Poker player profile
Date of birth
10/08/1933Name
Doyle BrunsonPseudonym
Texas DollyNationality
United States of AmericaPlace of residence
United States of America
Biography and performances
The patriarch of world poker never takes his cowboy hat off. Doyle Brunson, aka Texas Dolly, has left his mark on poker history through his style and longevity. A true figure of Las Vegas and the WSOP, he is one of the most respected players in the world.
Born in 1933 in Longworth, a small town in Texas, Doyle Brunson initially dreamed of shining on the basketball courts. But while working as a labourer on a summer job, a plaster plate will shatter his leg and his sporting ambitions.
Doyle discovered poker around the age of 20. At the time, closed five-card poker and 7 Stud were played. Variants for which the Texan quickly showed great aptitude. He played numerous illegal games in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. It was a far cry from the neon lights and atmosphere of today's casinos. According to Doyle's accounts, the tables brought together some less than respectable people and it was not uncommon to see some games degenerate, between beatings and guns pointed at players.
In the early 70s, Doyle left for Las Vegas. He lost all his savings there for the first time, before returning to settle permanently in the Nevada city. He reached his first WSOP final tables and regularly razed the Cash Games tables, which were less and less run by the underworld and more secure.
Texas Dolly and the WSOP, a love story
Everything changed in 1976. Doyle then took part in the 7th edition of the World Series of Poker and won the $10,000-entry Main Event in front of 22 entrants, for a prize of $220,000. He did it again the following year against 34 opponents and won each time with the same hand: a Ten and Two that went full on the river. This card combination would follow him throughout his career and would play a part in the legend of Doyle Brunson, who even gave it his name.
The first player to reach $1 million in tournament winnings, Doyle Brunson went on to win a string of WSOP bracelets and establish himself as one of the best players of the 70s and 80s, both in variants and in No Limit Hold'em, the new game in vogue. In 1979, he published Super System, one of the first strategy books devoted to poker, and the future bible of all budding players, which would be reissued several times.
Longevity and bracelet record
Doyle Brunson will continue to amass fortunes in juicy Cash Games games in Las Vegas' finest venues, most notably the Bellagio. He will also continue his collection of WSOP bracelets: in 2005, he equalled the record of ten, which Johnny Chan had just achieved a week earlier. The previous year he won $1,198,260, his biggest WPT Championships win.
Historic player, WSOP figure, writer and Las Vegas fixture, Doyle Brunson appears on numerous TV shows, rubbing shoulders with the new stars of the 2000s and 2010s. The "Godfather" will announce the end of his career in 2018, at one last WSOP final table, in a $10,000 Two to Seven Single Draw. After a 62-year career. Legendary.
Poker videos Doyle Brunson
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