Doyle Brunson Poker Almost every professional sport has a person of legendary status. Basketball has Michael Jordan. Football has Joe Namath. Horse Racing has Seattle Slew. And professional gambling has Doyle Brunson. Anyone who has ever picked up a deck of cards knows that name. And if you don’t, then you should. Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson is a legend that has been credited with defining the game of poker and helping to turn it into a respectable profession.

Doyle Brunson Biography

Born in 1933 in Longworth, Texas, Doyle Brunson was a promising high school athlete with a future in the NBA but an accidental knee injury stopped that career before it ever got started. Even to this day, he has to use a crutch. But that twist of fate took Brunson from the basketball court to the poker table. He found at an early age that poker was easy and he could make more money gambling than he could at a 9 to 5 job. He even used some of his winnings to pay his medial bills. This is not to say that Brunson didn’t try a more respectable job. He went to college and earned a degree in educational administration. Yet after he discovered what the pay scale for teachers was, he decided to stick to poker.

Doyle Brunson Begins His Poker Career

Doyle Brunson began his poker career as a’rounder’, a gambler who makes the rounds of all the local card games. Back in the early days, it was a dangerous business. Since gambling was illegal, and usually run by organized crime, if a player was robbed or cheated, they could not go to the police about it. Brunson himself was repeatedly robbed after a successful game. Plus there was always the fear of the police breaking up a game and cheating was prevalent. But he started out in small games and worked his way up to bigger, private games. It was during these times that he met and became friends with Sailor Roberts and Amarillo Slim. The friends traveled all over Texas playing poker. After several years, they pooled their money into one bankroll and went to Las Vegas. Unfortunately, the trip proved unsuccessful and they lost the entire roll. Afterwards, they broke up their partnership but still remained friends.

Doyle Brunson Gambling Accomplishments - WSOP

Doyle Brunson’s accomplishments in gambling include winning a total of 10 gold bracelets in the World Series of Poker Tournaments. He is currently one bracelet behind the record holder, Phil Hellmuth. Brunson’s first bracelet was in 1976 at the $10,000 No Limit Hold’Em World Championship. Then he won again in the same year at $5,000 Deuce to Seven Draw. In 1977, he won at the $10,000 No Limit Hold’Em World Championship. Also in 1977, he won at $1,000 Seven card Stud Split. The next year in 1978 he won at $5,000 Seven Card Stud. In 1979, with Starla Brodie, he won at $600 Mixed Doubles. In 1991, he won at $2,500 No Limit Hold’Em. Seven years later in 1998, he won at $1,500 Seven Card Razz. In 2003, he won at $2,000 H.O.R.S.E. And his tenth and final bracelet was earned in 2005 at $5,000 No Limit Shorthanded Texas Hold’Em.

Doyle Brunson is also the first two-time World Series of Poker champion to win consecutive years, one of only four to win multiple times at the Main Event of the World Series of Poker, the first person to win $1 million dollars at playing poker, and is a Poker Hall of Fame inductee.

Doyle Brunson - Super/System - Super/System 2

Perhaps one of Doyle Brunson’s biggest achievements and the one that has had the most affect in the gambling world, is his book Super/System, published in 1978 and considered by many to be the ‘bible’ of the gambling world. In it Brunson gives insight into how a professional gambler thinks and plays. The book was later updated in 2004 in a new revision called Super/System 2, which contained articles by other famous gamblers including Mark Gregorich and Brunson’s own son Todd. He has also authored the book Poker Wisdom of a Champion, which was originally published as According to Doyle back in 1984. A newer version of According to Doyle was later published.

Doyle Brunson Nicknamed "Texas Dolly"

Doyle Brunson got his name “Texas Dolly” in a roundabout way. At a World Series of Poker event, another gambling legend Jimmy ‘The Greek’ Snyder called out to his friend Texas Doyle but some nearby reporters heard it as “Texas Dolly” and printed it. Since then the name has stuck.

Doyle Brunson - DoylesRoom.com

Despite his age, Brunson still plays in some of the largest games in the world, including the Big Event at the Bellagio Casino. He has endorsed an online poker room called Doyle’s Room. He even has the honor of having two Texas Hold’em hands named after him. His luck seems to run in more than just poker. Back in the 1960’s doctors found a tumor in Brinson’s neck. When they operated to remove it, they discovered that it was cancerous and that the cancer had spread. He was given a few months to live but another operation might prolong his life long enough to witness the birth of his first child. When they operated on him, they found that the cancer was miraculously gone. Brunson attributed it to the prayers of his friends and family. Since them, he has been a religious man.

Doyle Brunson's Current Status

Doyle Brunson currently lives in Las Vegas. His son Todd is also an accomplished poker player and won a WSOP bracelet in 2005 at Omaha Hi-Lo. Brunson and his son Todd became the first father-son team to both win WSOP bracelets in the same year. His daughter Pamela plays poker as well and even outlasted her father and her brother at the 2007 WSOP. As of this writing his total lifetime winnings in tournaments has exceeded 5 million dollars. In 2004, he was one of the first three professionals that were inducted into the Poker Walk of Fame. The other two inductees were Gus Hansen and the actor James Garner, who played the gambling cowboy in the television series Maverick. ‘Texas Dolly’ Brunson garners a lot of respect and is a famous face in Las Vegas. He has stated that at his age playing long tournaments is strenuous and draining. But despite that, he is still clearly at the top of his game.