My best friend over the past thirty years has been Jack Binion, who took over as principal owner of the Horseshoe after his legendary father, Benny Binion, died. Maybe you've heard about the family dispute that pitted Jack against his sister, Becky. It was highly publicized. Naturally, my friendship dictated that I side with Jack, and when he left the Horseshoe in his sister's charge and opened casinos down South, I deserted the World Series of Poker for four years.

It was a hard thing to do, because I was the leading money winner lifetime at the tournament, and I knew that with ever growing tournaments and bigger prize money, other players would likely be passing me as I sat on the sidelines. Yet even today I remain in a tie with Johnny Chan and Phil Helmuth for total first-place bracelets won. We've each won nine.

That family dispute has blown over, and maybe I'll be able to add more bracelets in the years ahead, although with the number of entrants per event often approaching 1,000 nowadays and surpassing 2,600 for the 2004 main event, that becomes a much tougher challenge.