A living legend , Doyle Brunson made poker history. A look back at the career of the holder of 10 WSOP bracelets and best-selling author of the book Super System.
Doyle Brunson was born on August 10, 1933 in Longworth, Texas. He owes everything to poker, but poker also owes him. If Texas Hold’em is popular and has reached such a level of popularity today, it is partly thanks to him. He paved the way for a sport that was once considered reserved for bullies and criminals, but is now played by world leaders and senior executives. In short, he democratized poker.
Poker has become the third most watched sport on television in the United States thanks in particular to its headliner, the legendary Doyle Brunson, alias “ Texas Dolly ”.
Doyle Brunson fully deserves to be considered a poker legend. He is one of the last representatives of the first generation of professional players that one can still meet around a poker table.
Doyle’s career is filled with prestigious titles and many accomplishments. He is considered the most influential person in the poker world during his long career. ” The Godfather of Poker ” won 10 WSOP bracelets and became one of the few people to win the WSOP Main Event more than once (in 1976 and 1977).
He married his wife, Louise, in 1962. Together they had four children, including Todd (also a poker player), Pam, Cheryl and Doyla. Doyla died in her sleep at the age of 18, following a malfunction of the heart valves.
His life took a decisive turn in 1962, when he was diagnosed with cancer. According to his doctor, he only has three months left to live in this world. Despite the bleak prognoses from doctors, Brunson believes the medical profession is in the middle of a bluff. Against all odds, he manages to beat his cancer. Almost 60 years later, Doyle is still very much alive and continues to skim the poker tables, even if he has eased off a bit, especially at the tournament level.
Poker Super System: The Book That Changed Everything
Brunson’s books are another example of his immense contribution to the poker industry. The most famous of these is “ Super System ” (1978), also called the “ Poker Bible ”. This comprehensive guide to Texas Hold’em changed poker forever. The bedside book of recreational players and high-level grinders alike , “Super System” is the best-selling poker book of all time, still selling over 14,000 copies per month.
Following the success of this book, Brunson published a sequel in 2004, ” Super System 2 “, which includes new game variations, new strategies and advice not only from Brunson himself, but also from some of the greats. current poker names. If there’s one poker book you should read, it’s this one .
Doyle Brunson also released a legacy book titled “ Poker 50/50 ”. The “Poker Godfather” details the 50 most amazing moves from his more than half-century-long career as a professional poker player . Anecdotes, sometimes funny, sometimes dramatic, but also professional secrets. A total immersion in the world of the great pros!
Who are the Texas Rounders?
By dint of competing around the poker tables in their native Texas, Doyle Brunson , Amarillo Slim and Salor Roberts become friends. For the next six years, the Texas Rounders , a band of traveling sharks led by Doyle Brunson, “dry cleaned Texas” by playing high-limit poker in the 1950s and 60s. risks associated with the “wildlife” that roamed the circuit, Doyle eventually landed in Las Vegas where he became one of the city’s premier tourist attractions: audiences flocked in awe to see him perform.
Doyle Brunson learned early on that whatever you’re given can be turned into a winning hand . Raised in poverty in rural Texas, he was a natural athlete who went to college on a basketball and track scholarship. His NBA career with the Minneapolis Lakers ended before it even started, when he shattered his leg in an accident at the gypsum plant where he worked before the season. The leg never healed well, and to this day its place at a poker table is easily spotted by the crutch nearby.
Doyle Brunson 1976 WSOP
Today, Doyle Brunson continues to crush the game of “High Stakes” and plays almost every day, either in the “Phil Ivey Room” at the new Aria Hotel-Casino or in the “Bobbys Room” at the Bellagio.
Doyle defies the odds and plays with the best, but he’ll be the first to tell you that it’s not always what you’re given, but how you play the cards.
10-2, the hand of Doyle Brunson
1976
10 ♠2 ♠
Jesse Alto raises with AJ and Doyle calls. The flop is revealed: AJ10 giving Jesse a monstrous hand. He bets hard. Doyle raises all-in and Jesse instantly calls. Outsider, Doyle is very happy to hit a 2 on the turn. The river is magical and reveals a 10, giving Dolye Brunson a winning full house.
1977
10 ♠2 ♥
Gary “Bones” Berland called preflop with 8-5, a marginal hand. Doyle Brunson checked with 10-2. The flop came 10-8-5, giving Gary two pair and Doyle top pair. Both players go all-in. A 2 on the turn and a 10 river gives Doyle a full house, exactly the same combination as the previous year, a 10 full by the 2.
As a result of this small miracle, the 10-2 hand is commonly referred to as “ Doyle’s hand ”.
Doyle Brunson’s WSOP record
1976 – $5,000 Deuce to Seven Draw 80′ – 250$
1976 – $10,000 No Limit Hold’em World Championship – $230,000
1977 – $1,000 Seven-Card Stud Split – $62,500
1977 – $10,000 No Limit Hold’em World Championship – $340,000
1978 – $5,000 Seven Card Stud – $68,000
1979 – $600 Mixed Doubles (with Starla Brodie) 4′ – 500$
1991 – $2,500 No Limit Hold’em – $208,000
1998 – $1,500 Seven Card Razz – $93,000
2003 – $2,000 HORSE – $84,080
2005 – $5,000 No Limit Shorthanded Texas Hold’em – $367,800
- The Godfather of Poker played basketball in college and was rumored to have been drafted by an NBA team. A terrible accident ruined his chances of a career in basketball and he eventually turned to poker. The rest is history.
- Before becoming a professional player, Brunson regularly participated in illegal games.
- Doyle Brunson was given the nickname Texas Dolly because of a transcription error by a reporter who mistyped Texas Doyle’s nickname.
- “Texas Dolly” is one of the first players to win $1,000,000 from poker.
- The 10-2 hand is often called the “Brunson hand” in honor of Doyle. Two years in a row, by chance, it was with this hand that he won his first two WSOP bracelets.
- In 1988, Brunson was inducted into the famous “Poker Hall of Fame”.
- Notes : discover the Top 10 of the best poker players of all time
Doyle Brunson Quotes
“Try to decide if your hand is good at any given time. Nothing else. Nothing ! »
“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. »
“No hand is strong enough preflop to be underplayed”
“Poker is a lottery where the pros have more tickets than the others”
“A man with money is no match for a man on a mission. »
“When I try to steal a pot I can play without even knowing my cards, I play the money, I play the player, I play the position but not the cards. »
“I’m capable of winning any shot if you give me a good position. »
“No Limit Texas Hold’em is the Cadillac of Poker”
“Omaha High will be the poker of tomorrow”
Doyle Brunson’s prediction in 1999“May the flop be with you.”