Should Doyle retire?

I know he loves the game but watching him on High Stakes Poker this season he seems to have lost a step. His age obviously plays a part in it, but really, he would be better off doing some work for the WSOP in the booth. He would be great talking about hands and how he would play it. Hearing him teach would be awesome IMO.

Honestly, I dont know how much tournament poker he plays right now..I'm sure not much...but seeing Mike Caro travel and talk about the game makes me wonder how Doyle would do.

Just a thought.

why on earth would he retire??? I imagine the majority of his time is spent playing poker and he loves it so why would he stop. He's 74 years old (i think) and he's still without doubt one of the world's best poker players. As far as i can remember, Doyle has finished winner for every season of HSP.

Im not talking about stop playing side games. Thats just what anyone does in their spare time anyways. I'm talking about tourneys and being on HSP. He was wrong on all of his reads on HSP and was laying down hands that ANYONE would play If you're there to gamble. (pocket 10s)

Hes great for the game and should do a few app here and there. Give the younger gen a chance to understand who this great man is. The truth is, some people dont want to read poker books and will never know how important Super System is. But to hear Doyle talk and share some of his experiences with people would be a very cool thing to do. IMO

i agree he should do more appearences but aloto f times shows like hsp there not playing with all of there cash and they dont show every hand

Listen, doyle gets paid to play in all those tv appearances, He will play until he dies and that is it.

I'm sure he would enjoy playing in the tournaments more, as long as he's enjoying himself, I do see any reason why he should "retire."

Brian, how do you know what his reason was for folding the pocket 10's? I have folded them hundreds of times. And regardless of how his reads were on one season of a show doesn't by any means mean that he's losing his ability to play.

Remember that HSP is just a small portion of the amount of poker that he's playing and I guarantee he isn't losing in all of those games.

Why would you think he would play more tournaments? Most players do not like tournaments because they take a toll on the body and are grueling. Tournaments are for show for most of these guys, and cash games are for a living. I don't think at 74 (or whatever) he enjoys spending 16 hours a day forced to play poker which a tournament can demand. Cash games one can get up and leave if need be....or stay for 36 hours if the game is juicy enough. But at least you have the choice.

He should keep playing as long as he wants. Long as it is still fun for him, and he can sit through long sessions at the table. I know of no other Ambassador to represent the game who would command the respect he does in poker playing community. Rock on Doyle with your bad self!

The man loves to play...poker is his lifeblood, his passion. Also, as the majority of US population ages (check the demographic stats) I think he is a wonderful role model for older people who have been programed by outmoded societal constructs to think that once they reach a certain age they should throw in the towel. Hats off to Doyle for refuting this mindset!

Doyle stills plays quite a few cash games at the Belagio I believe.
He has won ALOT on High Stakes Poker. (more than anyone else i think)
He says that as soon as he has a losing year he will retire. (Don't hold your breath)
He rarely plays tournaments anymore, WSOP being one exception.
His biggest problem now is keeping his weight down.
If he could lose that belly, he could keep on playing another 10 years.

(and of course he lays down pocket 10's in early position,
that IS the correct play, if you want to gamble PROFITABLY)

(try reading his book, before you question his play)

For the life of me i cannot see why he would even considerate it. Just when it is getting some legitimate coverage and endorsement potential it is time to get out there and reap his just reward.

Hell no!

Oops, thanks for the fix! lol

As long as Doyle wants to be in the game, he should stay.
Because unlike most sports, poker players do not have a built in expiration date, like say they do in Football or Hockey.
So as long as his mind is sharp and he wants to play, then he should.
But with that being said, I am sure that the long hours and late night tournaments weigh on him. (He is not a young man anymore.)
Then again they do say, as you get older that you require less sleep.
I say good luck Dolly and keep on keeping on.

Just my .02

Only if HE thinks he should.

Read his book.Thanks.

Even Gabe made a comment on how shocked he was he didnt at least CALL the hand.

Erm... I'm thinking a lot of respondents in this thread have never heard Doyle actually talk about playing in tournaments. Most of the time he talks about how boring they are and how much he dislikes them. Pretty sure he only trots himself out for the major events ($50K HORSE, Main Event, etc) these days.

Besides that, televised poker has very little to do with what Brunson actually does. "Side games" aren't just what he does to fill in time. Taking whales for big sums of money in live cash games is his real job and I imagine he'll be doing that until the day he dies - which fingers crossed is a long ways off yet. Remember too that he's a mixed game player, so NLHE is only a small part of what he does and "ZOMGZ he can't play TT properly" doesn't even come close to assessing where his game is at these days.

As for Mike Caro, one of the reasons he travels the world giving seminars is because nobody in the world plays his main game (draw) any more.

Looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooool

Yes but Gabe does have the advantage of seeing all of the cards.

Doyal has always played a conservitive game, and I think his reasoning is simply to out tight the nose bleed players like Durrr.

It may not be as exciting to see but Doyal is essentially atempting to lower varience. If a guy bet bet bets, then its difficult to get a read on him in a lot of situations, becuse he bets.. therefore you have to assume he has a wide range, some bluffs, some value, some thin value and estimate how your hand fairs against that.

But this isnt all that accurate. It tells you that you are ahead in the LR.. it does not tell you if you are ahead in this particular hand, and with these high stakes, it makes sense to lower variance.

Daniel Negranu lost, was it almost $1 million by the first half of season 5, simply because h eran into a few big hands... that is the reality of varience.

These players are buying in for around 500K. Pros should have a BR of at lease 100 buyins (not the 20 that recreational player have) so that means a BR of $50 million (well they dont have $50 million in the bank.. sop variance can really catch up with them at these stakes, so Doyle in his infinite wisdom has decided to lower variance)

So NO, I dont think Doyle should give up playing poker.. he is making very consistent money doing what he does.

Poker is his life. As long as he can play and make a living, he should continue!

lost a step???That man could lose a mile and still out play anyone.He will play in the afterlife!

I think they tape the entire HSP season over a 2-3 day span. Perhaps Doyle was just worn out those few days. I wouldn't worry about him.

What would he do if he retires from poker? When I retire, all I would do is play poker.

He's a crafty old veteran. Look at his record over time. I think even in the HSP game you refer to, he left the table as a winner. He played very cautiously but so what? Maybe he didn't feel like gambling that day. Retire? Maybe he should step up his schedule to get a piece of the "young gun" money!

i saw a post saying, should Doyle retire?
what a thing to say, this is the time where he is probably going to be at his best because of his experience of the game and his knowledge that he has built up and learnt over the years.
It is not like poker is a physical sport that he is unable to do.
The only thing that would make you have to retire from poker is because it was too stressful.
however i just want to say that i do not want to retire from poker and never will.

Hes still a great player and he loves the game so why should he retire?
I hope hes still playing when hes 90.

I kinda doubt your opinion of his abilities matters to him.

The man is a whiz at poker and, for the first time in his life, he is a celebrity for playing a game that, in his youth, was very hardscrabble, back-alley, dangerous, illegal and not respectable. He is on TV, people know him, people admire him, he makes money from that both directly and indirectly. He's clearly enjoying it. He seems to still be doing well at high stakes -- although one never knows for sure. Many known pros have gone bust at times. He may not want to go there again.

The only reason for retiring from, say, grueling tournaments is his health. My guess is that he gets staked to most tourneys, but, dang, they are long and hard. And, for many pros, the tourneys take time away from the cash tables where they make their money. (The plus to tourneys is that, aside from the cash, if you win a big one or a few big ones you can possibly get sponsor deals and outside-poker income. And you get the extras that come with poker fame, however shaky that might be. Doyle already has those things, and his name is a draw so will likely keep getting those things as long as he wants.)

My guess is that Mr. Brunson will be playing until he physically cannot do it any more. Hats off to him, and long may he reign.

Pure and simple, I think that is Doyle's decision and we shouldn't be making it for him. Without poker he has no reason to live.

No.

LOL!

Doyle is one of the major faces of poker and we need him around till he can't play the game any more but I still want to see him in a Western with Clint Eastwood some day.

Hehe he retired from a week i read in a paper today.Apparently he promised to dont play poker for the rest of the year last year.good for him it was only 7 days left...

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