DOYLISM OF THE DAY: "You can win more friends with your ears than with your mouth."

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: "You can win more friends with your ears than with your mouth."

Another big time poker room is opening in Las Vegas. The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino is opening a plush new poker room this Saturday. Oscar Goodman, our mayor, and myself are cutting the ribbon at 4:00. A charity poker tournament follows along with a party at one of their clubs. Lots of celebrities and poker pros will be there so if you are in town, check it out; I hear the room is very nice.

It's hard to believe, but McCain has taken the lead in the presidential race. They rolled the dice when they chose Governor Palin to run for Vice President and they threw a seven because she really turned things around for the Republicans. It's hard not to be in McCain's camp after listening to his life story. He really is an American hero. I'm not sure either presidential candidate is the right person to lead our country over the next few years. I wish Hillary was still in the mix because that would mean Bill would be around and he proved he could lead us.

I've been getting a lot of inquiries about Scotty's behavior when he won the HORSE tournament at the WSOP. I don't really know what to say about it, except it was a very bad display of poker etiquette. Scotty is a good friend of mine, and I can only excuse his behavior by saying he had too much to drink. Who among us hasn't at one time or another? The tournament director should have stepped in, cut off the alcohol and given Scotty a one-time warning, followed by a severe penalty if the warning wasn't observed. Scotty is usually very gracious and obliging and a good ambassador for poker. Let's give him another chance!

There is also a lot of buzz about John Phan taking too much time to act on his hand during tournament play. I've played with John several times and I think he does take an excessive amount of time. Players are always allowed to call the clock on a slow player, but most don't like to do that. I would like to see a turbo tournament where you have to act on your hand in 20 seconds or you get a penalty. I can't remember anyone calling the clock on me in my poker career. I always decide quickly what I am going to do. Can't argue with success though, John Phan is having the best year of anyone.

I'm still thinking about my trip to Asia. Everyone says it is easier to go to Europe than Asia with the jet lag. I'm leaving for London the 20th, so I'll be able to tell you if that is true or not. Macau is the most densely populated city in the world but I thought it would have been Hong Kong. Lots of Chinese folks over there.

I played in a charity tournament while I was in Macau. There were a lot of Asian celebrities. I sat next to Tila Tequila, a Vietnamese-American model from Houston, Texas. She is famous for having 3.5 million friends on MySpace along with her modeling and singing career.

The biggest bluff I ran while I was there was when I told her if I was 40 years younger I would kidnap her. She replied, "Oh, I love older men." I had to fold and throw my hand away.