DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “When it comes to poker players, there is a fine line between genius and insanity.”

I thought Casper, my toy poodle, had settled down because he was getting older. But when I pulled into a gas station, one of the attendants made the mistake of reaching in the car to pet him. Bam, Casper got his 44th bite victim. If that wasn’t enough, the other attendant laughed at him and said “dogs never bite me, they love me.” Despite my warning, he reached in to play with him and Casper got #45. Two in one day! Casper weights 7 pounds and couldn’t whip a good Texas jackrabbit, but he is absolutely fearless. I try to watch him, but he lulls everybody to sleep by being so nice.

I’m almost back to normal after my dental surgery. The bleeding has stopped and most of the swelling is gone. Now I have to wait several months until my gums heal to get my implants. I sure hope it will be worth it. I didn’t want to wear a bridge the rest of my life.

The WSOP is having an event called, “Table of Champions”. It will be for all the living winners of the main event. There will be two controversial players for that game. Russ Hamilton is caught between a rock and a hard place. Russ is accused of being the mastermind behind the cheating scandal at UB. The evidence looks like Russ is guilty but I’ve learned to wait for the verdict to be handed down. If Russ shows up, he is going to take lots of abuse from angry poker players, and if he doesn’t show, every will say, “See there, he is admitting he is guilty.” My guess is he will be there.

Amarillo Slim is the other person that is under scrutiny. He was indicted for some vague thing that happened with his granddaughter. Slim might have said or done something that was inappropriate, but to call him a pedophile or child molester is ridiculous. I spent 10 years traveling and playing poker with Slim and I never saw one thing that I thought was wrong in that area. Poker owes Slim a lot and he should be recognized for that. I don’t know how many years I’ve got left, but I would like to bet double or nothing Slim Preston is no “child molester”.

-DB