Patton, Daniel Negreanu and Eric Lindgren, and David Grey and Huckleberry Seed.

We handicapped the teams by distance. The better players teed off from the back tees, the medium players from the middle tees, and the bad players from the very front tees. The teams were very competitive and everyone had a great time. The Venetian Hotel hosted the tournament. If you missed the first airing, try to see the re-runs! -DB