DOYLISM OF THE DAY: "Poker is not a game where the meek shall inherit the earth."

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: "Poker is not a game where the meek shall inherit the earth."

Congratulations to my pal Daniel Negreanu for winning the B.C. Poker Championship. Maybe he can't play golf so well but he is really performing well in the poker tournaments. I used to laugh at Daniel's and Phil Hellmuth's "small ball" approach, but I'm a bottom line guy and it looks like they are the two best tournament players right now. My background is cash games and I don't think the "small ball" play would do very well. It's too late for me to change my style so I'm still going to try to bust my opponents at the poker table.

I must be behind the times because I lost two friends in the past few months and didn't know it. Orville Moody, a former U.S. Open golf champ, passed away at the age of 74. Last time I saw him, he was telling me about all the course records he has in Texas. My other friend was Don Haskins, the basketball coach at UTEP. Don is in the basketball Hall of Fame and was the first coach to start 5 black players. He did that in the championship game against Kentucky in the 60's. I played many a round of golf with Don when I lived in El Paso. My condolences to his family.

Speaking of El Paso, it reminded me of one day when one of my golfing friends offered to bet me $20,000 I couldn't make 50% of my free throws on a basketball court. I laughed to myself because I thought I could with either hand or even underhanded. As I hadn't touched a basketball in 30 years, I decided to go shoot and be sure. I also had injured both shoulders trying to water ski. When I got to the gym by myself, I was totally shocked. The basketball felt like it was a watermelon and I could barely get the ball to the rim. Good thing I went to practice because I could never have made half of them. It made me think of the old saying, "buzz, buzz, what you usta wuz."

I'm off to Costa Rica to make some plans for DoylesRoom. I'll be back for the Bellagio tournament. I hope some of the "small ball" boys work up enough courage to come play in Bobby's Room!

Caddie: Sir, why do you play so much golf?

Daniel: It's the most fun I've ever had with my clothes on.