Professional Poker Player – Doyle Brunson

Born in 1933, the “Texas Dolly” Doyle Brunson came from a very small town and humble beginnings. He first started his life journey in Longworth, Texas and due to the small population of the town, a mere 100 people, he frequently ran and visited other towns. Although he may have been unaware that all that running served more or less as training, it certainly prepped him to become an outstanding athlete while in school. Brunson dabbled a little bit in track and field but leaned more to basketball and played on the All State team and in college.

It was during this time that the pro team, the Minneapolis Lakers, expressed their desire for the promising athlete but was cut short due to Doyle Brunson’s injury in an off season job. He fractured his leg in several places and even to this day he has to walk with a cane. Doyle then decided to focus on education and received his Master’s in administrative education. By this time he had some experience playing poker and little did he know that this would soon become his financial life line. For a short time he worked for an employer but found that he made more playing poker. He soon made the switch to playing full time.

Playing poker in Texas is illegal, even to this day. But that did not stop Doyle Brunson from becoming the main guy in the “Texas Rounder’s,” a group of traveling poker players that gambled on virtually everything. Many times these games were ambushed by criminals and at times, Doyle himself was held at gunpoint while being beaten and robbed. This would eventually push Doyle to move the family to Las Vegas where gambling was legal.

Doyle Brunson paved the way for poker and made it what it is today. Not only did he win the Main Event in 1976, but won it in 1977 as well with the now famous hand, 10-2. He won both events with this hand having to come from behind to do so. Doyle has had 31 cashes to date and in 2005 he won his 10th bracelet, tying Johnny Chan for 2nd place in total bracelets won. He was also the first player to exceed $1 million dollars in tournament winnings and was named the “#1 most influential force in the world of poker” by Bluff Magazine in 2006. His winnings to date are well over $5 million dollars in tournaments.

From all of this experience Doyle has written 5 books with “Super System” 1 and 2 being the most popular. Super System 1 was written in 1979 and is still considered the “poker bible” for players today. Super System 2 had many contributing writers including his poker playing son, Todd Brunson, as well as poker pro’s Jennifer Harman and Daniel Negreanu. These books still sell well selling well over 14,000 copies every month. It was because of these books that Doyle Brunson lightly joked saying he has lost money from sharing this information.

If you would like to play poker with the “Texas Dolly” himself, you can do so by signing up to Doyle’s Room. It is a poker room on the Cake network that Dolye owns and endorses. One of the features that stand out the most is all of the bounty tournaments that are available. You can play against him, his family, and a bunch of celebrity friends in hopes to knock them out and take down their bounty. Many great incentives are available as well such as busting Brunson with 10-2 earning you plenty of money in the process. You can also win his book and other great cash bonuses as well. You would not expect any less from a poker room built by a poker pro.

It is simple to see that with a little bit of hard work, a keen eye for opportunity, and maybe just a little, just a little bit of luck can take you far. Doyle Brunson has proved that he can overcome the odds and take nothing and turn it into something. He has proved this time and time again from his injuries in his youth, to overcoming cancer where he was only given months to live. Over 50 years, several books, 31 cashes, and 10 bracelets later, Doyle Brunson proves that “it’s not always about the cards you are dealt, but how you play them.”

Doyle’s Room is the only online poker room endorsed by Doyle Brunson. The poker room recently moved over to the Cake Poker network and added the Doyles Casino and Doyles Room.

Other player bios – Sorel Mizzi – Daniel Negreanu – Phil Ivey – Doyle Brunson