Doyle Brunson
Doyle Brunson is the
definition of poker legend. Not only does he boast a
co-record (shared by Johnny Chan) of 10 WSOP bracelets,
back-to-back WSOP Championships, and millions of dollars
in prize money but he remains one of the best poker
players in the world with his unpredictably aggressive
style. Doyle (or "Texas Dolly" if you prefer nicknames)
largely helped popularize poker and Texas Hold'em.
Today, you'll find him in some of Las Vegas' biggest
cash games.
Even though most of Doyle’s life has been dedicated to
poker, his first love was sports. Born and raised in
Texas, he was an excellent all-around athlete as a
teenager, excelling at both track and basketball. In
fact, he was recruited by the then Minneapolis Lakers on
a basketball scholarship in college. Reading his
autobiography included in Super System 2, it’s clear
that Doyle wanted to pursue professional basketball as
his career. Apparently, he was good enough to do just
that. Unfortunately, he suffered a career-ending knee
injury and his dream was shattered.
It was at that time that Doyle found his love, and
exceptional talent, for poker. He toured private games
around Texas in the 1950s. He described these as the
stereotypical back alley poker game full of cheats,
thieves, and addicts. A big winning session was a
double-edged sword because of the fear of being robbed
on the way home. Along the way, Doyle teamed up with
Amarillo Slim Preston and Johnny Moss, won plenty of
money, and helped to spread the seeds of Texas Hold’em.
Around this time he met his lifelong mate Louise. One of
Doyle’s favorite stories to tell is about being afraid
to tell Louise what he did for a living when they first
met. After they fell in love and got married, Doyle
finally felt secure enough to divulge where his
more-than-adequate salary was coming from. Keep in mind
that professional poker players weren’t always as
well-respected as they are today.
In the 1970s Doyle helped form the World Series of Poker
with a few of his colleagues and Jack Binion. In 1976
and ’77, Doyle won back-to-back WSOP Championships and
earned over $500,000 for his efforts. As of today, he’s
won 10 WSOP bracelets including a Shorthanded Hold’em
event in 2005 to show us that he’s still one of the best
there is. Only Johnny Chan, who also won his 10th
bracelet in 2005, rivals Doyle’s bracelet collection.
Brunson also took the WPT Legends of Poker event in 2004
and is still a force to be reckoned with in tournament
play despite being mainly a cash game player. You can
actually catch a glimpse of one of Doyle’s private
$100,000 buy-in tables on GSN’s new High-Stakes Poker
series. He’s also a living inductee of the poker Hall of
Fame.
Doyle Brunson pioneered the super-aggressive and
unpredictable style that is so popular amongst young gun
tournament players today. He outlines his strategy in
what is considered by many to be the “Bible of Poker”:
Super System. Almost 30 years after writing and
compiling this revolutionary book on poker, he released
Super System 2, a sequel, in 2004 pooling contributions
from some of the top names in poker today. He’s also
running his own online poker site with
Doyle’s Room. Look for plenty more of the amiable
Doyle Brunson beneath his famous cowboy hat, staring
daggers into his opponents with his battle-tested poker
face as poker continues to take the limelight.
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