upon which another generation travels."

Home at last! I've still got pretty good endurance but 3 1/2 weeks in Europe got the best of me. In the main event at the WSOPE we were down to seventeen players at the dinner break. I was a little short stacked with $200,000 and I could see it was going to be a long night to get to the final table and it would be another long day after it was down to the final nine, so I decided to play very fast and to accumulate a lot of chips or go out. I moved in the first hand after the dinner break and was eliminated.

I had hurt my left hip and left knee somewhere and with my bad right leg I was in a lot of pain. These long hours in the tournaments may be a little too much for me. But as I always say, "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."

Congrats to Barry Shulman for winning the tournament. Wouldn't it be something if his son Jeff, who is at the final table of the WSOP, could win. That would be a record that would never be broken and what a great thing for poker. I read where day 4, which was when I went broke, lasted 15 hours and the final table lasted 17 hours. That would have been tough if I could have been lucky enough to have won.

Betting on the NFL is suicidal. I lose every close game besides wasting my time watching. Gone are the days when you could determine the winners. I'll spend my spare time playing poker at DoylesRoom.

I've got to jump on a plane for Todd's tournament in Montana this weekend. That's the last thing I need after 3 1/2 weeks in Europe but I've got to support my son. Layne Flack and Gavin Smith were supposed to be there to play but both are now doubtful. So, my daughter Pam, Hoyt Corkins, Todd, Ed Brogden, Ken Hale and myself will be the pros playing. We should have a good time even though the weather is below freezing and there are fires and storms going on right now. The waves got so high on the Flathead Lake it wrecked my dock, my jetski and my pontoon boat. The wind blew 50 to 60 miles per hour for a day and a half. That' s a scary lake when storms hit.

After watching a TV show featuring a handicapped preacher, I feel pretty bad about complaining about pain, injuries, or anything else. This young man was born with no arms or legs; only two small feet attached to his body. What a dynamic speaker! Just listening to him makes all your problems seem insignificant. He has written a book called, "No Limbs, No Limit." I can't wait to read it.

-DB