I’ve been trying to write a blog for several weeks and couldn’t do it for some strange reason. I’ve heard of writers block but it has never happened to me before. I feel bad because when a friend took over www.DoyleBrunson.com I agreed to write one every week. My only excuse is that I’ve been playing poker every day, 10-14 hours. I guess I’ve been so focused that I couldn’t concentrate on anything else. The good news is I’m on the best “heater” that I’ve had for years. This blog might be a lot of rambling but the only thing I know to do is start writing. I remember the old saying “The longest journey begins with a single step.”

The 2012 WSOP was pretty uneventful for me. I played in four tournaments and went fairly deep in three of them but failed to cash in any of them. It used to be the most exciting poker of the year when the WSOP came around but now it’s too much to play the long hours day after day with no immediate results. I’ve never really gotten into the “bracelet race” and the tournaments are for younger players and I wish all of them good luck and hope they have good results.

Another memory of the 2012 WSOP will be my losing another scooter. It flew off the lift on my Escalade as I was leaving the Rio after day 1 of the Main Event. It was about 2 o’clock in the morning and as I made a sharp left on Flamingo I heard a strange noise behind me. I looked back and couldn’t see anything but I suspected my scooter had broken loose. The traffic was so bad I couldn’t turn back, so I continued home where I could see the lift had malfunctioned and the scooter was gone. This confirmed the “WSOP Scooter Jinx.” I’ve lost 3 scooters since I started using them a few years ago because of my bad leg and all 3 were during the WSOP. One had slipped off similar to this year and I never found it. Another time I left the key in my scooter when I went into the restroom and someone drove it away, never to be seen again. So I’ll be extremely careful next WSOP.

I liked the joke one of my Twitter followers sent me. This homeless guy was at the Pearly gate talking to God. God asked him “What are you doing here? Your time on earth isn’t up yet.” The homeless guy replied, “I was just walking along Flamingo Avenue in Las Vegas when this scooter comes flying through the air and here I am.” I’m certainly glad this isn’t a reality!

I didn’t follow the events closely because I was playing most of the time. I did notice that Phil Helmuth had a good series and won his 12th bracelet. It was a non hold-em event and perhaps now he will get the respect he deserves. Nobody plays harder or plays more events than Phil and it is evident he is becoming an all around player. I was also proud of my son Todd as he came in second in a tournament. He almost got his second bracelet which in my opinion is the most important and most difficult to win.

Another thing is quite clear. Vanessa Selbst is not only the best female player in the world she is one of the top poker players, male or female. I’ve always been a bottom line guy and you can’t deny the results Vanessa has had the past few years. She is a stand out favorite to be the 1st female poker player to win the main event in a future WSOP.

While playing at a cash game at the Bellagio a strange thing happened. Some kid that looked like he might not be old enough to be in the casino walked into Bobby’s Room. He looked at all the cash and large denomination chips then turned back and walked to the door as if he was leaving. He made a quick spin and came back to our game and looked directly at me. He then looked again at the money, turned and went out the door where several players at a different game heard him say, “I’m going to come back with a gun and take that money.” Someone alerted the floor supervisors who called security. When security got there we told them what had happened and they got the surveillance tapes and put out an alert on the Kid. Both of the games broke up as nervous players wanted to leave. I told the security man if he would allow me to get my gun I always carry in my car I would stay and keep playing. They of course said no so I left. I didn’t like the idea of being a sitting duck for some nut case.

In the cash games we have at the Bellagio there is nothing worse than some pro who thinks they play so good they can’t lose. Just because a guy is a winning player doesn’t mean he (or her) can’t have an extended losing street. It completely disgusts me when a competent player whines about playing conditions, bad cards, dealers or the players who are winning. Oh well, as Hyman Roth said in the movie The Godfather, “This is the life we have chosen.”

May the flop be with you.
Doyle Brunson

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