Doyle Brunson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Doyle Brunson |
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Brunson at the 2006 World Series of Poker
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| Nickname(s) | Texas Dolly |
| Residence | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. |
| Born | August 10, 1933 Longworth, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | May 14, 2023 (aged 89) Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. |
| World Series of Poker | |
| Bracelet(s) | 10 |
| Final table(s) | 26 |
| Money finish(es) | 37 |
| Highest ITM Main Event finish |
Winner, 1976, 1977 |
| World Poker Tour | |
| Title(s) | 1 |
| Final table(s) | 3 |
| Money finish(es) | 8 |
| European Poker Tour | |
| Title(s) | None |
| Final table(s) | None |
| Money finish(es) | 1 |
Doyle F. Brunson (born August 10, 1933 – died May 14, 2023) was a famous American poker player. He played poker professionally for more than 50 years! He was known as "Texas Dolly."
Doyle Brunson won the biggest poker tournament, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, two times. He is also part of the Poker Hall of Fame, which is a special group for the best poker players ever. He even wrote several books about how to play poker.
Brunson was the first player to win $1 million from poker tournaments. He won ten WSOP bracelets in his career. A bracelet is like a trophy for winning a WSOP event. Only a few players have won the WSOP Main Event more than once, and Doyle did it in 1976 and 1977. He also won WSOP tournaments for four years in a row! In 2006, a magazine called Bluff Magazine said he was the most important person in the world of poker.
In 2018, Doyle Brunson announced he was stopping tournament poker. He played one last tournament and finished in sixth place, earning over $43,000.
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Doyle Brunson's Early Life
Doyle Brunson was born in Longworth, Texas, on August 10, 1933. He was one of three children. When he was young, he was a great athlete at Sweetwater High School. In 1950, he won a one-mile running race. Many colleges wanted him to play sports for them. He chose to go to Hardin–Simmons University in Abilene, Texas.
The Minneapolis Lakers basketball team, which plays in the NBA, was interested in Doyle. But a serious knee injury stopped him from becoming a professional basketball player. He sometimes needed a crutch because of his injury. He said breaking his leg ended his dream of playing in the NBA. Doyle finished college in 1954 and got a master's degree in education in 1955. He even worked as a school principal for a short time.
Doyle started playing poker before his injury. He played a game called five-card draw. After his injury, he played poker more often. His winnings helped pay for his school and living costs. After college, he got a job selling business machines. On his first day, he played a poker game called seven-card stud and won more money than his whole month's salary! Soon after, he decided to become a full-time professional poker player.
Doyle Brunson's Poker Career
Doyle Brunson began his poker journey playing in illegal games in Fort Worth with his friend Dwayne Hamilton. They started traveling around Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana, looking for bigger games. On these trips, they met other famous poker players like Amarillo Slim and Sailor Roberts.
Dwayne Hamilton went back to Fort Worth, but Doyle, Amarillo Slim, and Sailor Roberts teamed up. They traveled together, gambling on poker, golf, and many other things. They put all their money together for gambling. After six years, they took their first big trip to Las Vegas. They lost all their money, which was a very large amount! After that, they decided to stop playing as partners, but they remained good friends.
Doyle Brunson eventually made Las Vegas his home. He played in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) almost every year since it started in 1970. He reached the final tables of many WSOP events. Besides his two big wins in 1976 and 1977, he also finished high in the Main Event several other times. For example, he was 3rd in 1972 and 2nd in 1980.
Doyle Brunson wrote a very important book about poker called Super/System. It was first published in 1978. Many people say Super/System changed poker forever. It taught regular players how professionals like Doyle played and won. Doyle even believed the book cost him money because it made other players better! An updated version, Super/System 2, came out in 2004. Other top poker players also wrote parts of the book. Doyle also wrote another book called Poker Wisdom of a Champion.
Brunson kept playing in the biggest poker games in the world. He played in a very high-stakes game at the Bellagio casino. He also played in many big poker tournaments around the world. In 2003, he won his ninth gold bracelet. In 2004, he won a World Poker Tour (WPT) event, earning $1.1 million! In 2005, he won his tenth WSOP bracelet, tying the record at the time.
By 2018, Doyle Brunson had won over $6.1 million in live poker tournaments. More than $3 million of that came from his 37 times finishing in the money at the WSOP.
Two special poker hands are named after Doyle Brunson. One hand is a ten and a two of any suit. It's called a "Doyle Brunson" because he won the World Series of Poker Main Event two years in a row (1976 and 1977) with a ten and a two as his starting cards. In both cases, he ended up with a full house, which is a very strong hand. The other hand named after him is an ace and a queen of any suit. He once wrote in his book that he "never" plays this hand. Later, he changed it to say he "tries to never play this hand."
World Series of Poker Bracelets
Doyle Brunson won 10 World Series of Poker bracelets. Here are some of his wins:
| Year | Tournament | Prize (US$) |
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| 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 Seven Card Stud (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 H.O.R.S.E. | $84,080 |
| 2005 | $5,000 No Limit Shorthanded Texas Hold'em (6 players per table) | $367,800 |
Doyle Brunson's Family Life
Doyle Brunson met his wife, Louise, in 1959. They got married in August 1962. Soon after, Louise became pregnant. Around the same time, doctors found a growth in Doyle's neck. After an operation, the growth was gone.
Doyle and Louise had three children. Their daughter, Doyla, sadly passed away at age 18 due to a heart condition.
His son, Todd, is also a professional poker player. Todd won a WSOP bracelet in 2005. This made Doyle and Todd the first father and son to both win World Series bracelets. Doyle's daughter, Pamela, also played in the WSOP Main Events in 2007 and 2009. She even lasted longer in the tournament than both her father and brother!
Doyle Brunson passed away in Las Vegas on May 14, 2023, at 89 years old.
See also
In Spanish: Doyle Brunson para niños
