Doyle Brunson – One of the Greatest Poker Players
Born before the Second World War, Doyle Brunson has lived through some of the last century’s most troublesome times. But he had not only lived in an era where history was written, but he had also carved his name into the books of professional poker. This blog post will follow the daring life and colossal career of Doyle Brunson, the godfather of poker.
In this article about Doyle Brunson, you will learn all the exciting details regarding this iconic American gambler. First, we will begin our journey by looking into Brunson’s early years and short sports career. Then, we will follow his gambling endeavours and poker achievements. Once we have covered all of that, we will introduce you to some interesting facts about the Texan gambler, including his book publishing and his favourite, or shall we say, most popular poker hand.
Doyle Brunson – A Basketball Dream
Doyle F. Brunson was born on August 10th, 1933, in Longworth, Texas. Since his early years, he was an exceptional athlete, which made everyone believe he had a promising future in sports. Brunson especially excelled in two disciplines – track & field and basketball. In 1950, he set the school record for running one mile for 4 minutes and 43 seconds. In the track & field discipline, such a score would make him a perfect distance runner.
However, basketball was his true passion, and he decided to focus on that sport exclusively. That resulted in Brunson receiving an invitation to be a part of the All-State Texas basketball team, a privilege only granted to the top athletes in the state. Demonstrating his basketball skills time and again earned Doyle Brunson a scholarship to Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas.
During his university years, the Minneapolis Lakers showed an interest in drafting Doyle Brunson to join their team. Unfortunately, a brutal knee injury prevented him from accepting the invitation and would stand in his way of ever getting to fulfil his dream of becoming a professional basketball player.
Despite his gruesome injuries, young Doyle Brunson managed to earn his bachelor’s degree in 1954. One year later, he completed his master’s degree in education administration. Because of the healing process, he could not play basketball, which resulted in him taking up poker. His first poker variation of choice was Five Card Draw. Without knowing if his early poker achievements were because of his skills, feelings, or blind luck, he managed to pay for his medical expenses with them.
After finishing with his master’s degree, Doyle Brunson became a business machines salesman and began his path to earn a decent standard of living for himself. He was invited to play in a 7 Card Stud game on his first day at work and won more than a month’s salary. With his poker achievements stacking up, Doyle Brunson began considering pursuing a professional poker player career. He soon after left the company, and without knowing it, a star was born.
Doyle Brunson Poker Career
Doyle Brunson began his poker career by playing in illegal games on Exchange Street in Fort Worth. But he was not doing that alone. He was swinging chips on the poker tables together with his friend, Dwayne Hamilton. Soon after, they began travelling around Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. They were participating in bigger events and tournaments. On such high-roller tables, they met other fellow professionals such as Amarillo Slim and Sailor Roberts.
Anyhow, these illegal games that Doyle Brunson was a part of were usually run by criminals who were often members of organised crime. Because of that, rules were not always followed. In later years, Brunson admitted that he had a gun pulled on him during that part of his career and was robbed and beaten.
After a while, Hamilton left the crew and moved back to Fort Worth while Doyle teamed up with the other fellow poker players he had met on his travels and continued to move from one place to another. In his words, the party was doing “just about everything”. They even took a serious trip to Las Vegas, where they lost all of their money. Since then, the team decided to stop their cooperation but remained friends.
Lately, the Texan cowboy has only occasionally visited some poker venues, as he has devoted most of his time to other activities. The poker champion has been active on social media platforms and often posts about big poker games, stories, and shares his opinion regarding various matters.
Doyle Brunson’s Won Tournaments
Around 1970 Doyle Brunson settled in Las Vegas and has been a regular player at the World Series of Poker since its very beginning. During the 70s, he won two tournaments and had been on the final tables multiple times. Throughout the decades, Doyle Brunson played at many of the biggest poker tournaments around the world and has won 10 gold bracelets, which are presented to each WSOP tournament winner. To give you an overall idea of his success, we have prepared a table with his bracelet victories.
| 🥇 Year & Tournament Won | 💰 Prize $ |
|---|---|
| 1976 – $5000 Duce to Seven Draw | $80,250 |
| 1976 - $10,000 No Limit Hold’em World Championship | $230,000 |
| 1977 - $1000 Seven-Card Stud Split | $62,500 |
| 1977 – $10,000 No Limit Hold’em World Championship | $340,000 |
| 1978 – $5000 Seven-Card Stud | $68,000 |
| 1979 – $600 Mixed Doubles Seven Card Stud | $4500 |
| 1991 – $2500 No Limit Hold’em | $208,000 |
| 1998 – $1500 Seven-Card Razz | $93,000 |
| 2003 – $2000 H.O.R.S.E. | $84,080 |
| 2005 - $5000 No Limit Shorthanded Texas Hold’em | $367,800 |
Because of his success and popularity, Doyle Brunson has two Texas Hold’em hands named after him. Due to his victory at the No Limit Hold’Em event at the World Series of Poker two years in a row, the holding of ten-deuce became known as the Doyle Brunson hand. On both occasions, Doyle was the underdog, but he won by completing a full house.
The second hand, known as “Doyle Brunson”, is the ace and queen of any suit. This combination has become famous because of his quote, “he never plays this hand”. Later, he changed his wording that he “tries to never play this hand”.
Doyle Brunson Net Worth
After being a professional poker player for more than 50 years, Doyle Brunson acquired quite the wealth. Just from playing in live tournaments, his winnings until 2018 exceed $6,100,100. In addition, from his 37 participations at the WSOP (World Series of Poker), he has won over $3,000,000. Currently, it is estimated that Doyle Brunson’s net worth numbers 75 million dollars.
Doyles Room – Doyle Brunson Enters the Online Gambling
Doyles Room was an online poker room established in 2004. If you are from the early online gamblers, you might have had the chance to enter or even play in the room as it had been a part of some of the best US online casinos. At first, Doyles Room was on the Tribeca Poker Network, now part of the Playtech iPoker network. Then, in 2007, the online poker room moved to Microgaming’s Poker Network.
After two years, Doyles Room was once again moved, this time to Cake Poker Network. In 2011 it was transferred to Yatahay Network; however, during the same year, the online poker room was seized in accordance with an investigation into the violation of online gambling laws. Because of the investigation, Doyle Brunson officially cut ties with Doyles Room. Since then, the room has been held by Americas Cardroom.
Doyle Brunson Books
Doyle Brunson is an author of multiple books devoted to poker. His first release, “Super/System”, was originally self-published in 1978. Soon after its release, it was considered one of the most authoritative books on the subject. The Doyle Brunson super system was credited with changing poker forever. It gave ordinary players great insight into how professionals such as Doyle Brunson played the game and won. In addition, these books were used as a reference for the making of many poker movies.
More than two decades later, Brunson followed an updated revision called “Super/System 2”, published in 2004. In addition to Doyle Brunson, other top poker players had also contributed chapters in “Super/System”, such as Chip Reese, Joey Hawthorne, Mike Caro, and Bobby Baldwin. In addition to the two versions of “Super/System”, Doyle Brunson has authored or contributed other books about poker. In the table below, we will present you with a complete list of all Doyle Brunson books.
- Super System (1978)
- According to Doyle (1984)
- Super/System (2004)
- Super/System 2 (2005)
- Online Poker (2005)
- My 50 Best Hands (2007)
- Super System Deluxe (2007)
- Super/System 2: Winning Strategies for Limit Hold’em Cash Games and Tournament Tactics (2009)
- Godfather of Poker (2009)
- SuperStar Poker Strategy: The World’s Greatest Players Reveal Their Winning Secrets (2017)
More than two decades later, Brunson followed an updated revision called “Super/System 2”, published in 2004. In addition to Doyle Brunson, other top poker players had also contributed chapters in “Super/System”, such as Chip Reese, Joey Hawthorne, Mike Caro, and Bobby Baldwin. In addition to the two versions of “Super/System”, Doyle Brunson has authored or contributed other books about poker. In the table below, we will present you with a complete list of all Doyle Brunson books.
Frequently Asked Questions
We hope that this blog post has successfully introduced you to the legendary Doyle Brunson. Despite our best efforts to provide you with all the essential information, there is always the chance that something has remained unclear. For that reason, we prepared answers to the most popular questions about the godfather of poker.
