Once again I went deep in a tournament, only to be knocked out late in the second day. In the 10k limit hold'em, about 200 players started and I finished 29th just out of the money. My hats off to those professional players that play the WSOP, the WPT, charity events and the European poker tour. I don't know how they do it because you are almost always going to be eliminated. There is a huge reward if you do win, but sheer frustration most of the time.

I'm resting for a couple of days now because I haven't had much sleep the last 3 days. We play from 5 o' clock until 3a.m. and start back at 2 o' clock the next day. By the time you bag your chips and drive home, it's 4 a.m. and it takes me an hour or so to get to sleep. I had to get up at 9 the next morning for a photo shoot for USA Today with Peter Eastgate, the reigning champion of the WSOP. I have a pet peeve about being on time so I climbed out of bed swearing never to do an interview or photo shoot in the morning again. When I arrived at the Rio 10 minutes early, Mr.Eastgate wasn't there. I waited for an hour and then left. Eastgate came sometime after I left but I didn't go back. To me, when someone is that late and don't have a good excuse, it's like saying their time is more valuable than yours. Peter seems like a nice kid but his on my chit list now.

The WSOP should have some kind of hygiene rule. I've sat next to players that make you want to gag. Perhaps they should have cards for everyone that signs up that say bathe at least once a day. A few of the dealers need the same advice also because if you are in the 1st or last seat, you are right up against them.

I have a limited edition of Super System and Super System 2. they are leather bound and make a nice present as a set. DoylesRoom online poker is running some sort of promotion where they give a set away. The management wants 1000 books to be autographed by me. Doesn't sound so tough, but try it sometime. I spent so much time writing my name, I got a blister on my finger. When I looked at the stack of books, we had barely made a dent in them. When I asked why can't someone sign my name for me, the management said my signature was all over the internet and folks could tell it was a fake. OK, anything for DoylesRoom, but it will be after the WSOP before I'm through.

At my last tournament, there were 3 Russian guys at my table. They were talking back and forth in Russian and when we told them they could speak only English at the table, they acted like it offended them. It would be nice to be in a pot and tell a friend you threw away an ace when 2 aces are on the board. The floor people should really enforce that rule because these guys just kept on talking Russian.

I'm going to bed early so I can get to the dentist in the morning. I'm watching a movie about the Japanese bombing Pearl Harbor and a question came to mind. Why do the kamikaze pilots wear helmets?

-DB