ESPN

Andrew Feldman

  (1:59 PM)

Hey everyone! Welcome to the first of many WSOP Chats. Today we have Doyle Brunson joining us so submit your questions now for the poker legend.

Doyle Brunson

  (2:01 PM)

Hello everybody. Doyle Brunson is here

Mike T, Fairview, PA

In your younger days you were an excellent basketball player and track star. Do you think athletes make better poker players?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:03 PM)

I do think they do. They develop a competitive nature and you have to bevery competitive to be a god poker player. It teaches you that sometime you lose as an athlete and you learn to accept that.In the old days, a lot of the poker players were ex-athletes.

Nick Kentucky

What do you think about the wsop not having any rebuys this year.

Doyle Brunson

  (2:04 PM)

I like it. I think it gives people a definite advantage. Some people are financially able to rebuy. It evens the playing field.

Pat Thomas (Marlboro, NJ)

Being a living legend in the poker community, and the increase of professional poker players over the years, do you feel any added pressure to win bracelets during the 2009 WSOP? Also, what keeps you motivated to play your best game?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:07 PM)

No, I don't feel any pressure. I never made an important isuse over the bracelet race. It's nice. It's a way to keep score ,but I've always concentrated on the cash games so I don't feel any pressure at all to win the bracelets.Motivation - the competition. I still have a competitive nature and its about the only thing I can compete at now,

Justin (denver)

do you ever regret giving people an insiders look into how the games are played with your books?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:07 PM)

No. I don't because it was instrumental in the growth of poker. It made people a lot more aware of what a good game poker is. It helped the growth and helped people improve their game so much.

Chris (Lakeland, FL)

Huge fan Mr. Brunson. What are your thoughts on the 40k opening event, does it take away from the main event?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:09 PM)

I think it will take some attention away from the main event. I think it will have the strongest field there will ever be in a poker tournament. There won't be any soft spots that you usually see in the main event. They wanted to have a strong final table and I think they'll get it.

Brian (Augusta, GA)

Mr. BrunsonDo you feel that the wait between playing the final table of the main event should be reduced? It seems that waiting nearly 4 months to play the final table may cause the WSOP to lose some momentum. I'd like to see the wait be reduced to no more than 60 days.

Doyle Brunson

  (2:09 PM)

No. I think its the reverse. It gains momentum. It gains publicity and more public interest the longer you wait.

Andrew C (Houston, TX)

Doyle, how many events and which events do you plan on playing in this year?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:10 PM)

It depends on the cash games. If the cash game is good, I might not play many events. If the cash games aren't good, I might play a lot of events. I'm imagining 10 or 12.

Kevin Bourg (Slidell,La)

What whould you consider the top 3 things that made you a great poker player?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:11 PM)

Well, I'd say experience. Ability to recall what happened in previous situations and just my competitive nature.

Drew (Buffalo)

Do you ever watch poker on tv? I enjoy playing poker, but I cannot watch it.

Doyle Brunson

  (2:11 PM)

I do watch it a little bit. I actually like to watch the high stakes games as opposed to the tournaments where they are playing for real money.

Doyle Brunson

  (2:12 PM)

I've noticed a couple of things that I have changed since watching myself on TV.

Lincoln Park MI

Doyle,In all the years that you have spent on the felt, what changes( if any)in the atmosphere at a table have occured? What have been best some of the best/worst changes in the way people act at the table? And who/what do you see as a major factor in these changes?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:13 PM)

I mean the conversation around the table has changed a lot. In the televised events it seems that everyone is trying to have a personality show instead of just playing poker. Tring to put on a show for the TV cameras and I don't like that.

Drew (Buffalo)

Agreed with you on that point actually. Your thoughts on wearing sun glasses at the table?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:14 PM)

I think it should be outlawed. Not only because it kind of hides the player, but its easier to see marks on the cards through sunglasses, but most people don't know that.

Justin (denver)

i'll be heading to vegas in a couple weeks. what's a sure fire way to get the opportunity to shake your hand and thank you for everything you have done for poker?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:15 PM)

We're going to have some free seminars featuring mike caro and myself on Saturdays, but I'll be at those for questions and answers and I'll be happy to say hello to whoever is at the seminars. It's a great training tool. Mike does a very good job.

Tucker, Idaho

Who do you have your money on, Dwan, Antonius, Galfond or Ivey?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:15 PM)

I don't have my money on any of them, but if I had to choose one out of the group, I'd choose Ivey.

Kevin (Lexington, KY)

Do you think many pros will play in the $1K stimulus special? Do you plan on playing?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:16 PM)

No, I probably won't play in it. I think a few of the pros, the lower limit pros, might play in it. I think most of the high limit pros won't play in it because it will be too time consuming and the reward is probably not enough.

Chris (Lakeland, FL)

Mr. Brunson how often do you play online poker at Doylesroom and do you think online poker is a different game then live poker?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:17 PM)

I play at Doylesroom whenever I have any free time. I'll play for a few minutes then do something else then I'll play in the bounty tournaments that I play in twice a week. One is called Doyle's bounty and one is beat the brunson's bounty. It's quite different playing online. It's a different thing online. You can't see your opponents and you can't tell who he is or what he is.

Colin (Berlin, CT)

Mr. Brunson, what event are you most excited about playing this year and why?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:18 PM)

I'm most excited about the $50,000 HORSE event. I think it is the true test of being a poker player. The champion in that tournament every year will be a recognized pro.

Roddy (San Fran)

What is the biggest hand you've laid down? Ever laid down the bottom end of a straight flush?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:20 PM)

No, I've never laid that down. The biggest hand I've ever laid down is aces full. He had four of a kind and actually, two different guys had four of a kind that hand. I wrote a book called "My 50 most memorable hands" and that one is in there.

Justin (denver)

i know you've said several times that you never encouraged your kids to play professionaly. Do you still wish he would have chosen another profession?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:21 PM)

I don't know. That's a tough question. He was in pre-law school when he decided to become a pro. It tickled me at the time, although I had to pretend that it didn't. Being a pro is a tough life and my daughter is close to being a pro. She's getting better and better.

BigHat (Bakersfield CA)

At what point do I have to decide that I'm just bad, as opposed to "running bad"?? Can you measure that in buy-ins or average pot or blind multiples? How much variance should I expect to withstand?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:22 PM)

I think after you play 100 times, if you haven't won at least 40% of your play, you'll probably have to consider yourself bad.

Greg Snyder (Huntington Beach, CA)

Mr. Brunson, in your opinion, what is the most important skill to have in order to be a successful poker player in today's poker rooms?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:22 PM)

I've always said the most important thing is the ability to recall what happened in a similar situation against a similar player that you're up against.

Justin (Denver)

Is there such a thing as friends in poker?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:24 PM)

Of course! I'm friends with almost all the poker players, but you have to be able to put that aside when you play. The object of poker is to win as many chips as you can win and I think everybody understands that on a professional sense.

Mike (Waterbury, CT)

Who is the best poker player on the circuit?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:25 PM)

There are so many great players that its hard to distinguish who the best players are. Phil Hellmuth has the best record in the hold 'em tournaments, but he is perceived as being a weak cash game player. There's a lot of great players. Barry Greenstein, Hoyt Corkins, David Benyamine, there are so many of them and they're so close it's hard to pick one out.

BILL,NJ

MrBrunson,hello.How much are the players paid to appear on High Stakes Poker and Poker after Dark?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:26 PM)

I think they pay us $1250/hr. I think that's about right. I would pay them to let me play.

Ken (Orlando)

Are you overall happy with what the WSOP has become the last 5-7 years or so? Seems to me the move from Binion's Horseshoe and Harrah's taking it over has commercialized it into something Benny Binion never figured on ... after all he's the one who brought it to TV.

Doyle Brunson

  (2:27 PM)

Yes. You'd have to be happy just by the growth.

Chris (NJ)

Do you think Annie Duke should of won Celebrity Apprentice?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:28 PM)

Yes I do. I certainly do.

Michael B (KY)

Hello Doyle!! Love to watch you play! What can you say to a beginning poker player like myself to help me improve my poker skills the best? Thanks so much for the help!

Doyle Brunson

  (2:28 PM)

Play all you can and get the poker books and read them. Try to learn the math. Nothing is as good as playing all you can play.

Chris (Lodi, CA)

Besides the famous Doyle Brunson 2, 10 hand what is your favorite hand to attack a pot with?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:29 PM)

Obviously two aces.

Kevin (Lexington, KY)

Do you ever go on tilt in your play or have you pretty much taught yourself to distance your emotions from hand to hand?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:29 PM)

I pretend to go on tilt, but no, I don't go on tilt. I think too many bad things happen to people who tilt.

Justin (Denver)

i hear ESPN isn't airing the Horse event this year. do you still consider it prestegious enough to enter?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:30 PM)

It's prestigious because it is a mixture of a games. You have to be quite an accomplished poker player to play all the games. If you're a specialist of one game, but not all the other ones, you probably won't win at HORSE.

John (Columbus, OH)

Doyle, what would you say is the most common mistake made by amateurs? I've got to say it's calling all-in with a flush draw early in a SNG or multi - I seem to see it at least once at every table I play. Calling all-in, as opposed to betting all-in.

Doyle Brunson

  (2:31 PM)

Probably not recognizing the level of poker that they should play at. There's a level of poker that every player can beat. You have to recognize what that is and play it regularly. Once you can beat that, you can move up to the next level.

Chad (New Orleans)

Do you play at any of the casino's in Las Vegas or just high-stakes private games? If so which one(s)?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:32 PM)

I play at any casino where the game is. I don't play in any private games.The big game has been slow lately. Everyone is waiting on the world series, resting up I guess.

Chad (Las Vegas)

I just moved to Vegas and want to play at least 1 No-Limit Hold 'em event at the WSOP. My wife's B-day is this weekend so the $1000 Event is out. What event should I enter?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:33 PM)

It's just a personal choice. I don't know your situation and I'm not that familiar with the events anyway.

Jeremy L (Temple, TX)

Mr. Brunson, what an honor I must say to be chatting with a poker legend. In your opinion, how much of being a good poker player is natural ability and how much can be acquired, percentage wise.

Doyle Brunson

  (2:34 PM)

I think that there is some innate things that you have to have inside you to become a really good poker player. I would say probably 75% could be learned and 25% has to be natural.

Dan (Nutley, NJ)

Hello Doyle. How do you think the economy will affect the WSOP? If you had to set an O/U on the main event, how many do you see playing?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:36 PM)

I would say 5,000 in the main event. The economy will greatly have an affect on the WSOP. If it wasn't for internet poker rooms sending in so many people I think it would be way less.Doylesroom is sending like 15-20, but some of the larger sites send a lot more.

Kevin Bourg (Slidell, La)

How much can you take home on a good day in a big game?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:37 PM)

Its usually between 100,000 to 5 or 600,000 is the win/loss.

Kevin (Lexington, KY)

Who would you say was/is the toughest poker pro to play against skillwise?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:37 PM)

Chip Reese. He was the toughest player I've ever played.

Jason (Dover, DE)

Doyle, best of luck this year. My question is how do you keep yourself mentally sharp if you've hit a bad run?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:38 PM)

You just have to learn to deal with it. You have to play by the year, not by the day, week or month. Play by the year and then you won't get so discouraged.

Justin (Denver)

Any comment on Scotty's antics at last years HORSE event?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:39 PM)

I thought it was a disgraceful thing. Scotty is a good friend of mine, but that type of behavior doesn't have any place in poker. I'm sure he won't ever do it again.(on his 4 million dollar bet)..I think that's ridiculous I don't think that he'll win $4 million dollars.

Chad (Las Vegas)

Chip was 'da man. His house is for sale here in Summerlin. You going to buy it?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:40 PM)

No. But its a nice house. It would be a good buy for somebody who needs a big house.

Derry (Austin, TX)

Hello, Mr. Brunson! What's your secret to maintaining focus during the long tournaments? How do you keep your concentration sharp for every hand 12 or 14 hours into a tournament?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:41 PM)

Just by discipline. You discipline yourself to do those things. I think I did it right away, but I think it has somethng to do with being an ex-athlete. I was a runner and being able to adjust to things was very important.

Chad (Las Vegas)

I have talked to a few pro's here who think the main event is a farce. Filled with a majority of online players and wanna be's that isn't a true test of your poker skills. What are your thoughts on the main event?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:42 PM)

I have to agree with you. The magnitude of the number says that someone goes on a lucky streak can win it. As evident take a look at the champions the last few years. I think the HORSE should be the main event.

Brian (Charlotte, NC)

What do you think is the most beneficial method of studying the game of poker?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:43 PM)

I think probably the books. I think there's books out there that cover just about everything. I tried to cover everything I could in my Super System books and I know other authors have done the same thing.

JP (Columbus, OH)

Doyle, what'd you used to run the mile in? Did you ever come close to a 4-minute mile?

Doyle Brunson

  (2:44 PM)

No. I've done 4:18. That was 50 years ago when the world record was over 4 minutes.

Doyle Brunson

  (2:45 PM)

Thank you for all your questions and I'll see some of you at the WSOP!

Andrew Feldman

  (2:45 PM)

Thanks to Doyle once again for joining us. Tomorrow, same time, same place! Looking forward to speaking to all of you then as the $40K event kicks off in Las Vegas!