Very few legends have dedicated their entire life to the game of Poker. Doyle Brunson is one of them so find out about him now!
Doyle Brunson is an American poker legend who has played the game for over 5 decades and has won the World Series of Poker Main Event twice. With 10 WSOP bracelets in his career, he was the first-ever player to have won a total of $1 million in poker tournaments. He also holds the record for winning WSOP tournaments in 4 consecutive years, along with Bill Boyd.
Early Life
Brunson was born in Longworth, Texas, and attended Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene for graduation. He was an integral part of the All-State Texas Basketball team, but his hopes of becoming a professional player were shattered with a knee injury. He had already begun playing five-card poker, prior to his injury and played even more afterward to cover his expenses. He became a business machines salesman after his graduation and was called upon to play a 7-card stud game on the very first day, where he made a month’s income. Eventually, he left the company and when on to become a full-time poker player.
Rise To Glory
Along with his friend Dwayne Hamilton, Brunson started off playing illegal games in Fort Worth, which were run by members of organized criminals. Later, they began travelling around Louisana, Oklahoma, and Texas, playing in big games and meeting professionals like Sailor Roberts and Amarillo Slim. After 6 years of pooling money for gambling, Doyle and the team made their first-ever trip to Las Vegas, losing all their money, a 6-figure amount.
After being settled in Las Vegas, Brunson regularly featured in the WSOP since its origin in 1970, playing in the Main Event almost every year. He grabbed two championship wins in the year 1976 and 1977 and plenty of other Main Event cashes. He continued to play in some of the biggest games in the world, including No Limit Texas hold’em Championship and a $4000/$8000 limit mixed poker game. In the year 2004, he won the Legends of Poker WPT event winning over a million dollars, while also finishing fourth in the first championship event.
In 2005, he tied with Chan for winning his 10th gold bracelet at the World Series of Poker tournament. At present, he is 4 bracelets behind the legendary player Phil Hellmuth. In his 5th decade of professional play, he cashed in at the WSOP $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Championship event in 2013.
Super System
Doyle Brunson became an even popular figure when he compiled one of the most authoritative books on poker, namely Super System. It was initially published in the year 1978, giving an ordinary player an insight into what makes a player professional, how people like him made it big in poker, and what mistake you should avoid. In 2004, an updated version of this book was published, with several professional players contributing to the same, including the likes of Joey Hawthorne, Chip Reese, David Sklansky, Mike Caro, and Bobby Baldwin. He has also authored ‘Poker Wisdom of a Champion’ which was originally published by Lyle Stuart in the year 1984, by the name of “According to Doyle.”